Analysis Of Plato 's ' Allegory Of The Cave '

Plato's Allegory of the Cave is also termed as the Analogy of the Cave, Plato's Cave, or the Parable of the Cave. It was used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate "our nature in its education and want of education". It comprises of a fictional dialogue between Plato's teacher Socrates and Plato's brother Glaucon. Socrates gives a description of a group of people who spent their lifetime facing a blank wall chained to the wall of a cave. These people saw and tried to assign forms of the shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them. These shadows as put by Socrates, are what the prisoners can view close to reality (Law 2003). He further compares a philosopher to the prisoner who is freed from the cave and comprehends that he can envision the true form of reality instead of the shadows which the prisoners saw in the cave and these shadows do not depict reality at all.

The cave is the prison for the soul and the journey out of the cave is the soul’s path to enlightenment. If a character in a story successfully escapes the cave and finds enlightenment this would have a

On the surface of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” it is just a simple piece, but the main purpose of the piece is to explain people living in a world of face value and having individuals break free from the main idea to create a new sense of what the world is truly about. In here, Plato uses the writing style of allegory to encompass the use of imagery and symbolism to explain his purpose. He also uses very clever dialogue with constant repetition to represent a bigger idea about the philosophy with chained up people living in a cave of shadows.

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 opinion 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. In "Allegory of the Cave" there there are two elements to the story; the fictional metaphor of the prisoners, and the philosophical opinion in that the allegory is supposed to represent, hence presenting us with the allegory itself.

In the story The Allegory of the Cave, Plato describes the perception of reality. He explains how to interpret ideas or objects in different perspectives. The story he tells about the cave could have influenced different modern day ideas. Some ideal examples might include religion, abuse, and imprisonment. Plato’s cave theory applies to all of these ideas and can show many different perspectives.

As stated by Joseph Campbell, “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”

One of Plato’s more famous writings, The Allegory of the Cave, Plato outlines the story of a man who breaks free of his constraints and comes to learn of new ideas and levels of thought that exist outside of the human level of thinking. However, after having learned so many new concepts, he returns to his fellow beings and attempts to reveal his findings but is rejected and threatened with death. This dialogue is an apparent reference to his teacher’s theories in philosophy and his ultimate demise for his beliefs but is also a relation to the theory of the Divided Line. This essay will analyze major points in The Allegory of the Cave and see how it relates to the Theory of the Divided Line. Also, this

The metaphor behind Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is simple isolation causes ignorance. In the story, the prisoners have been held captive their entire lives. Through only being ab;e to view the flickering images made on the wall by puppeteers they believe these are in fact reality and are not willing to accept anything else causing ignorance towards the outside world. The allegory can be found all throughout history and present day. An example of this in the past is when humans believed the earth was flat and if they were to travel towards the edge they would fall off. Once Galileo claimed the earth was round the catholic church excommunicated him because they refused to acknowledge anything but the bible and have their comfort shifted.

Plato in his famous Allegory of Cave compared the ordinary human existence to that of chained prisoners in a cave. According to Plato, we are all stuck in a false reality in this world like prisoners in a cave. His cave theory still applies today in the sense that the people are influenced and controlled by the world around them. They do not want to realize or seek the truth; instead they wish to live in the comfort zone inside the cave.

The cave is underground and dark; it consists of human beings who have been living down there since childhood. These people are almost like prisoners since

All individuals spend some, if not the entirety of their life in what Socrates describes as, “a cave with a long passageway stretching between [them] and the cave’s mouth,” (Sterling and Scott 209). Cave dwellers find contentment in the shadows on the wall of the cave, never desiring to uncover the root of the shadows and counter fit images. They, unlike philosophers, possess little courage, and desire never to be freed of their shackles and blinders. Philosophers, the minority population of cave dwellers, are those prisoners who not only escape bondage, but have an overwhelming urge to journey outside the cave once they are freed: “One prisoner is freed from his shackles. He is suddenly compelled to stand up, turn around, walk and look toward the light,” (Sterling and Scott 210). The journey from darkness to light, as painted by Socrates, involves pain, confusion, ridicule, and sometimes death; however, those who journey towards the light ultimately reach a greater awareness of true reality, not the disguised reality of shadows and false images on the cave’s walls. Socrates states, “It is a conversion, a turning of the soul away from the day whose light is darkness to the true day. It is the accent to

Today marks the 60th anniversary of me being stuck in this cave. I’ve gone 60 years without food and water; I should be dead. The monster inside me is somehow preserving my body. I don’t want to live forever; I wish I didn’t sacrifice myself for her. I can hear the outside world going on about their day as if nothing happened. I can tell today is sunny and about 80 degrees, but I do not know for sure since I am trapped underground. I can hear the footsteps of small children above me. One girl, I believe her name is Courtney, is yelling to her sister, Natasha to help her move the boulder that keeps me trapped down here. I hear a loud bang and sunlight from the outside world rushes into my underground world. The heat from the rays fill the room

Diving into cave or pit is a wild adventure. These adventures can lead to wondrous sights and treasures, and like a cave one's adventures in life lead to great opportunities and experiences. However a cave diving experience is not all fun and games, but requires great skill to survive, just like how a survivor needs skills and abilities to survive life's circumstances. How does a survivor manage to persevere through the darkness of the cave? A survivor has the knowledge and determination to dive into the pit of chaos and find opportunity.

I once discovered a cave and from the outside looking in the life on the inside looked amazing. Its’ habitants looked happy in their painted gold chains and shackles never questioning their existence nor purpose. Their only goal: be ignorant and their moral: be tough; that’s all they knew. As meaningless as their lives were, I desired to be like them and fit into the social norms.

But as I, and many others can attest to, they will have their claims dismissed, and they will be shunned for trying to shake the foundation they’ve used to build their lives. But those outside of the cave shouldn’t be angry at those on the inside. Though that may be the first instinct, but upon further inspection, they may begin to feel a measure of pity for those on the inside. A quote that is very applicable to this situation comes from Socrates. He once stated that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” You don’t even have to pretend to be in the cave to know that a life of mindlessly staring at shadows on a wall is a dismal life to lead. Russell would implore these men to question their status of living. Had they have opened their minds to the simple POSSIBILITY that the one who returned from the outside world was telling the truth, who knows where they could be? But instead, they remain content to play games with the shadows that people force them to look at for the remainder of their lives. Proving once again, “the unexamined life is not worth