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belief -- or idealism -- and the way humans must evolve through a process to become actualized. In essence, we are presented with a dark cave in which there are prisoners who have been chained since birth so they can look only forward. Behind these unfortunates is a fire, the only light in their universe. Behind the fire are people manipulating puppets so that shadows are cast on the walls. So, the only "reality" the prisoners know are the lessons from the shadows -- reality, or their view of idealism. If suddenly a prisoner is freed he notices that the shadows are not real, but the puppets are. Now imagine if this same prisoner is forced out of the cave and into the light. As soon as the pain from the brightness diminishes he discovers that the most real things, the ideal, are those physical outside of the cave (Huard, 2006).
This forms the notion that as humans, we are chained by society and blinded by culture so we lose our ability to think, to imagine, and to actualize. This also prevents us from seeing the truth of the ideal, which is universal. When Russell tells us that if we say things known must be in the mind, then we have a more subjective notion of relationships between experience and the world (data being input). In the modern world...
One cannot, for instance, walk on Mars to understand, through media and study, that Mars does exist and has form and features. "If I am acquainted with a thing which exists, my acquaintance gives me knowledge that it exists" (Russell). By the same token, technology has advanced far enough that through computer and digital manipulation, things may appear that are patently false -- placing figures into places they have never been, CGI movie creatures, etc. Thus, idealism, coupled with a healthy dose of intellectual skepticism may be the only way we can make sense of the modern world.
REFERENCES
Haisch, B. (2007). Preface to the God Theory. TheGodTheory.com. Retrieved from: http://www.thegodtheory.com/preface.htm
Huard, R.L. (2006). Plato's Political Philosophy: The Cave. New York: Penguin.
Monk, R. (2004, March). Bertrand Russell. Retrieved from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/35/101035875/
Russell, B. (2004, March). The Problems of Philosophy. Retrieved December 2011, from Skepdic.com: http://www.skepdic.com/russell.html
REFERENCES
Haisch, B. (2007). Preface to the God Theory. TheGodTheory.com. Retrieved from: http://www.thegodtheory.com/preface.htm
Huard, R.L. (2006). Plato's Political Philosophy: The Cave. New York: Penguin.
Monk, R. (2004, March). Bertrand Russell. Retrieved from Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/35/101035875/
Russell, B. (2004, March). The Problems of Philosophy. Retrieved December 2011, from Skepdic.com: http://www.skepdic.com/russell.html
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