The discrepancy between the ideal and the real and the difficulty of arriving at the truth through deduction and induction is something that everyone must grapple with who deals with the ethics of a profession, like accounting. "Prisoners may learn what a book is by their experience with shadows of books. But they would be mistaken if they thought that the word 'book' refers to something that any of them has ever seen" (Cohen 2006). The ideal of how a corporation should behave and keep its books will invariably fall short of the reality, as the sloppiness of every day life, the new challenges posed by a dynamic business environment, and deliberate and accidental misinterpretations of the rules cause a deviation from the ideal, abstract forms that the reality is supposed to correspond to, Platonically.
There is a critical distinction between an accountant and a philosopher like Socrates, though. On some level Plato believed that it was possible to be unchained from the rock, the material existence, and to spiritually transcend the limits of one's existence and enter the world of the forms. Unfortunately, no one who still believes in the value of the real world has such a luxury. He or she must deal with the limits and demands of reality, and the frustrations of the fact that reality will never perfectly correspond to the ideal.
Like a philosopher,...
He will be a servant to other servants. Without humility, however, the "servant" will become vain and proud; his vision of truth will likely become distorted by hubris. He will be no good to himself or to others. He will fight with other warrior-kings but for power and influence rather than for truth, beauty and goodness. Humility, in a sense, will keep him honest and in the light (even
Plato's Cave Allegory Plato's writing in the cave allegory deals extensively with moral values, materialism, ethical behavior and spirituality. The plot and basic concepts (discussed below) lend an incredible helping hand to understanding our place in this world given these frameworks. Plato's Allegory of the Cave (Republic, book 7) recounts slaves chained from their very birth to their work areas deep in a cave. They are chained in a manner that precludes
Butler agrees that a person has to find his or her own state of goodness (32). To go along with what society agrees with or counts as good doesn't mean anything to Plato; majority has opinion but not knowledge. To begin, Goodness itself is related to the Form of the Good. The Form, in a Socratic sense, is what we rely on to categorize the variety of examples of
Plato's Philosopher King Plato and the Philosopher-King With the Allegory of the Cave, Plato expresses the notion that the best thing a philosopher can do is lead the people and that, in turn, a leader (king) must be a philosopher. Plato emphasizes this idea by equating the unenlightened citizens of his Republic to prisoners in chains (they are, in effect, chained by their ignorance of reality and transcendental truth). The philosopher is
It is very dark in the cave, and everything, including the face of the person next to them, is in deep shadows. It is never mentioned whether the people are happy or sad, or whether they speak to each other. It is assumed that they speak at least enough to put names to the shadows they see on the far wall. According to some, the chains that bind the
Plato's Republic Plato Republic In Plato's Republic, he states that democracy is second only to tyranny as the worst form of government because tyranny arises from democracy. This goes against what most people believe of democracy. Today, democracy is viewed as the best political system because the prime tenets of a democracy are freedom and equality. Essentially, democracy is all about free people governing themselves. However, Plato is critical of democracy precisely
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