Allegory Of The Cave Research Paper

“The Allegory of the cave” designed by Plato, one of the utmost eminent Western philosophers. Not only, he constructed an arch that in time will set a luminous path for the western theories to flourish in the future. Additionally, Plato viewed the world as a replica of the celestial world, which turned him to realize there is one divine being or one divine truth that humans should attempt to find. Therefore, this essay will discuss the implications of Plato’s Cave allegory in reflection on how humans might be blind to the truth, as a result of the unseen shackles that restrain them distant from the real truth, and how they might eventually feel and become more human without them.

Socrates thinks that it requires wisdom to know the difference between the knowledge and an opinion. And what he means by that is knowledge is based on reasoned ideas beliefs, and can be proved and confirmed by rational arguments, where’s other opinion is not proved. For Socrates, the reason is the bigger way to show the truth. Socrates explained that role model is how to act well for example an equivalent way, knowledge is in an unqualified manner, according to Socrates statement beauty and wealth could benefit us sometimes if we used correctly, however, also harm to us if we did not use it the right way. This is means with knowledge we know how to act well. Socrates explained of wisdom and knowledge, as expressed by Plato in The Apology (StevenM. Cahn 29p-30), is sometimes interpreted as an example of a humility theory of wisdom Socrates and his friend Chaerephon visit the oracle at Delphi. As the story goes Chaerephon asks the oracle

Philosophers are known to question, analyze and evaluate everything but do not always end with concrete conclusions. Plato’s Euthyphro and Apology, to no surprise, highlight one of such debate: the human characteristics of wisdom. Though Plato was one of the earliest philosophers, the topic of wisdom is still debated by modern philosophers today, contemplating questions such as “What are the classifications of ‘wisdom’?” According to Plato’s two dialogues, the characteristics of wisdom have a strong correlation with the characteristics of “being a good person”. This concept highlights the values of virtue and selflessness and at the same time juxtapose views on virtue while taking into account the different forms of rationality. In this paper, I will highlight how Plato uses his two dialogues to enforce his own opinion about the relationship between being wise and being a good person, and evaluate the inconsistencies within this claim.

In the cave, the prisoners’ limited perception of the world is based on the shadows depicted on the wall and the freed prisoner has a higher perception because he has rationalized the world outside of the cave. As Socrates state “visible realm should be likened to the prison dwelling, and the light inside it to the power of the sun, if you interpret the upward journey and the study of things above as the upward journey of the soul to the intelligible realm” (Grube, p. 189), anyone who accepts rationalized ideas from

In order to determine whether or not Socrates was wise about God, we must first define the term “wise” in this context. What is the definition of wisdom? What makes someone wise? The literal meaning, or etymology, of the word is derived from the Indo-European stem woid which means to see. It also relates to similar words such as the Greek idein and the Latin videre, both also meaning “to see” (Mohr, pg. 3). Whereas, in English and Germanic languages the verb “wit” took on the meaning of knowing, because of the likeness to knowing to seeing, and thus resulting in the modern word “wisdom” which is defined as a type of knowledge (Mohr, pg. 3). So, the literal meaning of wisdom is to see and to know, which typically means same they are substitute of each other. As I mentioned above that wisdom is a type of knowledge, then what is knowledge? It is defined as a union of the consciousness of a subject, the knower, and an object, the thing known by means of an idea. Similarly, vision is a union between a seer and a thing seen by means of an image. (Mohr, Pg. 3). But, there are two kinds of knowledge. There is theoretical knowledge, such as knowledge of what love is, and there is practical knowledge, such as knowing how to love somebody. Wisdom could be described as a union between these two kinds of knowledge.

Some of the key images Plato uses in his Allegory of the cave are the shadows coming from the fire the prisoners see as they are chained up. Every time a prisoner gets a glimpse of these shadows they can’t help but wonder what these shadows represent. Since the prisoners have been locked up away for most of their lives they really have know understanding what these shadows are. The shadows represent a world that only the prisoners know, its really the only world or way they have known. These shadows are never fully understood by the prisoners until one of the prisoners is set free. When the prisoner is freed from his imprisonment he is then shocked by what he witnesses. The prisoner sees a whole new world; this world was very shocking to him because he had no idea that this world had even existed in the first place. His imprisonment was the only way of life he had ever known. This knew world that the prisoner witnesses represent the deal world, or that the

Socrates examines men who are known to be wise and questions their abilities concluding that these men are not wise and dismantling their wisdom.

Socrates went out to see if their was anyone smarter than himself. He went out to seek the poets, politicians ,and artisans. He concluded that humans are foolish and do not know anything about wisdom.

In what might be the most famous and recognizable image of Plato’s Republic, the message of the allegory of the cave is present not only in Book VII, but throughout the entire dialogue. Plato-as-Socrates uses the allegory to express his views on philosophy’s role in his city of speech which is later shown more deeply with the five regimes in Book VIII. The cities in the five regimes undergo a degradation as philosophy moves further and further away from the ruler; which also mirrors the cave. Plato reveals his belief that the city and philosophy are inexorably linked through the soul of the tyrannical man in Book IX, saying that without philosophy the soul withers and learns to fear and hate the city because of the person’s willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve their desires. In the various books, the allegory of the cave can be compared and likened to the actions occurring within the pages of the text. From the very first line in the Republic, the Allegory of the Cave is shown symbolically throughout the dialogue from beginning to end.

In this week’s reading, The Apology, Socrates expresses some strong views on wisdom and death. This essay discusses some of these views, specifically in regards to wisdom despite Socrates professions of not being wise. In Socrates professions of not being wise, he tells a story of his quest to find one wiser then himself. Socrates explains that as he has met with men of various professions that thought themselves to be wise and that were considered to be wise by others.

As human knowledge has evolved, so has our definition of wisdom. To define what wisdom is, first one must determine what wisdom is not. As quoted by Albert Einstein, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Wisdom is not knowledge. Knowledge is knowing how to do something. Wisdom is knowing how, why, and what to

In order to defend himself, Socrates recounts his life and actions. In his defense against the first accusation, Socrates tells the jury that when asked if there was anyone wiser than Socrates, an oracle said “no”. Socrates then says that he went to prove the oracle wrong by asking questions to the wise-men, the “Sophos”. In his quest, Socrates discovered that these men were not actually as wise as they claimed to be. These men claimed to know things even if they actually did not know. As Socrates said, “…he thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas when I do not know, neither do I think I know; so I am likely to be wiser that he to this small extent.” To Socrates, wisdom is the ability to admit ignorance. Since Socrates is able to admit what he does not know, he is

In Plato’s voyage to determine what a philosopher king is, he presents us with the Allegory of the Cave. He explains how leaders should be educated, versus the society as a whole, and he leaves us with a significant message. Aside from The Allegory of the Cave being a primary puzzle piece of Plato’s ideal city, it can also be interpreted in many different ways. The predominant one being that human beings, especially the young, get easily manipulated by persuasive people who are looking to divert one’s attention from real life problems, and who in return fail to think for themselves.

Socrates believes that one must know that they are not wise in order to possess pure wisdom. This wisdom will enlighten

In the Apology, the oracle at Delphi stated that Socrates was the wisest man of his time (Plato 21a). Socrates, however, “[was] very conscious that [he was] not wise at all”, which would not make him the wisest man of his time (21b). Certainly, not both the oracle and Socrates could be simultaneously correct in their individual beliefs; thus, the oracle and Socrates must have had differing definitions of wisdom. What, then, is wisdom? Many people believe wisdom denotes having extensive knowledge about various things. A person often gains this knowledge through time and experience, hence why elderly people are viewed as wise. We shall refer to this form of wisdom as wisdom through knowledge alone. So too, many