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Allegory Of The Cave Readings And Good Brahmin's By Voltaire

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The first written assignment for this class is to compare the different philosophy viewpoints of Plato’s Apology and Allegory of the Cave Readings with Good Brahmin's by Voltaire. A recapitulation of the Apology, Allegory of the Cave Readings and Good Brahmin's will provided, evaluating each story’s position. Finally, concluding both Socrates’ and the Good Brahmin’s into my own philosophical understanding and perspective.

First, Apology. This is Plato’s narrative of Socrates trial for charges “that Socrates is a doer of evil, and corrupter of the youth, and he does not believe in the gods of the state, and has other new divinities of his own.” (Apology, 2017) by a man named Meletus. Socrates argue that he concealed, dissembled and knows…show more content…
Through time, his knowledge and body adjusted; including his eyesight to the real world. He returned to the cave to share his realization to the rest of the prisoners. However, with his body and eyesight calibrated for the real world, he was unable to see and view shadows in the cave properly. The rest of the prisoners then concluded that his exploration affected him, viewed him as idiotic and refused to be freed from the cave. In my view, Plato’s message here is how people are comfortable with their own point of view; belief system that they prefer to stay behind that belief or viewpoint as opposed to exploring the possibility of the real truth.

Last, Voltaire's Story of a Good Brahmin. The Good Brahmin is about an old Brahmin, “a very wise man, of marked intellect and great learning. Furthermore, he was rich and consequently, all the wiser, because, lacking nothing, he needed to deceive nobody.” (Good Brahmin, 2017) Even with all the materials, knowledge and achievements, the Brahmin is very discontent with his life and has wished not be born. The Brahmin have an elderly woman neighbor, although ignorant, is very content and happy with her life. Yet, the Brahmin would not trade places and rather be intellectual and miserable than being an illiterate full of innocent happiness. In Voltaire’s point, “there is a tremendous contradiction in this mode of thought, for, after all, the problem is - how to be happy.”
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