 |
A Classical Perspective on Technology for Learning and Teaching about Politics
| |
| | Unformatted Document Text:
says to draw (or imagine drawing) a line and to cut it into segments, one for the class that is seen and the other for the class that is intellected. From bottom to top the line moves from the relatively obscure to clear. Each of the two major realms is then divided into two parts as well so that the line now includes four basic segments. The lower segment within the visible realm is the segment that includes images, at least beginning with simple shadows and reflections. The next level in the line includes the things that the images represent, so that a picture of a house might appear in the lowest level while the house itself might appear in the second level. Moving to the intelligible realm, the third level includes things that are understood or seen through thought about the objects and images from the visible realm. Thus, by experiencing many images of houses as well as by seeing many physical houses with the eyes and touching them with the hands one can amass data that enable one to understand what "house" means, without that understanding being limited to this or that particular house or even style of house. At this level the concept of house is real and has definite meaning, and, in fact, a more comprehensive and accurate meaning than any particular physical representation of that concept in the "real" or visible world might have. At this level human beings know things in a far more sophisticated and meaningful way than they do merely by experiencing this or that manifestation of things. The invisible concept of a house makes it more clear that each particular house to be found in the visible world is, in fact, a house and that some may participate in various aspects of being a house more or less thoroughly than others. It also can enable us to distinguish between this or that house, particularly by combining the concept of house with other concepts such as big and small, red, comfortable, safe, and so on. This concept of a house is more real, more sophisticated, and more meaningful than any particular house. It provides us with an assumption or "hypothesis" (the word that Socrates uses) that facilitates clarity about what the visible is. At the highest level of the divided line one gains still greater clarity about that hypothesis, and indeed escapes its hypothetical nature, its dependence on the physical manifestations in the visible, and moves to knowledge, or science, about first principles. The concept of house, for example, involves certain assumptions about the nature of human beings, their physical needs, and their more complete fulfillment. Understanding those assumptions, and very often understanding them as assumptions, requires movement to a level that is free of such preconceptions, enabling us to appreciate them for what they are and for why they are needed. This fourth level or highest level of learning is the level of the ideas, and in particular the idea of the good, and Socrates notes that it is so difficult that he
4
|
| | Authors: Webking, Robert. |
|
| |
|
|
says to draw (or imagine drawing) a line and to cut it into segments,
one for the class that is seen and the other for the class that is
intellected. From bottom to top the line moves from the relatively
obscure to clear. Each of the two major realms is then divided into
two parts as well so that the line now includes four basic segments.
The lower segment within the visible realm is the segment that
includes images, at least beginning with simple shadows and
reflections. The next level in the line includes the things that the
images represent, so that a picture of a house might appear in the
lowest level while the house itself might appear in the second level.
Moving to the intelligible realm, the third level includes things that are
understood or seen through thought about the objects and images
from the visible realm. Thus, by experiencing many images of houses
as well as by seeing many physical houses with the eyes and touching
them with the hands one can amass data that enable one to
understand what "house" means, without that understanding being
limited to this or that particular house or even style of house. At this
level the concept of house is real and has definite meaning, and, in
fact, a more comprehensive and accurate meaning than any particular
physical representation of that concept in the "real" or visible world
might have. At this level human beings know things in a far more
sophisticated and meaningful way than they do merely by experiencing
this or that manifestation of things. The invisible concept of a house
makes it more clear that each particular house to be found in the
visible world is, in fact, a house and that some may participate in
various aspects of being a house more or less thoroughly than others.
It also can enable us to distinguish between this or that house,
particularly by combining the concept of house with other concepts
such as big and small, red, comfortable, safe, and so on. This concept
of a house is more real, more sophisticated, and more meaningful than
any particular house. It provides us with an assumption or
"hypothesis" (the word that Socrates uses) that facilitates clarity about
what the visible is. At the highest level of the divided line one gains
still greater clarity about that hypothesis, and indeed escapes its
hypothetical nature, its dependence on the physical manifestations in
the visible, and moves to knowledge, or science, about first principles.
The concept of house, for example, involves certain assumptions about
the nature of human beings, their physical needs, and their more
complete fulfillment. Understanding those assumptions, and very
often understanding them as assumptions, requires movement to a
level that is free of such preconceptions, enabling us to appreciate
them for what they are and for why they are needed. This fourth level
or highest level of learning is the level of the ideas, and in particular
the idea of the good, and Socrates notes that it is so difficult that he
4
|
|
 Convention | | All Academic Convention is the premier solution for your association's abstract management solutions needs. | | Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf. | | Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets! | | Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more! | | Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering. | | Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more! | | Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches! | | Click here for more information. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
