M.A. / “A philosophy untouched by the shadows on the wall can only yield a sterile utopia” (Sandel, 2009: p.29). Plato’s prisoners in the cave allegory were to forfeit the shadows against the cave wall and therefore their physical world if they were eventually to reach pure knowledge. It is arguable that the same thought has been prevalent in Western philosophy in that as philosophers we have sought to get on our metaphoric high horses and try to tell the rest of the world how best to live their lives, believe, think about concepts, etc. Philosophy has therefore always strived for the ideal state, ethical system or perfect theory that will make our existence so much more orderly, logical or neat. Such utopia usually comes at a price, as we would most likely have to renounce or dampen what I believe can be held as innately human tendencies such as our sexual wants, progressing and stamping our dominance through war, violence and the need for revenge. Wanting to have, to dominate others and to get even with those who harmed you is usually seen as base or even barbaric, but they nonetheless continue to be part of our human make up. If giving up such traits would help us achieve a utopia, this utopia would not only be sterile due to it suppressing some of our most basic traits, but it would also be flawed. Suppressing such traits does not mean that they do not exist or have been done away with - they may surface at any time to cause disharmony in the “ideal” state, which would logically entail that instead of trying to do away with such traits, a way should rather be found to accommodate them.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:8922 |
| Date | 01 August 2012 |
| Creators | Smith, Nicol |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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