The Allegory of the Cave
The Allegory of the Cave is actually a part of the Plato’s writings who is a Greek philosopher in his series of writings titled as “The Republic” (Plato, 514). The Republic was written in different parts and took different years to compile the writings together from years 514a to 520a. These series of books were written to highlight the psychology of the people individuals and how they act in different situations and era of life. It is written in the form of dialogue between Socrates and especially this writing “The Allegory of the Cave” is written in the dialogue form between Socrates and the brother of Plato named as Glaucon by Plato. Those series of Plato actually describes how the education in the lives of the people brings change. He explains it to the readers by defining two sides of the people one inside the cave where they are bound and the other is the life outside the cave where they are free to make their own decisions. Socrates is actually the mentor of Glaucon who is answering him several questions of the life and the reality of the life that people faces during their lifetime era.
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He has described that the people are tied up in the cave from their childhood and are not allowed to move as their hands are tied and they cannot take their independent decisions. They are kept insides as prisoners, “here they have been from their childhood and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move,” He also explains that how the people live in the caves are only used to the shadows they see inside the cave as they are unable to see the basic reality if the life. “….and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the
“…human beings living in a 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.” (Plato) This entire passage is a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon. Glaucon was the older brother of Plato, and Socrates was the teacher of Plato and Glaucon at his academy. This is a conversation that is fictional but the fact that it is a conversation between a teacher and his student shows that the teacher is trying to tell his student an analogous tale to teach him a lesson and that is the purpose behind the way the paragraph is written, but the exact lesson being taught by Socrates isn’t revealed until later in the passage. This is also the reason the diction in these paragraphs is so formal, because the teacher is giving a formal lesson and at the same time trying to speak in terms his student will understand, and to engage thought in the mind of his student because he is
Book VII of The Republic begins with Socrates’ “Allegory of the Cave.” The purpose of this allegory is to “make an image of our nature in its education and want of education” in other words, it illustrates Socrates’ model of education. In addition, the allegory corresponds perfectly to the analogy of the divided line. However, this Cave Analogy is also an applicable theme in modern times, for example, the movie, The Matrix, is loosely based off the Allegory.
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
Which pill would you take the red or the blue? Continue living a life you’re comfortable with rather than go out and seek the truth? If I had to make a decision I would definitely choose to find the truth just like Neo. In the movie, The Matrix, there are two worlds.
"Allegory of the Cave" Review Questions An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Plato is said to have placed his mentor, Socrates, in his place in the story. Therefore, Plato is having a discussion wit one of his fellows known as Glaucon.
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 the story, the allegory of the cave, Plato expresses human life thru 3 phases of which a person goes through, from a philosophy stand point. He starts out in part one introducing the cave or the habitat of which a person is used to being at. Part two describes how people rise from the darkness and realizes the circumstances that they face, as Plato describes it as freedom. Part three goes into depth about how returning after being freed from the cave causes people to envy you without them understanding why things happened.
There are two types of people in the world: those who are able to think with a unique perspective and those who can only comprehend what is given to them. Philosopher Plato discusses the importance of questioning the accepted thoughts of the general population in his parable “Allegory of the Cave.” He presents the idea that closed-minded people are only puppets to their masters, the open-minded thinkers. Those who think from a unique point of view are able to live a better free life outside of the allegoric cave while the general thinkers are forced to be chained to the inside only to see their own shadows for inspiration. Plato argues that more people must think like the great philosophers in order to “go outside.” Since Plato was
The philosopher and mathematician Plato, who established the first learning institution, the Academy in Athens, wrote “Allegory of the Cave”. He is considered one of the most fundamental contributors of his time to both science and philosophy. Socrates, Plato’s mentor, who is conversing with Plato’s brother Glaucon, narrates the tale. Plato uses symbolism throughout the story: chained prisoners represent ignorance and an escaping prisoner represents finding knowledge or truth. Socrates states in the beginning that he wants to “show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened” (211).
As pointed out in "The Allegory Of The Cave," the Freed Man might even feel that what he was seeing now was the illusion and the shadows on the wall were actually more real. Like Cypher tells Trinity, "I think the matrix can be more real than this
The Allegory of the Cave is philosophical discussion that represents the ancient Greeks’ views on knowledge and on the people who have it. From reading this document, we can infer that the ancient Greeks believed that the natural state of humanity was ignorance, but they were also a very enlightened people because they were able to understand this concept themselves. First of all, the ancient Greeks believed that the natural state of humanity is ignorance and that human beings who have a certain belief system will be skeptical and even resentful of information that contradicts that. This resentment makes people lacking in knowledge hostile towards different ideas. To illustrate, when the prisoner who had been freed from the cave and seen the outside world returned down to the cave, he was not received with kindness by the other prisoners.
My theme for the signature essay is Natures connection with Humans. I will be using two texts from my Class, two text that truly caught my interest during this semester. The first one being Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the other one being Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson, two very outstanding writers of their time. Nature as stated is he phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations. The Allegory of the Cave written by famous philosopher Plato is about a gathering of people held in captivity.
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
I had an experience that each represents the symbol towards the Allegory of the Cave. My childhood was mostly in Jamaica where I lived with my father for two to three years. I can relate to the symbols from the "Allegory of the Cave".
“Allegory of the Cave”, written by Plato, is story that contrasts the differences between what is real and what is perceived. He opens with Glaucon talking to Socrates. He has Glaucon imagine what it would be like to be chained down in a cave, not able to see anything other than what is in front of him. He tells a story of men that were trapped in a cave and were prisoners to the truth. These prisoners have only seen shadows. But because of their ignorance, these slaves to the cave believe that the shadows are real. The story goes on to say that one of the men has been dragged out of the cave. He is not happy to see the real world, yet upset because he is being taken