Epistemology and Descartes Essay

In twain Platos Allegory of the Cave and Descartes The Fourth Meditation, they discuss accuracy what it is, where it comes from and how to cross off it from falsehood and error. Platos paper is more metaphorical and uses imagery to paint a picture of his idea of truth, while Descartes is more straight forward, and uses examples. These written document argon written very differently but ar, at the alike(p) time, very similar when it comes to content. Although its not word for word, these two written document complement each another(prenominal) very well when it comes to defining truth and explaining its origin.In Allegory of the Cave, Platos view is that our senses, such as sight, skew our disposition of true recognizeledge. We are, for all intense and offices, chained at the screw and ankles, un qualified to move. Our world is a cave lit by a fire disguised as the sun. We only see what is before us our shadows, our falsities and errors. However, on the rare occasion that we break free from our chains, we are able to experience true knowledge. We understand the world around us and crystallize what we at a time thought we k smart isnt real. We view things in a new perspective, a new lightsunlight.This is what Plato believes truth is. The cave where men are chained is, essentially, a mask, hiding Earths true identity. one time that mask is taken off, we know Earths true identity, we understand. unitary may relate being unchained to an epiphany, or divine intervention. Its an experience of something so pure, so insightful you know it to be true. And once we have experienced this pure truth, we must return to the cave live by shadows and lit with an artificial sun. We must do to this so we mickle share our true knowledge with others, so they too, may one sidereal day be unchained. In The Fourth Meditation, Descartes rationalizes Gods Will, and all of imperfections, with a series of questions and answers. In this paper, Descartes describes God as the source of goodness, truth and being. He is in bounded. The opposite of God, Descartes states, is nothingness. So, since we humans exist, Descartes explains we must be somewhere in between these two extremes. We are neither infinite, nor are we nothingness. We are finite, as God willed us to be. We consist of being and non-being. And any imperfection we may have is not a result of our being, rather our non-beingour error, in other words. Descartes says that when we know we know something, we are 100 percent sure nigh it. We have no feelings against it. Its a sudden realization, an epiphany perhaps. And in this state, our judgments are certain and true. Descartes also talks nearly how we can not know anything certainly, without whole toneing at the whole picture. For example, scientists cannot expect to prove or contradict Gods existence by looking at specific, finite things in the universe.Or if people try to disprove God by saying there is evil in the world, they arent looking at the big picture. For, in the big picture, Descartes thinks there would be an explanation, a purpose for evil. So even though Plato and Descartes give very different types of explanations about truth, and its origin, they come to similar conclusions. They both view truth as something beyond our ordinary senses. They both suggest taking a look at the bigger picture to find truth (being unchained/understanding Gods infinite being). And they both agree that, when the truth is know, it inescapably to be shared.