Originally posted by dave420
reply to post by 1234567
It's strange an obviously-allegorical story about a country could be so viciously clung-to by people.
Dr. Julia Annas has this to say:
The continuing industry of discovering Atlantis illustrates the dangers of reading Plato. For he is clearly using what has become a standard device of
fiction — stressing the historicity of an event (and the discovery of hitherto unknown authorities) as an indication that what follows is fiction.
The idea is that we should use the story to examine our ideas of government and power. We have missed the point if instead of thinking about
these issues we go off exploring the sea bed. The continuing misunderstanding of Plato as historian here enables us to see why his distrust of
imaginative writing is sometimes justified.
Plato was a philosopher, not a historian. He was using Atlantis as a setting to encourage discussion on government, not discussing an actual place.
I appreciate your level headed approach to the topic, it gives us balance between the current paradigm of thought, straight and demanding evidence,
and the imaginative lands that certain areas of thought can bring us.
But just as you propose, Atlantis as being a completely allegorical concept, used as a tool by Plato to communicate ideals, ideas, general concepts
about government and social organisation...
Examine his allegory of the cave.
I wont go into details explaining it's details here, but do you not admit, that that same set of circumstances, HAVE been, intentionally or not,
used, in the psychological testing and guinea-pigging of people during the shock-treatments, and chemical experiments of the CIA's MK-ULTRA?
Restricting subjects into restraints, forcing them to absorb specific visual and auditory stimuli.
Think the final climatic scenes of "A Clockwork Orange"
Where the main character is restrained and forced to be exposed to images of violence in order to re-program his mind to be sick of that type of
behavior.
Extrapolate that times a few billion people, replace the restraints with the "desire to relax" in a sofa after a hard days work, with the subject
staring into the massive barrage of programming from a 40 inch wide high definition plasma television set.
His concept of being restrained in a horseshoe shaped indentation at the back of a cave, being exposed to nothing but the visual information of
silhouettes portrayed on the back of the cave wall, created by puppetry masters
behind and above the indented horseshoe shape.. using puppets
in front of a bonfire.. to cast those shadows at the back of the wall which all the subjects observe their entire life... knowing nothing but those
images.. and what they represent... some.. feeding time.. some .. sex time.. etc .. etc..
Plato's ideas and comments have time-sensitive dynamic repercussions.
If the concept of "Atlantis" was merely something to "get people into the cool trend of thinking about government"... I'll be DAMNED.
He described a perfect Utopia, something that any intelligent civilisation of elites would strive for.. perfect efficiency for advancement and
intellectual growth.
The radial concentric circles of intersected land and water, the most efficient methods of irrigation, and social order..
whether "allegorical concept" or not...
WILL be created eventually because it's a logistical apex of any society.. eventually.
so, while I appreciate your side of thinking , the OP has his mind in the right place AS WELL, as seeing Atlantis as being something that would and
will be created.. or.. re-created, because most appraised the architectural manifestations of human creation, regarding social structure, are both at
the same time symbolic, (with hidden allegorical roots), AND functionary as truly useful to the inhabitants.
Just look at Washington D.C.
-
