To what extent is certainty attainable?

The object I have chosen is one of the interpretations of Plato’s allegory of the cave, I choose this object because of the symbolism in the theme of appearance vs reality and the interpretations that have stemmed from it that I enjoy reading and learning more about and comparing with events in my daily life. In the story of the dark cave, Plato has a group of prisoners chained to a wall only being able to see what is directly in front of them behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners, there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. When the prisoners are finally released from their prison they turn to see the objects and fire and realize that their interpretation of their sense perception was wrong. (Allegory of the Cave. (2021).)

 

Reality is socially constructed, meaning that people shape their experiences through social interaction. This argues that society is created by humans and human interaction, known as habitualization. Plato wants us to understand that we right now are in our own dark cave and only seeing a shadow of our reality and that there is a higher reality on a conceptual level. Through his allegory Plato displays the concept of ‘trade-off’which refers to the fact that nothing is perfect, decisions are usually about which imperfections we can tolerate and those we can’t. The limits to our perception limit our reality and the influence it has over our decisions, therefore certainty can only be attainable within the bounds of our perception limiting the level of certainty that is attainable for the knower and the people to that the knowledge is passed on.

The next object is the film ‘The Matrix’. This film portrays a dystopian future where all of humanity is unconsciously trapped in a simulated reality named the matrix, which artificial intelligence has created to subdue and control humans and use their bodies as an energy source ("The Matrix (1999) - IMDb", 2022). The film displays an aspect of knowledge and the knower, specifically the nature of reality: whatever truth may be true today may not be true tomorrow and the possibility of more than one reality. I choose this object because of the ways in which it explores the bounds of reality and human perception of what is real and what is not and examines the possibility of human life being a simulation.

 

The philosophical simulation hypothesis which is one of the main thematic concerns in the film is a proposal regarding the nature of existence which postulates that human existence is an artificial simulation ("Simulation hypothesis - Wikipedia", 2022). This hypothesis argues that certainty is never available because there are multiple possibilities from which our reality is fabricated, using the lens of knowledge and the knower it can be seen that the knowledge available to us fabricates what we believe to be true and right. In the Matrix, once the main character is free from the artificial simulation he begins to question the saying ‘I think therefore I am’ as he thought whilst in the Matrix and didn’t realise it was a simulation until after he broke free from it. From this, we can conclude that objectively there is never any absolute certainty in our senses as humans such as touch and sight because it is all in the mind and therefore can be manipulated limiting the extent to which certainty can be attained from human senses.

My third object is the Gutenberg printing press which was first invented in 1440 by the inventor Johannes Gutenberg following his exile from Germany he began experimenting with printing in France and by 1450 he had developed a fully functional printing press which was then named the Gutenberg press. Historically the Gutenberg printing press was fundamental in changing the medium of communication as well as the preservation of knowledge throughout history as it shifted the main means of historical documentation from verbal communication to that written communication. (Printing Press. (2021)).

 

I chose this object because of the way it delves into the ways in which the knowledge that has been communicated throughout history every day is interpreted in different ways by different people, just as while there are some things that the majority of people agree on, there are always people who perceive things differently due to social norms, cultural bias and generally, and the certainty in their perception of reality.

 

In a time when handwritten manuscripts were used as the main mode of communication as well as verbal communication between people and through the generations to preserve knowledge, the printing press shaped our current knowledge of the catholic religion specifically in relation to the bible by substantiating the evidentiary support. While there were many editions created because of the vast translations of the first printed bible to different languages which affect the credibility of the current bible in today's bible (7 Ways the Printing Press Changed the World. (2021)).

 

Despite the many translations of the printing press preserved this knowledge and made it more reliable as a source of information than verbal communication through generations which would be altered due to cultural bias and social norms of the time and religion would have been eventually lost as many others have been. This increases the certainty attainable in the knowledge preserved within the bible as the majority of the knowers receiving the knowledge are able to tolerate the imperfections as a result of the versions of the bible.

• Allegory of the Cave Allegory of the Cave. (2021). Retrieved 18 September 2021, from https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/c
• The Occidental Soul's Self-Immurement in Plato's Cave The Occidental Soul's Self-Immurement in Plato's Cave. (2021). Retrieved 18 September 2021, from https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia3/cien
• Simulation hypothesis - Wikipedia Simulation hypothesis - Wikipedia. (2022). Retrieved 15 May 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypoth
• Anon (2022). Retrieved 15 May 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HszudMlwGjQ
•  The Matrix - Wikipedia The Matrix - Wikipedia. (2022). Retrieved 15 May 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Matrix
• Certainty - Wikipedia. (2022). Retrieved 20 May 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certainty
• The Matrix (1999) - IMDb. (2022). Retrieved 18 September 2022, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/plotsummary
• printing press | Invention, Definition, History, Gutenberg, & Facts printing press | Invention, Definition, History, Gutenberg, & Facts. (2021). Retrieved 3 November 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/technology/printing-press
• 7 Ways the Printing Press Changed the World 7 Ways the Printing Press Changed the World. (2021). Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance
• Printing Press Printing Press. (2021). Retrieved 4 November 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press