Knowledge Is the True Organ of Sight, not the Eyes Essay

Knowledge Is the True Organ of Sight, not the Eyes - Essay Example Quoting Plato’s cave example, Falzon (2002) explains that like Plato’s compelling image of the cave, normal human beings tend to imagine things or believe in things that might merely be shadows or mere appearance, and that real-world could be something very different. Knowledge gained through senses creates images that humans tend to imagine again and again, which might not correlate with reality most of the times. Therefore, knowledge gained through senses might not be appropriate in all situations. Instead, knowledge gained through understanding and rationality helps in misinterpreting the information that senses perceive. It is interesting to note that what we see produces limited knowledge as the information involved is limited; but, what we observe imbibes greater knowledge and information. For example, Placher (1983; p.154) quotes the example of Aquinas's argument that explained how human beings see the changes in the world; but they realize that the changes happe ning in any object is because of changes happening elsewhere. The ability to see the changes happening elsewhere is observation. This observation is important for gaining an understanding of what is happening and its source as well as its outcome. In this manner, distinct events can be related and thus an understanding can be gained, which ultimately leads to improved knowledge.