“Plato’s Cave” – Artist Unknown
does authority shackle us
in a shadow world of half-truths
cast before us by unseen fire
is enlightenment after all
merely the selfsame illusions
by different inadequate light
can the sunlit unfettered few
convince us the world offers more
than dark reflections from the pyre
between truth and perception are
distortions imposed by those who
prefer we have ignorant sight
(originally posted January 2013)
Writer Lynne Sargent
Poetry Puttering by Pax & Company
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Poesy plus Polemics 
Reblogged this on Poesy plus Polemics and commented:
(Another reblog from my first month here – January.)
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Hmm this is a thought piece for sure as I continue to pray for those in authority.
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as do I – I’m glad it gave you food for thought
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excellent questions poetically expressed! you echo for me many of my favorite writers who critiqued enlightenment values as politically re-described forms of authoritarianism. only now we worship “Truth” instead of “God,” and expect others to fall in line or be severely punished…and if that is the case, then how does the individual find a healthier path to personal truths that yet have meaning for more than just one thinker alone? what’s the balance between (as Richard rorty describes it) private irony and public hope? I don’t know the answers. i’m glad to find another sympathetic questioner. Stephen batchelor wrote a great essay on this (short book) called “alone with others.”
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I no longer read/study philosophy – but my aging mind still reflects often on its questions – know very little of Rorty
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in my experience enlightenment is real. The forms of the good are the processes needed to ensure the mutual success of the endeavor. In my EQUITY IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIP THEORY & SHARED STATE THEORY OF COMMUNICATION I delineate the ancient type of relationship which has been lost, the rational relationship i call the “praxis of the rational” but it is far more complicated then that.
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philosophy is always more complicated – it’s perhaps why I enjoy the challenge of distilling some into poetry
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I really enjoy your style and subject matter, very creative and original, very cerebral.
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Pingback: Deconstructing Plato’s Cave | Thought Uncommon
The last stanza was very powerful and summed it all up. Excellent as always.
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I’m so glad to hear that – I love philosophy but it’s very difficult to express it in poetry
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Your poetic calibre is very far beyond my reach Paul F Lenzi Sir.😊 …I fall short of words to appreciate your each and poem …you serve as an inspiration to me. ..I love your poems on fractals very much. ..that’s why you will find a pic of fractals on most of my post’s
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they have always been a source of fascination to me
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For me too 😊
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thanks for reading and commenting
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Maybe that’s the best way to tackle philosophy—ask questions of your own. The light and darkness imagery is very expressive.
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I’ve asked my shadow many questions
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Pingback: Allegory of the cave: poetic tribute to the dilemma of false wisdom ⇒ Stephen Dunn, F. Lenzi, Jonathan and Raj Nandy – Sohochari
thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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