Preview

Plato's Republic: The Allegory Of The Cave

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
310 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Plato's Republic: The Allegory Of The Cave
In book 7, in Plato’s Republic, Plato illustrates a metaphor dealing with education and knowledge. This, metaphor is known as the Allegory of the Cave. In the cave there are men chained up facing the end of the cave. They can’t turn their heads either side and behind them are puppeteers statue like in front of the fire. Shadows are made by this and are pictured in front of the prisoners. They speak about the shadows as we do of our world. They call the shadows different names that we would call dogs, man, and horses. After a man breaks from his chain and turns around, bothered by the light of the fire can’t seem to tell what the statues are. After adjusting, he can see that the objects are more real than the shadows he accustomed to. Thus,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In The Republic, the Philosopher King becomes compelled to tell his citizens medicinal lies. When the citizens do not understand something, like medicinal things, the philosopher king becomes able to tell them almost anything and they will believe everything he says, and exalt him. He is compelled to do this to ease their minds, since they would not understand anyway, he figures it is just easier to not tell them. The Philosopher King also seems to understand more than what the citizens understand. But it isn’t his nature that sets him apart from citizens like him, it is his wisdom, virtue, and knowledge that lifts him higher than everyone else, and allows his to “understand” things that the regular citizens would not. This suits him because he is so wise, he understands why the citizens do not understand what he understands, or knows.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • 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
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Initially, I would say that Plato’s Allegory of the Cave doesn’t tell us anything about reality, and by doing so I would have to agree with the statement. My reasoning for this is straightforward and simple, Plato implies that the senses are completely useless, and by doing so he also implies that empiricist ways are also useless for they rely solely upon the senses. This shows to us that the Plato’s allegory cannot tell us anything about reality as we have survived for millions of years by using empiricist techniques, or more specifically the senses. It would simply be impossible for us to live without them. These senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, and Plato claims that in order to understand reality we mustn’t use them, instead relying on rationalist techniques like logic and reason, this, in some circumstances couldn’t tell us a thing about reality. An example of this would be that we cannot gain all of our knowledge through thinking alone. For example, I could think of a fruit like an apple or banana and I could think of what it would possibly taste like, however, you wouldn’t be able to imagine the taste, this simply isn’t possible. We couldn’t just think that bananas or apples taste delicious because we don’t actually know how they would taste without actually eating it, and if we were to do this we would have to rely on the sense of taste, an empiricist sense, this clearly shows how the Analogy of the Cave cannot possibly tell us anything about reality as humanity relies on empiricism for the most basic of tasks as my example above clearly shows.…

    • 591 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Michael Ramsey’s video depicting Plato’s Allegory of the Cave men are held captive in a cave since childhood. The only reality they knew was demonstrated before them as the shadows of civilians as they passed by them. All seemed normal in their world until one of the prisoners was set free and taken out of the cave. Once his eyes became adjusted, he was able to accept the new reality portrayed all around him. I had a similar experience when I transitioned from high school to college. In high school my reality was based on the security, structure, and guidance provided by exterior influences, college has helped me to change my perception of reality.…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good 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
  • Good Essays

    Plato’s Allegory of the Cave envisions the world as a dark cave, with human beings as trapped prisoners, and all of their experiences as nothing but shadows on a wall. Plato was an Ancient Greek philosopher who founded the Academy and is the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence in Western thought. Plato is informing us of the world around us, and is guiding the reader in the journey from ignorance to wisdom.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Book 7, Socrates presents the famous metaphor – allegory of cave. The metaphor demonstrates the influence of education on a human soul. People see shadows of statues in the dark place and believe these figures to be real. This shows people’s lowest stage on the Socrates’ line – imagination. When a prisoner is unchained, blinded with the light of fire, within the time he sees that indeed shadows are reflections of statues. This is where belief is represented - he sees the link and percepts this to be real. Finally, the person is taken out of the cave and, blinded within the sunlight, later he sees the real world: real trees, flowers, animals,…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Plato’s allegory of the cave, Plato starts with describing a scenario where prisoners are chained up in chairs since birth that prevents them from moving or turning their heads. These prisoners are limited to facing a wall inside a cave. These prisoners witness images displayed on the wall which are shadows that are made by a group of people who are in front of a fire displaying statues of various objects. These prisoners believe that the shadows are the most real things in the world since they have never been exposed to anything else.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Malcolm X

    • 1522 Words
    • 4 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. In his story, Plato establishes a cave in which prisoners are chained down and forced to look upon the front wall of the cave. He starts with: “Behold! Human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets”.…

    • 1522 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because I love Socrates I find everything Plato writes thoroughly interesting. The minute he opened this part of The Republic with “how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened,” I was interested. The part in the Allegory of the cave that stood out to me was the transformation of the man from the shadows to the sun then back again. It is here that everything seemed to fall in place. The people in the shadows seemed, t me, to have an erroneous conscious, simply because they were living in the shadows. The shadows represented the gist of reality. It was the appearance of an object but not the depth of it. The shadows seemed like a false reality, there to see but unable to be grasped in any way. When the ,an went from the shadows to the sun he refused to believe there was such a thing other than what he had learned from the cave, therefore the sun would represent what reality actually is. The prisoner of the cave was unable to accept reality when he was first introduced to it because for all of his life he had only been able to reach the shadows of reality, not the full thing and he believed he had learned all that there was of reality so he refused to believe there was anything else to say about the manner. The transition from the fake world to true reality took him a while but after one begins to live in reality when he is sent back nothing else will ever make sense. The sun, reality, was able to change a man’s mind, one who had been in the dark for his entire life, but…

    • 442 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The allegory of the cave describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them by puppeteers, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Socrates, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to viewing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows that he has seen all his life on the wall are not reality at all. The escaped prisoner would then return to the cave and tell the other prisoners about what he has seen outside the cave and how the things they believe to be reality are wrong. Most of the prisoners ignore the escapee and go back to watching the shadows casted on the wall as they believe that this is the only reality.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Allegory of the Cave is a deep theoretical philosophical scenario that is being described by Plato in the form of a progressive conversation which begins with Socrates having a fictitious conversation with his brother Glaucon. The conversation between both brothers deals with the lack of knowledge of humanity and the ethics that society has created. This story envelops the reality that comes forth through knowledge and the willingness for man to seek the truth. Once man has been made aware of this, all he desires is to share this with his fellow man and free them from their oppression of ignorance.…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic is a metaphor meant to illustrate Plato’s views on knowledge but also strengthens his perception of the noble lie in society, an idea that is still very relevant today. It is designed to ask the fundamental question of: “What is the truth?” This is a clear reference Plato’s ideology that rests upon the sworn duty that Guardians make towards the state and it is hence emphasized by this analogy. The journey that one makes to be able to attain that superior state is full of hardships1(The Republic, 516, a) but it is meant to illustrate the route the Guardians take to attain the Philosopher-King status. It is what leads a man to enlightenment but also establishes a supreme duty for whoever discovers…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays