Plato and Freud

Plato:

1. Consider the issue of what it is we know when we rely on our senses. Is sensory knowledge as unreliable as Plato thinks it is?

~ I believe our sensory knowledge is not as unreliable as Pluto says it is. We can use our sense of smell to detect when something is burning and treat the problem before it gets out of hand. We can use our sense of hearing to listen if someone is yelling for help. We can use our sight to see a forest fire and warn others. There are many uses for our senses that not only protect our life but helps enhance the learning experience. For example, if you're an auditory learning we use our sense of hearing to listen to a video or a presentation which helps us learn better.

2. Are we materialistic when we praise sense perception? What are the alternatives to any such materialism arising from overvaluing (or solely valuing) sense experience?

~ Truthfully, I don't know if we are materialistic when we praise sense perception. But, some alternatives could be using common sense or logical reasoning.

3. If we could perceive the world beneath sense experience, what would it be like?

~If we perceived a world beneath sense experience it would be very dull. It would pretty much be a world without emotions and the people would be machines.

4. I often ask my students to choose a sense that they do not already have and add it as a sixth sense that cannot be a merger of any of the five. It has to be new—not smelling, seeing, or hearing from a great distance. If nothing else, this exercise helps them begin to realize how hemmed in we are by our senses — particularly when I point out the ultimate similarity of touch, taste, and odor, three of the five senses that constitute virtually one sense with three “flavors.”

~The ability to sense when someone is good or bad would be my sixth sense.

Freud

1. Do you feel your dreams have a significance that would be useful to understand?

~Depends on what kind of dream that I have. Sometimes I believe I have a valuable dream that would be significant to understand, but there are also times when I know my dreams are just pointless.

2. What dreams most mystify you?

~Dreams that mystify me are dreams involving the people around me. Whether I know them or not.

3. Which dreams are frightening? Describe a recent frightening dream.

~Dreams that are frightening are the ones that play on my fears. A recent frightening dream I've had involved me being in the middle of nowhere getting chased by giant spiders. I hate spiders so that was definitely a scary dream to me.

4. Why do you think most people forget their dreams?

~I think most people forget their dreams because our mind is already racing through multiple things at once and it's hard for us to remember every single detail of the dream.

5. Is dreaming a mental activity?

~I do believe dreaming is a mental activity because there are dreams that incorporate our memories of people and our fears as well.