Читать книгу Philosophy For Dummies - Tom Morris - Страница 21

The man who first escapes the cave of illusion that Plato thinks we live in is the philosopher, the one among us who comes to realize that we are all in some way living lives of illusion, held captive by shadows and chains not of our own making. When he brings back into the cave his strange tale of other things and greater realities, he is cheered by some and jeered by others. We have a way of becoming comfortable with our illusions when they are all we’ve ever known. And so we are easily threatened by any strange reports of greater realities. But the true philosopher tries to free as many of his fellow captives as possible, liberating them to live in the broader, brighter realities that lie beyond the narrow confines of their customary perceptions.

That is a vivid image of the ultimate task of philosophy. Its goal is to free us from illusion and help us get a grip on the most fundamental realities of our world.