Hotel Bar Sessions - The Allegory of the Cave

The Allegory of the Cave

03/31/23 • 56 min

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Hotel Bar Sessions

The HBS hosts consider the merits and demerits of the red pill/blue pill option.

The Allegory of the Cave (a section from Plato's longer dialogue entitled Republic) is one of the most famous and widely referenced passages in the history of Western philosophy. Many, even those who are not "professional" philosophers, are at least noddingly familiar with Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Yet, those who have never had the opportunity to read it may wonder: what does Plato actually say in the Allegory of the Cave? What are the details of this strange story? Which ones of them matter? Is there a right or wrong way to understand this allegory?

This week, the HBS hosts are taking a long stroll through the text of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, parsing what is actually said within it, and taking time to entertain diversions into its contemporary reformulations (e.g., in films like The Matrix and They Live).

Should we all be motivated to exit the "cave," despite the pain involved in doing so? Or, alternatively, is there a way to justify choosing to remain in the cave?

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-90-the-allegory-of-the-cave
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If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.

The HBS hosts consider the merits and demerits of the red pill/blue pill option.

Should we all be motivated to exit the "cave," despite the pain involved in doing so? Or, alternatively, is there a way to justify choosing to remain in the cave?

You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.

Previous Episode

Late Capitalism

In a passage that could be considered the motto of our historical moment, Fredric Jameson writes "It seems to be easier for us today to imagine the thoroughgoing deterioration of the earth and of nature than the breakdown of late capitalism; perhaps that is due to some weakness in our imagination." Why does capitalism seem so inescapable? Why do we see it not just as an economic system that came into existence at a particular time, and will end at some point as well, but as a reflection of some fundamental truth about the world and ourselves–what Mark Fisher calls Capitalist Realism? At the same time, given Jameson’s allusion to the weakness of our imagination, might we be missing the way that capitalism is already mutating, changing into something else, not a revolutionary transformation into communism, but into a kind of digital feudalism in which we pay rent in information to a new class of tech overlords just to survive? How can we both imagine alternatives to capitalism and recognize the transformations it is already undergoing?In other words, can we evict the capitalist that lives rent free in our head, or at the very least start charging it rent.

Full episode notes available at this link:
https://hotelbarpodcast.com/podcast/episode-89-late-capitalism-2
-------------------
If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.

Next Episode

REPLAY: Robots (with David Gunkel)

The HBS hosts are on break between Seasons 6 and 7, so we're REPLAYing our Season 2 conversation with David Gunkel about robots and robot rights.

The HBS hosts interview Dr. David Gunkel (author of Robot Rights and How To Survive A Robot Invasion) about his work on emergent technologies, intelligent machines, and robots. Following the recent announcement by Elson Musk that Tesla is developing a humanoid robot for home use, we ask: what is the real difference between a robot and a toaster?

Do robots and intelligent machines rise to the level of “persons”? Should we accord them moral consideration or legal rights? Or are those questions just the consequence of our over-anthropomorphizing robots and intelligent machines?

Full episode notes available at this link.

-------------------
If you enjoy Hotel Bar Sessions podcast, please be sure to subscribe and submit a rating/review! Follow us on Twitter @hotelbarpodcast, on Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

You can also help keep this podcast going by supporting us financially at patreon.com/hotelbarsessions.