Reconstructing an eternal philosophy

“[Universalists]argue that our current situation is similar to that of the prisoners in Plato's cave. In The Republic, Plato tells the allegory of slaves who are chained in a dimly lit cave and forced to watch their shadows passing across the wall in front of them. Because they are chained and unable to turn around, the slaves cannot see who is casting the shadow, nor can they recognize the shadow as a shadow. They assume that the shadow world before them is all that is real. Plato argued that we are like those prisoners, bound by our assumptions, mistaking what we currently see and understand for all that we can see and understand. Applying this allegory to our own situation, we assume that our minds and senses are showing us everything that is actually going on, but in Plato's opinion we are complacent with a partial and misleading view.

“Eternalists, and most mystics of the past, believe that there is another world outside Plato's cave, an illuminating landscape full of purpose, meaning, and value. That is what is really going on while we are content with our partial view. And while understanding this larger world (actually an expanded vision of our world) may transcend our current mental state, the noetic awakening that brings it into focus does not contradict the laws of science (this is an important point for most eternalists, and we will discuss it in Part III). But how do we access this world of light beyond Plato's cave? That is the subject of the next chapter.”

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