Allegory Of The Cave

“The Allegory of the Cave “is a theory put forward by Plato concerning human perception. People who are unenlightened have limited self- knowledge as this is illustrated by the three prisoners who live in a darkened cave without ever questioning what may exist outside their dwellings. The prisoners are chained in a particular way such that they can only see the wall they are facing. Emerging from the wall are passerby shadows created by the effect of the fire and the people walking with various objects behind them. To the restrained prisoners, the shadows are what encompassed their reality therefore making their lives a complete illusion. As a result, Plato distinguishes between people who mistake

2395 years ago Plato said, “Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light” (The Allegory of the Cave). Ever since, whether it be 2023 years ago or 9 years ago, Plato’s wise words still ring true. Enter Iron Age Greece, the Trojan war has finally come to an end and the victorious are more than ready to return home to their families with fame and fortune. Ready to see his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, the meritorious warrior Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s The Odyssey, sets out for Ithaca. Yet, his victorious adventure goes awry on his journey home and he must conquer 20 years of the gods’ wrath, vicious creatures, oddly hospitable hosts, and conniving suitors before he can finally have his peace. Flash forward and enter modern-day New York City, the home of Andrea “Andy” Sachs, Northwestern graduate, aspiring journalist, and a girl in much need of some fashion advice. Until, she gets a job at the most prestigious, couture magazine in New York, Runway. With the job comes Miranda Priestly, the Editor in Chief of Runway, and the creator of the impossible tasks and crazy requests, that require unwavering dedication from Andy. But, before she can achieve her dream, her life turns upside down and backwards, in the sinfully funny movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Although these two stories seem different, at the heart of both lies a

His brain was growing into a more open minded way. He was starting to learn and openly except all the things he learned about reality through all his experiences. Socrates tells this story to the prisoners to teach them about how education made the prisoner stronger when he learned everything he did about objects and reality. Socrates also proves how important it is to accept change because when change occurred the prisoner learned more and more which led him to a greater education. Socrates also proves how important vision is because without vision the prisoner would not be able to see reality or figure out the importance of the sun.

I believe that Plato’s cave allegory is about perception and enlightenment. In the tory Socrates says, “And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them”. Here, Socrates is explaining that the people in the caves would perceive the shadows as reality- even as they are just shadows. Socrates says, “see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error….Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him”?

Has someone ever looked at you and immediately disregard you for you are just because of your ethnicity? Have you ever done it someone? Racism is a huge culture issue that we have not only in America, but in other parts of the world, but it does not matter the color of one’s. What really matters is the character they have withheld inside but are not given a chance to express because someone didn’t even bother to give them a chance. This is idea comes from the book written by Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave” where in the book Socrates speaks of man being in a dark cave all their lives not realizing the truth until once they reach the end of the cave to see that the light is the truth. The truth is the reality of life.

The “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato represents the differences in the way we perceive reality and what we believe is real. In his story, Plato starts by saying that in a cave, there are prisoners chained down and are forced to look at a wall. The prisoners are unable to turn their heads to see what is going on behind them and are completely bound to the floor. Behind the prisoners, puppeteers hide and cast shadows on the wall in line with the prisoners’ sight, thus giving the prisoners their only sense of reality. What happens in the passage is not told from the prisoners’ point of view but is actually a conversation held between Socrates and Glaucon (Plato’s brother).

The prisoners are bound by their necks and feet, and the only thing they have to look at are the shadows that show up on the cave wall they are forced to stare at. They have no freedom or choice in what they should or shouldn’t believe in. They are forced to believe that the shadows cast on the wall is the only reality that exists, since they don’t have the

In The Allegory of the Cave, Greek philosopher, Socrates, explains to his follower named Glaucon about what it like to be a philosopher through an allegory(Boeree). According to Socrates, a philosopher is someone who values wisdom and is not afraid to accept truth (Boree). In this allegory, Socrates tells Glaucon about a cave inhabited by people who are chained on their necks and legs and the only things they can see in front of them are shadows of objects. What the people do not know is that there are puppeteers making these shadows behind a fire in the cave and the people in the cave believe that these illusions are real. Plato then tells Glaucon about what would happen if one of the people in the cave went out of the cave and saw what

In Book VII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates continues to venture towards a more complete portrayal of the good. To do this, Socrates presents his most intricate, yet his most important figure: the Allegory of the Cave. Socrates calls on the interlocutors to imagine a dimly lit cave in which a group of prisoners are chained behind a wall in such a way that they cannot move and are forced to stare at a wall all day. Thanks to a small fire, the prisoners are able to see the shadows of their imprisoners and images their imprisoners projected on the wall. Having always been in the cave, the prisoners believe the shadows are true; similarly, the echoed voices they hear, they also believe to be true. One day, an individual prisoner is released, the secrets of the cave are unveiled, and he is lead up into the sunlight, which blinds their unfamiliar eyes. After this enlightened prisoner has looked upon, pondered, and adjusted to the true light of the sun, he feels that he must return to the cave. However, once he has returned, the enlightened prisoner finds his new eyes are ill suited for the cave and is viciously ridiculed by the other prisoners.

The Allegory of the Cave represents everyday citizens who are given false information and forced to believe it is true. The darkness they live in shows the ignorance around them to blindly believe what they see, and the light the freed prisoner is the truth that they could easily obtain if they just broke out of the norm that they idly follow and yearn for the truth. The outer world symbolizes the true knowledge, which is similar to not following what we see on the news and simply finding the information for

The main trait of human intellect is its curiosity, its questioning nature about itself, the perceived world and the other people for which a meaning is sought. From ancient times, this endeavor became known as philosophy. Over the course of time, many such philosophers came into being and enhanced our knowledge about the meaning of things, us and our life. In the next paragraphs will take a look to a couple of them which are considered today among the greatest philosophical minds of all times: Socrates and Voltaire. We will explore their view on philosophy through some examples: Apology and Alegory of the Cave Reading for Socrates and Good Brahmin’s for Voltaire.

Some people, the enlightened ones, seek to research knowledge in their lives from birth, while others who are affected by their knowledge, only disappear into the shadows of those enlightened people. As plato meentioned in his chapter “Allegory of the cave” the effects of education on our nature acually are relevant today in the World, despite the fact that the allegory was written thousands years ago. The most significant example is the chains of the cave dwellers unable to move and just watch shivering shadows displayed on the cave wall in front of prisoners. This example justifies the relate today’s computer dependency.

Its dazzling light was painful like he was exposed to the danger. The sunlight represents the new reality and knowledge. First, the prisoner is thrown into confusion, and bewilder with his first look toward the world. Though, he soon realizes what is reality. Shadows and echo that he believed as truth were reflections of real objects. He was just looking at part of the world. Like prisoners, people can believe in illusion since our experiences and point of view are limited. However, when the illusion is shattered and reality is revealed, people typically face unfavorable circumstances. They are thrown into confusion, question themselves, and conflicts take place among different groups. When something exist and that’s what we see everyday, it’s reasonable to accept it as a truth without doubting it. It is a natural human instinct that we believe what we see as the truth and

An allegory is a kind of story in which writer intends a second meaning to be read beneath the surface story. One of the most important allegories ever to be gifted to humankind is Allegory of the Cave. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is one of the most potent and pregnant of allegories that describe human condition in both its fallen and risen states. The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. It is also known as the Analogy of the Cave, Plato's Cave, or the Parable of the Cave. It is written as a fictional dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates and Plato's brother Glaucon at the beginning of Book VII of The Republic.

In his allegory of the cave, Plato describes a scenario in which chained-up prisoners in a cave understand the reality of their world by observing the shadows on a cave wall. Unable to turn around, what seems to be reality are but cast shadows of puppets meant to deceive the prisoners. In the allegory, a prisoner is released from his chains and allowed to leave the cave. On his way out, he sees the fire, he sees the puppets, and then he sees the sun. Blinded by the sunlight, he could only stare down to view the shadows cast onto the floor. He gradually looks up to see the reflections of objects and people in the water and then the objects and people themselves. Angered and aware of reality, the freed prisoner begins to understand illusion