Seeing the unseen

Abstract

Man as a being has always been concerned with seeing the unseen; each individual who ventures upon this search has a different trajectory. This research studies the path which seems to unite different travelers who seek the vision of the unseen, through analyzing Plato's allegory of the cave, which is an excerpt from The Republic, Heidegger's interpretation of the allegory which is from his book The Essence of Truth, and some of the works of Ibn 'Arabi which shed light on the Sufi path. It is my hope that the similarities that emerge from this analysis will help enunciate the fundamental and primordial experience of the human being coming to know him/herself. It is the epistemological/ontological journey which is necessitated by the yearning to see the hidden, the unseen which is within and without. This journey is undertaken by man regardless his/her religion, culture and all the numerous variables that human beings identify themselves with, a journey which is depicted by all three thinkers in spite of their differences.