Power And Knowledge

Power and Knowledge: Plato vs. Foucault

Plato and Michel Foucault believe both in power and knowledge; however they both have different perspectives on the matter. Their thoughts vary on how power and knowledge is gained. Plato and Foucault’s ideas differ and to this day their ideas have had an impact on the people and the world we live in.

In Plato’s book, The Republic, he discusses power and knowledge. The job of the politicians is to keep the people happy. It’s their job to control the people. In order to control the people one must be in power. The cave is a good example of that. The Politicians are in control of the prisoners in the cave. All the power and control is located inside the cave. The people in power control what the prisoners learn and what they should believe. As for the men in the cave, they are chained up from head to toe. They do not know what to learn or think. Staring at a wall looking at shadows, these men believe whatever the politicians are telling them. The politicians are in power and in control of the prisoners when in the cave.

On the other hand, even though the politicians hold the power they do not have control over what a prisoner learns once they leave the cave. Once one leaves the cave he is breaking away from the power. When the prisoner is finally out of the cave and steps foot outside into the real world that is when he will experience true knowledge. Unlike the knowledge learned in the cave true knowledge is different. It is pure and true. The prisoner is out of the cave now; he can learn and experience the things around him. He can see that the sun is good and it is what keeps life going. The politicians do have knowledge, but enough to keep the prisoners in the cave in control. However, the knowledge the prisoners have over the prisoners is not true knowledge. According to Plato, knowledge is an important thing. How it is gained is important and that true knowledge can only be gain through the real world. One must go out and experience the real world to gain that true knowledge. No one can change or destroy knowledge. Philosophers are the people that have true knowledge. They may not have the power, but they have the knowledge to teach others. According to Plato, he believes philosophers can become good rulers, but it would be impossible since they do not have the knowledge to acquire and stay in power. If a philosopher had the ability to have knowledge and power he would be the true ruler. Plato believes that there is no such thing as power and knowledge being one. They are two different things that cannot come together.

In the book, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, Michel Foucault describes knowledge and power in a different perspective compared to Plato. According to Foucault he believes in order to have power one must need knowledge. On the other hand, according to Plato they cannot go together. In a prison the guard has all the power compared to the inmates. They have the knowledge to watch and keep the prisoners in order. As for the inmates they know they are being watched and they know they do not have the power. If a prisoner does something wrong they will be punished, so when they are in their cell they try not to do anything out of the ordinary. The inmates know that if they do something wrong they will be punished by the guards. The fact that the prisoners know they will punish by a guard for misbehaving shows that the guard has the power and is in charge.

Foucault believes that if a person works to keep