Shannon Hubble

The Cave Response Questions

1) After summarizing ​The Cave​, it seems that Plato suggests that the truth is what each

individual understands to be their own reality. In this writing, the differences between

what the freed man believed to be the truth and what the prisoners believed to be the truth

was on the basis of their own knowledge and experiences in life.

2) In this passage, Plato seems to suggest that in order to create a functioning government,

humans must understand that others perceptions of reality form their ideologies through

their own personal life experiences, thus creating different understandings of the world

around them. Acknowledging this is the key to negotiation and working together for the

greater good of everyone, rather than just one “truth”.

3) After reading and analyzing this passage, one this seems to come to me: the connection

between the story and the “truths”, portrayed by scientists of the day, that were

commonly denied and often persecuted against.

4) Josh and I seemed to have very similar ideas as to what Plato portrayed through the use

of the freed man versus the prisoners. We both talked about the fact that one person’s

truth is not necessarily another person’s truth. We have similar ideas about why

understanding this would be a necessity to creating a functioning government.

Writing Assignment for 1/30

Prompt 2: “It is arrogant to say that when people don't vote the way you think they should vote,

they are exhibiting ‘false consciousness’.”

It is very much arrogant to say that when people avoid voting the way one may think they

should, that they are exhibiting “false consciousness”. The theory of false consciousness

blatantly assumes that the lower working class are unable to see oppression, inequality, and

exploitation when this assumption is completely untrue. Time and time again women, African

Americans, and even white males have advocated for their beliefs and ideals through such

protests as the Women’s March and the March for Our Rights: Second Amendment. However, in

politics, it is true that there are two distinctly different sides of debate on most issues brought to

light, but also in conjunction with centrist ideas. Arguments for or against topics, such as raising

minimum wage or lowering taxes, are hotly debated today - most of the time only depicting

black or white values. Although there is sometimes a stark contrast, centrists find reasons to side

for or against these issues, regardless of class or registered political affiliation. For example,

some centrists may be in the lower working class bracket but strictly oppose raising minimum

wage. Their argument against this is that raising minimum wage would cause a risk of elevated

and unnecessary inflation in the economy that would, in turn, end up hurting them. Higher class

individuals may back raising minimum wages, as these people are generally the owners of

businesses and believe work productivity would work in favor of their business in the long run.

Either way, presuming how one votes based on class or status is not always accurate.

People who conjecture that, for instance, those who voted for Trump but benefit from Medicare

or Planned Parenthood are somehow exhibiting false consciousness, are making uneducated
presumptions that those areas of their lives are the most important to them. Some of those same

people may share Trump’s very strong opinions about immigration, taxes, and the workforce.

Assumptions and grouping without complete evidence gives the notion that those who are

strictly black and white, conservative or republican in this case, are the only ones important in

the discussion of politics. Although that somewhat aligns with Plato’s argument in his famous

writings, that only the “philosophical elite” should be making political decisions, it is not how

modern-day society exhibits itself, therefore making statements such as the opposition to this

thesis - that those who vote the way you least suspect are doing so on account of false

consciousness - arrogant and misleading.