"Thinking Outside the Box"

Jean Paul Sartre and Plato, men separated by a thousand year epoch, yet both men of philosophy, philosophers. Though it may have no immediate physically empirical "value", the ruminations of men, the critical thinkers, contemplators, seekers of knowledge, ideological truths and depth of analytical thought, philosophy is essential to the understanding of knowledge, who we are, what we are, what we will or can become, the universe, our most peculiar human condition, ultimately…ourselves. With astounding relevancy/modernity if not some sort of Nostradamus-esque pre-cognizance of thought, Plato, really, both of these men have been vital to our own pillars of contemporary philosophical comprehension. With his philosophically prodigious play “No Exit” Sartre conveys a plethora of themes yet one bears striking resemblance with his progenitor, Plato’s proposed concepts of human thought processes, who we are, why we are, how we think. Indeed just like Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Sartre focuses, with razor sharp, laser focused syntax and structure (unlike the somewhat unwieldy “rigid” and obviously dated/re-translated rhetoric of Plato) as well as lamenman, audience friendly, diction (another difference from the academically gifted but sometimes dense textual tongue of Plato) upon the idea that humans are ultimately the only ones who define themselves, create their own self and existence. The cave dwellers, denizens deprived of light in the Allegory of the Cave illustrate the unique, impressive but sometimes blightful facet of our conscious wherein the dwellers did not wish to leave the dank, dark, but ignorantly comfortable shackles of the cave, did not wish for the light of day, enlightenment. The characters of Sarte’s work share a common thread as the three damned souls refuse to admit to their own guilt, rather self-deceptively dubbing themselves innocent, calling themselves “victims” of the situation, absent of any and all guilt, they with their own thoughts condition themselves, genuinely believe that their acts of depravity were not their fault.Thus both Plato and Sarte's philosophical dogmas surface: the mind, the person in control of said mind, internalized thoughts and withheld beliefs is ultimately what defines who we are, as well a what are our limits. The cave dwellers did not utilize their faculties to receive some sort of ballyhooed enlightenment, rather they enjoyed their ignorance, buying into the simplicity that they weren't not meant to or even able to walk out into the day, yet again, achieve enlightenment, just as the three damned souls convinced themselves they were innocent and above guilt, that it wasn't their fault they were damned. Though there may be over one thousand years between the two, both Plato and Sarte's works have not only influenced western philosophy but have shed further light on the questions of our existence, our condition, the human condition. Shedding light on the power of our minds, on one universal truth: we are who we are, we are limited ONLY if we believe so.