Abstract

That modern epistemology is constructed as detailed and extensive is a well‒known fact. Rationalism, Empiricism, and Kant’s Critiques invariably home in on questions of perception and have established a sound basis for Western epistemology. However, many problems are rising to the surface, because modern epistemology is rooted in the subject‒object dualism. Within the framework of the subject‒object dualism, both the knowing and perceived subjects become monolithic and fossilized. Of course, there may be cases where perceptions gain universality; however, because perception is individual to each person, it remains difficult to universalize. The level and degree of perception is different according to the level of intelligence and spirituality of the knowing subject or according to different intuitions. An infinite variety of gaps exist between the possibility to perceive and impossibility to perceive, or between poor quality and quality perceptions. It is truly deplorable that when it comes to modern epistemology, we have failed to consider the qualitative differences between the knowing and perceived subjects. However, solutions to the dilemma of modern epistemology can be found in Plato of ancient Greece and Zhuāngzǐ of China, both of whom are premodern. This article aims to find the ways to overcome the dilemma of modern epistemology, focusing onPlato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” and “The Allegory of the Divided Line” and Zhuāngzǐ’s Zhuāngzǐ.