Open AccessPlato, fetters round the neck, and the Quran
Author(s) -
Victoria Holbrook
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
studia philosophica wratislaviensia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1895-8001
DOI - 10.19195/1895-8001.16.4.2
Subject(s) - theme (computing) , allegory , meaning (existential) , context (archaeology) , philosophy , literature , arabic , art , epistemology , history , linguistics , archaeology , computer science , operating system
I analyze fi gures and themes of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” evident in chapter thirty-six of the Quran. I argue that the two texts share (1) a neck fetter fixing the head; (2) a spatial organization of barriers before and behind and covering above; (3) a theme of failure to see the truth and assault upon those who tell the truth, and (4) a theme of transcendent reality as a context of meaning. I argue that the Quran displays an inheritance of some Platonic thought in Arabic at least two centuries prior to any known translation of Plato.