Week 1 - Plato (Republic) vs Susan Sontag (Greatest Democracy)
Dominic, Andrea and Alex
For us, the Allegory of the Cave was a direct image for media. People have a limited vision of the world and might only see shadow (media). When looking at shadow (media) people will often take it for the truth. The affect, when looking at shadow is not always representative of the actual truth as the seen shadow and it source are not always the same thing. Since everyone believe shadow to be truth, it is very hard for one single individual to turn to unbelief. As Socrates suggest the cave to be comparison with ignorance, he does offer a logical way for mans to ''escape'' from this cave and even to build the ideal Republic along the way. Could this point to an ideal use of media?
In the later part of Plato Allegory of the Cave, Socrates tell us how the ideal citizen should be and how a great Republic should communicate. While he does make some really good points, after reading the second lecture, we realize a contrast between what would be an ''ideal communication'' in an ''ideal Republic'' compared to the ''current communication'' in the ''greatest democracy''. In ''Regarding the Torture of Others'', Susan Sontag show a huge gap between ideal citizen and the current reality by presenting the recent ''public relation disaster'' with the Abu Ghraib prison. While Plato citizen are virtuous, American politicians are clearly not and the ideal communication does not take place. The media is not ''logical''. With the expansion of internet and digital storage device, she suggest the world media to be much more chaotic as everyone send message to everyone.
In conclusion our group was divided. Is Plato ''enlightenment'' and ideal Republic possible or not? Some though the human nature was savage and violent and that perfect communication would never be possible (media would always be part shadow). For now anyway, media seems full of noise and for us to study/understand it, we will need to approach it accordingly.
For us, the Allegory of the Cave was a direct image for media. People have a limited vision of the world and might only see shadow (media). When looking at shadow (media) people will often take it for the truth. The affect, when looking at shadow is not always representative of the actual truth as the seen shadow and it source are not always the same thing. Since everyone believe shadow to be truth, it is very hard for one single individual to turn to unbelief. As Socrates suggest the cave to be comparison with ignorance, he does offer a logical way for mans to ''escape'' from this cave and even to build the ideal Republic along the way. Could this point to an ideal use of media?
In the later part of Plato Allegory of the Cave, Socrates tell us how the ideal citizen should be and how a great Republic should communicate. While he does make some really good points, after reading the second lecture, we realize a contrast between what would be an ''ideal communication'' in an ''ideal Republic'' compared to the ''current communication'' in the ''greatest democracy''. In ''Regarding the Torture of Others'', Susan Sontag show a huge gap between ideal citizen and the current reality by presenting the recent ''public relation disaster'' with the Abu Ghraib prison. While Plato citizen are virtuous, American politicians are clearly not and the ideal communication does not take place. The media is not ''logical''. With the expansion of internet and digital storage device, she suggest the world media to be much more chaotic as everyone send message to everyone.
In conclusion our group was divided. Is Plato ''enlightenment'' and ideal Republic possible or not? Some though the human nature was savage and violent and that perfect communication would never be possible (media would always be part shadow). For now anyway, media seems full of noise and for us to study/understand it, we will need to approach it accordingly.
posted by Dominic at 8:57 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home