Term Paper on "Plato vs. Francis Bacon"

Term Paper 5 pages (1792 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Allegory of the Cave by Plato and the Four Idols by Francis Bacon. This paper shall try to explore the thoughts of the two authors mentioned and compare them as how one text is similar or different to the other.

The Allegory of the Cave is a parable that illustrates how man can be ignorant, how he is able to seek the truth, and after which how he continuously seeks for wisdom and never become ignorant again. Hence, the title of the story speaks of the term "cave," trying to depict a man's thinking in which the man was like in a cave, doesn't have much knowledge of things, but were provided only with the chance of perceiving things. Until later on, he will find the truth about his perception and realized his mistakes.

The Four Idols, on the other hand, is an instrument of Francis Bacon in describing how and where a man obtains the thinking in his mind. The Four Idols is a list of four types of sources of a man's thinking; they are Idols of the Tribe, Idols of the Cave, Idols of the Marketplace, and Idols of the Theater.

Let us begin then in analyzing these two philosophical texts.

The Allegory of the Cave and the Four Idols

Both of these philosophies may have an impact to the reader's mind on how he views knowledge and the performance of one's mind to it. In that, perception on sources of human knowledge that were suggested by Plato and Francis Bacon have sensible philosophical views and yet can create arguments upon basis on reality in a human life.

Plato has a way of explaining how the human mind acquires information and knowledge, and how it perceive things base on what it sees and hears, and not on the reality of the concepts and perceptions it holds. He used the prisoners as a symbol of how our mind works. The symbolism runs as follows.

Prisoners were chained and were not able to move their heads. Behind them were puppeteers that cast shadows of objects on the wall that are straight on the prisoners' sight. When the prisoners see a shadow on the wall, they will name the shadow with a term based on how they see the shadow. For example, the shadow casts a form of a chair. Then, the prisoners will name the shadow as a "chair." Soon, when they speak about a chair, their concept of the term is the image of the shadow and not the physical object of a chair.

This, according to Plato, between the conversations of Socrates and Glaucon, human mind is sometimes deceived by perceptions of things because the mind is unable to see the real thing. Of course, this symbolism by Plato does not only refer to physical things but also to every kind of thinking that deceives or wrongs us because we were not able to have the chance yet of seeing or discovering the truth or reality -- as with a prisoner who's perception of what a particular term speaks of is a shadow in the form that he perceives.

The Allegory of the Cave also explored how humans will react on how they used to perceived things after having the chance to see reality. He symbolizes this again by continuing the story on what happened to the prisoner after being released and having the freedom to move his head. While walking around and seeing the puppeteers and the objects that they cast shadow on the wall, the prisoner will at first imagine that what he is seeing is just an imagination and that the shadows that his eyes got used to are the more real objects. As Socrates indicated in the text,

"Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?"

Moreover, he may reject the reality and opt to get back to his old habitation. However, if he is compelled to look at the reality, he will find how deplorable his thinking used to be.

In the previous paragraph, similar event of things happen to a human mind. There are times when a human mind holds strong to a perception despite it doesn't have enough basis for that perception. But because the things that made it perceive that way are the only available sources, it tends to lose the ability of right reasoning as well as to lose the motivation of seeking the truth. This can be indicated by the following words of Socrates.

"...But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears ...must have his eye fixed."

It means like the prisoners whose eyes are fixed, the idea that they bear are those things that appear to them and not the reality. However, when the time comes that the truth is revealed, because the human mind already holds strong to what it believes in, it tends to reject the truth and instead hold stronger and defend the wrong perception. But forcing the human mind of looking at the truth and reality, it will soon regret and realized his mistakes as well as wanting not to be in the miserable condition of perceiving wrongly. As indicated by Glaucon in the text, [Glaucon] Yes, he said, I think that he [the prisoner] would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner

In general, Plato's point-of-view is that the human intellect has the tendency of depending on the forms of things that it sees rather on having the motivation of seeking the truth. At some level, without seeking for reality, the concepts that our mind grasps lead us to errors. Plato's point is that the human mind should learn how to seek and achieve the truth for it is where everything matters. Such truth though may be seen last of all among what the human mind sees. But still, the truth is the most important of all. As spoken by Socrates,

" ... But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public or private life must have his eye fixed."

The philosophies in The Four Idols by Francis Bacon have relation to Plato's philosophy of how the human mind works. Similar to how Plato explored the system of thinking of a human mind, how the human mind absorbs information, Bacon's The Four Idols on the other hand focused on the possible sources of how the mind comes up with what it thinks. As with Plato's example indicating that the mind sometimes commits error when it holds to a thinking based on forms/images and not on the real physical object, Bacon also infer the same philosophy when he distinguished four idols, or four images, from which the mind assembles its thinking without the real substance or physical object (as in the case of Plato). These four sources are called by Bacon as follows.

Idols of the Tribe

Idols of the Cave

Idols of the Marketplace

Idols of the Theater

The Idols of the Tribe. This belief, according to Bacon, is based from imaginations that are soon mixed to facts. Due to the curiosity of man and lack of way to know further factual information, imaginations start to exist and are soon held as among the facts. Bacon called this mixture of information as compounds that become inseparable as time passes by.

The Idols of the Cave. This belief is one that comes out of the interest of an individual. The term "cave" in this category refers to a particular interest of the mind in which there is no other thing that the mind roams more but to this cave. However, with the help of factors like environment, habit, and experiences, this belief can be modified.

The Idols of the Marketplace. This refers to man's wrong usage of words. Man uses words to express his thoughts. However, there are times when man substitutes his thoughts with false words that cause the betrayal of the real meaning that needs to be expressed. As stated by Bacon,

"...men believes that their reason governs words; but it is also true that words react on the understanding...."

The Idols of the Theater. This refers to the philosophies that are accepted by many merely because they come from respected and learned individuals. However, according to Bacon, such philosophies can be false and it should not be a habit to quickly believe just because the speaker is a… READ MORE

How to Reference "Plato vs. Francis Bacon" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Francis Bacon Essay

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a politician, statesman, philosopher and scientist who is known, among others, as the founder of the inductive method in science. (the Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary… read more

Essay 3 pages (931 words) Sources: 3 Style: MLA Topic: Philosophy / Logic / Reason

---

Francis Bacon in an Early Work Term Paper

Francis Bacon

In an early work, intended as preface to his life's work Sir. Francis Bacon pronounced his desire to discover and share truth, in his case truth about nature… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3197 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Religion / God / Theology

---

Plato vs. Aristotle Research Proposal

Plato vs. Aristotle

It is safe to say that Plato and Aristotle are some of the philosophers who played a fundamental part in influencing modern thought in the western society.… read more

Research Proposal 7 pages (2194 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Philosophy / Logic / Reason

---

Francis Bacon Seated Figure 1961 Essay

Francis Bacon's Seated Figure (1961)

Seated Figure (1961)

A self-taught painter, Francis Bacon (1909 -- 1992) found it difficult to express himself verbally when it came to his art form… read more

Essay 7 pages (2212 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Sir Francis Bacon and "Help Lord Research Paper

Sir Francis Bacon and "Help Lord"

Sir Francis Bacon -- Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was a true renaissance man who lived in England. He served as the Attorney General and… read more

Research Paper 5 pages (1450 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Philosophy / Logic / Reason

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>