Socrates 'Allegory Of Cave'

Throughout history, meanings of reality appear arbitrary, as no chronological or cultural pattern exists. One representation of reality, according to Socrates, is that “in the visible realm, it produces both light and its source, and that in the intelligible realm” (203). Socrates defines reality by defining what it is not: representation. Initially, I will talk about what Socrates considers reality and what he considers not reality and why art and poetry are only a representation. Next, I will discuss how The Allegory of Cave relates to this definition of reality, diving into the significance of light in this essay, and then relating this allegory back to representation. Thirdly, I will discuss what the theory of forms is and how it applies
He says that this is true about not only poetry but also painting, weaving, embroidery, architecture, furniture and household utensils, and especially in music. All theses are forms or imitation. His restrictions will apply and to everyone, children and adults, alike. In all these practices, which include the arts, Socrates would legislate the right things to depict and the right way to depict them. For that he needs a lot of people capable of creating graceful and beautiful things. He argues that poetry will never truly be real, as it is simply a form of mimicry. After asserting this claim, he defends it by saying that “poetry is likely to corrupt the mind of those of its hears”. This quotation draws similarities between poetry and, essentially, lying. He focuses the blame on who hears it, not who says or writes it. This gives a responsibility for people to avoid the knowledge being given to them. He justifies this and defends the validity of his knowledge by pointing out the having “knowledge of what it is really like as a drug to counter it” (297). With this line, he establishes his view on the social hierarchy. Socrates attacks drama when he says that poets, such as Homer, use the state of grief and speeches on lamentation to cause us to enjoy their works. Admitting to sometimes liking these, Socrates contends that theses dramas cause us to admire just
The men in the caves viewed the reflections on the wall, as their true reality. The shadow is the representation of what is considered to be reality, but the light merely creates false constructs. The two-dimensional shadows are a false sense of what the three-dimensional entities are. Plato argues that art acts in the same way, giving only a false, and limited perspective of the whole picture or story. The puppet masters represent the artists and the poets trying to influence the general population by showing only a representation of an idea or object, through art or poetry. The prisoners do not represent everyone; the self-proclaimed moral guardians are already free from the shackles, which restrict both our being and the ideas that we can understand. The distinctions Plato makes between himself and the puppet masters is the that he has seen the outside world, or “the truth”, and that he wants the betterment of society. The cave in the society presents the current situation that they are living in, but the people coming in to tell people about the real world are philosophers who choose to tell people what is best for the society, as a whole. The philosophers are portrayed as a selfless group who are placed in power for the betterment of the group and not themselves. The philosophers believe that the third dimension is the “reality”, but the philosophers who would be