Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Is Ignorance Bliss?
In Chapter 12 of the Republic Socrates argues that pleasure based on the truth is more substantial than pleasure based on illusion and falsehood. Since a moral person is ruled by reason, he or she will have a clearer access to the truth and therefore will choose more substantial pleasure. But is Socrates correct? Does it matter if pleasure is based on truth -- or are all pleasure equally valuable? Does it matter if your pleasure in your spouse's love is based on actual love -- or an amazing acting job designed to finagle your inheritance when you die? Does it matter if the pleasure you have in the belief you scored a winning touchdown is based on reality -- or a dream which you will never wake up from (since you are in a coma from trying to play a game of football)? Is ignorance bliss?
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(PART 1)
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 12 of the Republic, Plato’s Socrates makes some pretty important and colossal claims regarding pleasure and truth. First, let us lay the groundwork for the response to the questions posed above by reminding ourselves what Plato presents in his dialogue. He asks whether, “it [is] odd for people who have never experienced truth, and who therefore have unreliable views about a great many subjects, to be in the same position where pleasure, and the intermediate states are concerned?” and further explains that, “They not only hold the correct opinion that they are feeling pain, and do in fact feel pain, when they move into a state of pain, but they’re also certain about the satisfaction and pleasure they feel when they move away from pain and into the intermediate state. But they’re being misled: there’s no difference between people who’ve never experienced pleasure comparing pain with the absence of pain, and people who’ve never experienced white comparing black with grey” (333). He goes on to claim, “that people to whom intelligence and goodness are unfamiliar, whose only interest is self-indulgence and so on, spend their lives moving aimlessly to and fro between the bottom and the halfway point, which is as far as they reach…food and sex are their only concerns, and their insatiable greed for more and more drives them to kick and butt one another to death their horns and hoofs of iron, killing one another because they’re seeking satisfaction in unreal things for a part of themselves which is also unreal – a leaky vessel they’re trying to fill,” to which Glaucon declared, “‘Socrates….you’ve given an inspired and perfect description of the life that most people lead” (335). Plato’s Socrates is making the argument that people are fundamentally unable to accurately understand and judge pleasure if they have not experienced the truth. It is concluded that the majority of people live life without understanding truth (a thing philosophers are able to grasp) and thus are not experiencing pleasure based on truth, and ultimately are not experiencing a pleasure as substantial as one based on truth.
With Plato arguing, as the prompt states, “that a pleasure based on truth is more substantial than pleasure based on illusion and falsehood,” our job now is to analyze if his statement is correct, and to see whether it truly matters if pleasure is based on truth, or if pleasures are equally valuable. With the groundwork set, I will now answer the prompt.
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Obviously, if one later understands that their bliss was founded on falsehood, it is no question that pleasure based on truth is more substantial than pleasure based on the falsehood, as the former will persist and the latter will eventually die, and ultimately will produce pain instead. However, the question is not so simple, and asks if pleasure based on truth is still more substantial even if the person never wakes up from their dream. The question cuts to the core of the matter, and asks us if there truly is a difference between pleasures that come from reality and pleasures that come from beliefs. I still question, as I often do in class, this “true reality” that Plato speaks of and if such a thing does exist – but, if it does, I do agree with Plato (for the most part). If one never experiences truth, never gets to the highest epistemological state, they do not have the capacity nor depth to experience the highest amount of pleasure. With knowledge and reality comes a profound feeling of enormity, and a high competence and power to feel the most genuine emotions. Thus, someone without such a connection to the truth is bound to feel an inferior type of pleasure. In the case of the fake touchdown and false marriage, this argument stands strong. For the first, we can use an analogy of a dream. In a dream, one can feel pleasure – but wouldn’t you say that the emotions felt in a dream are secondary to the emotions felt when one is awake? Similarly, would pleasure from reality, real pleasure, not be superior to those experienced during a stupor of awe? As for the false marriage, if your spouse’s love is not based on actual love, you may still feel great pleasure if you believe it to be real. However, it is hard to argue that if one could experience it, true love would feel an infinite times better.
However, there is a nuance in this argument. Although I agree that those with knowledge and truth have the capacity to feel more substantial pleasure than those without them, I do not think that these people who know the truth are generally happier. Yes, truth and reality lead to a profound feeling of enormity and the ability to feel the most authentic emotions, but these emotions include profound sadness as well. Truth enables us to feel more genuinely, and more often than not, at least in the world we live in, the truth can be a tragic thing. There is misogyny and racism, there is hunger and poverty, there is abuse and brutal violence, and there is war and death. There is the fact that nothing really ever lasts forever, and that the most wonderful relationship can lead to the most heart wrenching end. The truth enlightens us, ironically perhaps, by showing us the darkness that truly exists. Unlike what Plato may believe, the truth is not necessarily a beautiful thing. So while I do agree with Plato and believe that pleasure based on truth is more profound and substantial than pleasure based on falsehoods as I argued above, I also believe that those who know the truth are not generally happier. Ignorance is bliss. You feel pleasure and do not have to worry about the reality of the world. Truth has the capacity to provide more genuine pleasure, but does not necessarily make a person happier overall. While I personally still would choose truth, I can understand the benefits of living in ignorance.
- Seysha
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ReplyDeleteTrue illusion is no less real then reality. When in a dream, the dreamer is rarely aware that his current state isn't reality. As far as the dreamer is concerned, his dream IS reality. Perception, no matter how distorted, is still the highest form of reality that can be achieved. That being said, a dream/illusion/lie will forever be equal in worth to a "genuine" experience. Ignorance is equal to truth because there is no "real" truth. The entire human perception of reality is based on mere physical laws that only exist because they have yet to be disproven. Religion is an excellent example of the power of illusion. Most people of religion live their life in accordance with a moral code. They abide by these rules because they find it gives them a better life and they hope that it will give them an afterlife. If a man goes his entire life doing the right things and gaining satisfaction because he believes he is doing good, he believes he lived a life worth living. It doesn't even matter if what he did was morally correct or not . All that really matters is how the man thought he lived. His perception is his reality, and his reality is no different than mine or yours.
ReplyDeleteHowever, an ignorant man can be shown the errors of his way by others, and have regrets about how he once was. A shattered illusion is considered bad because it no longer has value. Essentially, living a lie is fine until you realize it’s a lie. That is the major downfall of ignorance, and the reason why most people choose to enlighten themselves rather than live lies.
In many ways, I find myself in agreement with Socrates claim that truth leads to the most substantial pleasure. It makes sense that philosophers would experience the most substantial pleasure because their existence is defined by the search for knowledge, and their search for knowledge is driven by the truth. Pleasure that is based on truth is in many ways the safest pleasure one can experience because everything is just as it appears. There is no chance to experience pain because the pleasure that is felt is genuine. Pleasure that is based on falsehood on the other hand always has the ability to hurt you. When your pleasure is based off of a lie you don't necessarily know where or when, but everything could fall apart instantaneously. It's not necessarily that the pleasure that you feel in any given moment is substantially better or worse but in the long run, the pleasure based off of falsehood is what will cause more danger and pain. This is because falsehood entails an element of surprise in finding out that things were not what you thought they were. Even though the truth can be hard to hear sometimes at the end of the day it is the truth and even if it is bad its better to hear it sooner rather than later. Pleasure based off of falsehood is only really a problem if you know it is false. But if it appears to be true there is no substantial problem with it in the moment, but in the long run you do risk finding out that your pleasure is false which will leave you with only pain. In many ways ignorance is bliss, but only when you don't know that you are in fact ignorant. The moment that you feel a pleasure that is better, genuine, driven by truth pleasure based on falsehood is ruined because it just doesn't compare.
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