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Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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This is not to say that all action that matters, according to Plato, should be introspective. Instead, humans also need to participate in the mortal world in order to condition virtue in themselves, leading to care of the soul. As justice is to the soul what food is to the body, in order to nourish your soul you must participate in a just society. Plato’s recipe for this kind of participation: minding your own business. All action should work toward what the individual does best, and should not interfere with anyone else’s ability to do the same thing. In this way, the individual soul is a microcosm for society: all parts must work together in a sort of divine harmony in order to achieve arete.
Plato’s final ideal for human activity comes from his famous Allegory of the Cave. After the first human breaks away from the illusion of what he think he knows, he then has an obligation to return to the cave and free all others who are still stuck in bondage. The first human has …show more content…

In other words, humans must actualize their full potential in the universe based on how they fit into it. Above all, the goal of the human being is to be happy; to enjoy himself in a way that makes sense according to reality. Thus, this goal hinges on the rational activity of humans. Every action that humans should partake should be in accordance with their place in the world and aspire toward a type of activity that is not “work”, but a type of “play” in which humans enjoy activity for its own sake. To accomplish this, humans should cultivate virtues in order to create habits of behavior and character that condition themselves to act rationally with ease. If you are in the habit of acting courageously, for example, it will be much easier to confront a fearful situation when one arises than if you are used to running the other

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