Austin Fontaine 
Megan Novelli It is in my opinion that Plato would have been a great movie director or script writer and God knows with the ideas he had, he probably almost went insane just like all the director we have now days. The allegory of the cave as Plato may have seen it, could have looked something like the movie Inception.
(The Allegory of the cave states that everything is always viewed dimly and that there is always a greater truth meaning that you are in a cave that is inside of another cave that is also inside another cave and so on for eternity.)See last paragraph. Like i said Plato was probably insane at some point in his life. Every person it seems is doomed to be stuck in an endless cycle of not knowing very much like being in a world we don’t know whether is real or not. So we turn to Socrates who offered up the only solution for the problem. “The greatest knowledge you could have is that you don’t know.” It makes you wonder though how a man who believes that there is always a greater truth and we will never really know, could spend his whole life searching for answers or at least asking questions. Even at the time that Plato wrote this theory he could have been second guessing his ideas about it, knowing that there was a greater truth than it. Truly, “the most resilient parasite is an idea!”
On another note about the allagory of the cave the priciple is based solely on falsification as it is so vague that it can not be disproven. The theory stands on a leg that has but to say that the one who questions the theory has not yet come to the greater truth and the principle is restored. I guess its like most theology, maddening.
After reading other peoples comments I realize i specifically said something that is not in the theory of the Allegory of the Cave. The idea i was explaining was more my own on how i view Plato and how he could have view his own theory if he believed everything he stood for. Ill explain, Plato believed that there is always a greater truth and we never really have full knowledge, he also has his theory of the Allegory of the Cave which states that you leave the Cave and see more clear and have gained knowledge and enlightenment, but if there is always a greater truth then you would find yourself right back in another cave on the dim side of knowledge. I hope that clears things up, thanks everyone for the Comments!
Michael Bartholomew
3:46 pm, 08.31.10
I have not seen Inception, but based on what has been mentioned of it in class, I can see the similarities.
I didn’t realize the allegory of the cave included the cycle of caves you mentioned; I wonder if Plato could have ever possibly been satisfied (or anyone, for that matter) knowing the ultimate truth he spends his life searching for is something he is aware will elude him despite all his earnest efforts. In terms of a discussion recently held in an Ethics class of mine, when looking back upon his life would he be one of the people able to admit that he accomplished something? Or that his life was a happy one?
And I like the quote “the most resilient parasite is an idea.” From whom did it originate?
Josh Morrison
7:46 pm, 08.31.10
I love love love that you brought up the idea of falsification. I hate when people mistake where the burden of proff lies. I also didn’t know about the loop of caves in Plato’s theory, but I guess it doesn’t really change my opinion other than making it even more maddening and frustrating. I like Inception a lot, though not as much as many seem to, but I don’t feel like Plato would be a Nolan. I mean, I know that comparison you’re making has more to do with the plot of the film than the director’s character, but both are fun to think about. If I had to pick a modern day film director who seems congruous with Plato I’d probably opt for Sam Mendes or M. Night Shyamalan. Just so we’re clear, that’s not a compliment to Plato, haha.
Jonathan Sanders
12:38 pm, 09.01.10
To my knowledge, Plato never wrote about the cave within a cave within a cave theory that Jordan mentioned. The idea that Jordan is speaking of about a cave within a cave etc. stems from the plot in Inception where the protagonist travels into a subjects dream, then further into another dream and so on until he is several layers deep in the dream world. I see the relevance to the allegory of the cave though because once you see the light of the world, it is hard to go back to the darkness. This same idea applies to the movie Inception where a host of people continuously choose to make their dream world their reality. On this note, I believe that reality is truly subjective and relative according to each and every individual. For the people in Plato’s cave, their reality is stunted and in darkness, and yet that is all they know and they think they have great lives. This same idea applies to the people that live in the life; furthermore, the reality in which you and I live, according to Plato, is only just a copy of the true reality that is resides in the ether.
Courtney Price
8:33 pm, 09.04.10
I was really stunned when I actually started looking at the similarities between Inception and the Cave. It was kind of trippy at first since I never really put much thought to it. I also agree that Plato would have made some pretty awesome movies.