Preview

Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1014 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Plato's Allegory Of The Cave
Sammi Wong
N654M278

The generation today have underestimated that we exist in a monetary time in which learning and information are of significant essentials in the production of worth. Numerous contemporary discussions of this aspect treat the classes of learning and data uncritically, more often than not by simply stating their increased importance, and evaluating the effects. Plato was a Greek philosopher, mathematician and the writer of philosophical dialogues. Before Plato, there were some different philosophers that had made a few comments about the theory of knowledge, specifically Socrates. Nonetheless, Plato has been credited with the source of the theory of knowledge as it was found in his discussions. His theory of knowledge nearly
…show more content…
Facts and common sense alone is not enough to solve the problems we face. We would have to think deeper to challenge ourselves until we reach aporia, a state of confusion because whatever is visible or said to us is not the “real reality” and everything we see is only an imitation of The Good. When we think with our soul and mind, we would reach The Good because knowledge is eternal and we would then understand reality. This is connected to Plato’s Allegory of The Cave (Book VII – The Republic). In the Allegory of The Cave, Plato analyzes individuals untrained in the Theory of Forms to prisoners (soul) in a cave (body), chained to the wall with no possibility of turning their heads and moving their hands. With flame smoldering behind them, they could only see the wall of the cave and the shadows of the puppets put in the middle of them and the fire. The prisoners are not able to comprehend that the shadows they see and the echoes they hear are a reflection of real objects, behind them. The Allegory of The Cave summarizes the majority of Plato’s perspectives and philosophical considerations. His focal fundamental, the belief that the world available to our senses is just a reflection (a poor imitation) of this present reality, of which the real one can only be intellectually grasped, is synonymous to his theory of forms, which magnified the universe of thoughts (form) over the universe of senses …show more content…
Thus, Plato tries to demonstrate that our insight is just an impression of the real ideas in our minds. He kept up that what is seen on the earth is an impersonation of the real thing. The prisoners, by looking at the shadows may realize what a book is yet this does not empower them to claim that it refers to an object, which they have seen. Besides, we require the physical objects in order to enable us acquire concepts. However, it would be a mistake to envision the concepts same as the things we see. Plato infers that men begin to comprehend reality by being out in the full glare of the Sun (out of the cave). He gives an illustration of an all the more true reality of the street and the pictures of individuals passing along it. These he clarifies are perceptions that present the promptly obvious reality of shadows upon the wall and the applied recognition that the pictures being conveyed are not as real as the differently motivated people carrying

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In Plato's Allegory of the Cave there were multiple beliefs brought upon by the prisoners of this cave. The prisoners of the cave are supposed to parallel everyday people in the sense of how reality is perceived. The prisoners of the cave believed and only knew that reality of the shadows and developed their own belief structure and way of processing that information. Plato connected that to everyday people due to the fact that although we strongly believe the reality we have made for ourselves, there can be more that we have never been exposed to. For example, when one of the prisoners were unchained and brought out of the cave into the world, he was overwhelmed and wanted to tell the other prisoners. Due to the fact that other prisoners could…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Allegory of the Cave” (Plato) is a metaphor that shows how we believe reality. What it is showing is that the things we perceive are imperfect reflections of forms that only represent reality. In the Allegory, Plato uses a cave where prisoners are chained down and forced to look at the wall. Plato shows that the prisoners do not actually know what reality is. The readers understand that the puppeteers behind the prisoners are using objects to create shadows to real things and people, but the prisoners are unable to turn their heads, so they don’t know anything…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave, a dialogue between two men, Socrates and Glaucon, reveals that our senses are not completely reliable. Socrates tells the story of a prisoner who has been chained for his whole life, able to see only shadows cast on a wall. The prisoner believed that the shadows were reality, but when he is released and dragged out of the cave, he finds a more important, more authentic reality. Socrates arrives to the conclusion that our senses are limited, just like the prisoner’s were, and that in order to come closer to the truth, we need to enter the world of intellect.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul…

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Allegory of the Cave is a dialog between Socrates and Gloucon in The Republic written by Plato. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Socrates depicts a long, dark cave with a small opening that allows a small amount of light to enter. Inside the cave there group of prisoners, who have been in the cave for their entire lives. The prisoners legs and necks are chained to the cave floor so they are unable to move and can only look forward at the cave wall. At the back of the cave there is a fire that they are never able to view. In between the prisoners and the fire there is a low wall with a path behind it, along which people carry pictures, puppets, and statues. These pictures, puppets and statues are all the prisoners are able to see, and the echoes of the puppeteers when they speak are all they are able to hear. Although the prisoners are chained they are still content because all they have ever known are the shadows. None of them have ever seen anything beyond the cave and have no desire to do so. However one prisoner wakes up to find that he is no longer chained to the floor, and is able to leave the cave. Once the prisoner is outside he realizes that the shadows are not real. The prisoner then decides to return to the cave, to free the other prisoners, however reentering the cave would make his eyes have to…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plato’s allegory of the cave is supposed to demonstrate not only the human situation in general but Socrates’ life in particular. Socrates glimpsed the true nature of reality and tried to convince the inhabitants of Athens that they didn’t know what they thought they knew. The objects that cast shadows on the wall represent what Plato considers to be the truly real objects: the forms.…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The metaphor depicts prisoners who understand life only through shadows flickering on the wall of their cave. Here he paints a frightening image of “prisoners [who] have been chained from childhood” forced to stare at the cavernous wall ahead of them (296). As they have never left their dark dwelling and are ignorant of the reality that exists outside of it, the prisoners are duped into thinking the “meaningless illusions” they see are real (297). Through metaphor, Plato asserts that one who understands life only through sensual perceptions is shamefully deprived of a complete and holistic accurate…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plato suggests that reality is only ‘real’ because of the form of the good (the sun), but the prisoners only have the fire, a copy of the form of the good, and not the sun – the highest form of the good- which is discovered when escaping the cave and into the world of the forms. He also suggests the ‘reality’ is an illusion given to us by our empirical knowledge. In other words, the cave (the world around us) would be the ‘real world’ illusion given unto us by our senses (empirical knowledge), Plato believed that we should never trust our senses, only our ability to reason and our logic.…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    No Title

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Use the matrix to analyze Plato and Aristotle’s theory of knowledge and apply both to current day practices.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    english paper

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates illustrates a metaphorical story about attaining knowledge. He describes a cave with men who are chained, prisoners of the cave. They face a wall; that is all they can see because they cannot move their heads. They cannot even look behind them to see a walkway and a fire. As a person passes on the walkway, a shadow is projected onto the wall in front of the prisoners; this is all they know. Only the shadows are what is real to them because it’s all they have ever known. Socrates says, “How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?” (Plato 479). The main point is that people cannot understand anything except what is being projected right in front of them. Socrates’ point is that society has a limited understanding of knowledge, and is ignorant about what is beyond the surroundings.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, there are people living in an underground den that have been there for their entire lives. There is a fire behind them and they can only see what is in front of them which are only shadows of objects. The people think that this is as real as it gets because they do not know any better. One man was taken outside of the cave. In the light, he saw real objects. He learns the truth that things are much more real than he previously thought. Then, he tries to enlighten the other people that are still in the cave. He tells them what he has learned, but they do not believe him and actually condemn him for the moral misconduct. To the people in the cave, shadows are their reality and is what they think…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this Allegory of the cave written by Plato it tells about how people react to instances in life. The story starts out by telling us to picture people “ having their legs and necks fettered from childhood”(1), so that they cannot move and are only able to see the puppets shown throughout the fire. He goes to point out that if all they can see are these shadows of objects that those said objects must seem like the real ones to the prisoners. So these prisoners would then consider any sounds and shadows that they see or hear to be reality. Consider one prisoner being released from his shackles and then standing up suddenly but feeling pain and dizziness when looking at the light. He would be unable to make out the objects of…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Allegory of the Cave

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The "Allegory of the Cave" by Plato represents an extended metaphor that is to contrast the way in which we perceive and believe in what is reality. The thesis behind his allegory is the basic tenets that all we perceive are imperfect "reflections" of the ultimate Forms, which subsequently represent truth and reality. The purpose of this allegory defines clearly the process of enlightenment. For a man to be enlightened, he must above all desire the freedom to explore and express himself. Plato's main concept of the cave is: people see reality as the visible world when reality really is more than the visible world.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his allegory, the cave is a representation of the world humans live in and the sun a representation of the true world, the world of the forms. Plato, through this, shows that man will not be able to rush into understanding truth, but will first start with what is familiar, then move to seeing things in a different way, but not an uncomfortable way; then looking at a closer version of the truth, and finally having the ability to look directly at the truth and see the beauty in it. Plato claims that once a human has left the cave and discovered the beauty of the sun, they then have the duty to return to the cave and help others through the same process. Plato discussed that human beings could eventually free themselves and head upwards to…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through his ideas and archetypal use of shadows, Plato suggests that the humans are viewing images through someone else’s perspective and that it will be the only reality they will know. He uses shadows to represent the “illusions of reality” because the prisoners have been their “from their childhood” and the only true objects they know are…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays