Can anyone ever be truly free? The analogy of the cave helped frame this thought in Plato's Republic. The man was chained amongst the other captives deep within the crater. He saw shadows against the walls, sensing there was some sort of light he broke free. He saw the light, saw the figures making shadows and beheld his captive brethren. This scene should show how a person could profit from freedom. They are able to leave the cave into light, or descend into darkness upon a change in their mood.
We are chained to freedom, whether politically or socially. A person can never truly escape their noble notions of liberty. Enlightenment ideas are the very foundation for Western freedom. This ideal is heavily based upon the notion of scientific measures, which give someone the sole logical choice of accepting it, because they are testable. The thinkers gave people social law based upon reason; they were enslaved to their own logical deductions.
Is slavery necessarily a bad thing? Yes and no. Whether from the times of Ancient Rome to the modern day slave trade, people were never free in those shackles. The slave owners were always reliant upon those people who were enslaved. Some people are enslaved with the very notion of approval from people. Now can slavery ever be termed a good thing? We are enslaved to food consumption and love. Some people are enslaved to fighting for social justice and for noble ideals. Freedom is a loaded term that is both highly subjective and very idealistic.
Ultimately, I think that people's religions also confirm slavery over true liberty. Christianity says that the Truth will set you free; yet, paradoxically Paul also says that we are bondservants. Generally speaking, Far Eastern religions believe that people grow in knowledge and realize freedom through a variety of avenues. Islam proclaims that Muslims must submit to Allah. Judaism declares that people follow the Torah and God's Law. People's faith (whether you embrace or reject them) verifies the fact that ultimate freedom rests in humanity's willingness to submit.
Coming back to the analogy of the cave in "The Republic," I believe that it is incredibly fair to say that that man was given a choice- stumbling in the sunshine, or getting back into the chains of his captivity. Either way, he would have been guided by a deep desire for either life. Mankind can never be truly free. Even as a Lockean Liberal, I am bound to the philosophy of personal freedom. This belief drives me to follow those ideals, for better or for worse. We are all ensnared in our ideologies, and only change into some other concept that drives us to walk in that newfound belief.
Ultimate freedom comes through bondage.
--------------------
View this article at Helium
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment