Analyzing The Allegory Of The Cave

In the Allegory of the Cave there are chained prisoners in cave who can only stare at the cave wall in front of them. At the back there is a long entrance with a staircase the width of the cave and a fire burning in the distance. They see only shadows projected in front of them from a raised platform and hear an echo that they attribute to what they observe. They talk about and name the shadows of objects they see before them. To them the truth are the shadows. Then one day one of the prisoners is released. He is told that what he saw before was an illusion. Once he is outside it takes a while for his eyes to adjust to the sun. First he observed the shadows of thing then their reflection and finally the actual object. Remembering his previous state he goes back to the cave and tries to explain that everything is an illusion but they laugh at him and think he’s crazy. They believe it best not to ascend and they choose to remain as they are. The cave represented opinion. The shadows that are cast on to the wall represented physical objects. The prisoners represented the common people (Welles).

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".

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.

The Allegory of the Cave means that, people do not see things as they really are. That mankind assumes concepts but they do not have the full picture; One reason is because we only have five senses. For example, in Allegory of the Cave, Socrates explains that the chained men see the shadows and assume that they are being cast from the real item. However the shadows did not come from the real things they were just illusions and models. It also means that as humans, we tend to believe what is in front of us and not dig deeper to make sure we are correct.

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.

In the Allegory of the Cave there are prisoners are chained up together in which they are all facing the back wall. There is a firing behind the prisoners and the only thing that they can see are the shadows of the people behind them. The fire casts shadows on the wall so this is the only thing that they see. Their entire lives have been based on these shadows on the wall. These prisoners have been chained up since birth, so what they see on the walls is all they know. In the Allegory of the Cave, they let one of the prisoners free and is finally able to see the world and feel the heat of the sun. The prisoner has never seen the sun or the colors of the world so once he steps outside; the sun hurts his eyes, and burns his skin. He eventually acclimates, and is able to enjoy everything. Plato uses an Allegory with the relationship between the darkness of the cave and everything that the world has to offer. Plato believed that the human mind has the capability to recognize the ‘ideal forms.’ Plato uses the sun and something good and positive whereas the darkness is dull and haunting. With the sun, there is growth everywhere, light, and color to everything. In the Allegory, after a journey in the real world, the prisoner returns to the cave where he no longer wants to be there. All of the other prisoners believe that the journey ruined his eyes so they do not want to leave the cave.

There is not one person on the face of this earth that can provide a perfect explanation as to how each and every human develops their own personal morals. Plato and Lawrence Kohlberg attempt to take a crack at this age-old mystery through their texts, the Allegory of the Cave and the Stages of Moral Development. One of these writers tells a story as to give an explanation and another provides steps or levels. After diagnosing both these works of art it is difficult pin point their stances as to why society struggles to build its morals. Lawrence Kohlberg’s explanation is that humans build their morals based off of personal experiences.

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

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

"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.

The general concept of education is for students to learn from their teachers. Students grasp ideas and info from their teachers in order to increase their knowledge. Students take knowledge from their teachers & try to memorize them so that they can increase their knowledge. In the excerpts, “Allegory of the Cave,” and Paulo Freire's “The Banking Concept of Education,” both philosophers believe in freedom in learning. In the article, “Is Google Making us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr states that when people have their freedom with their education with technology, it can result to a disadvantage.

Iakovos Vasiliou, an associate professor of philosophy in Brooklyn College, once said “The only thing we know for certain is that nothing is certain.” This is the main philosophy behind both Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, and the renowned sci-fi movie “The Matrix.” Both works deal with escaping a false reality while unveiling a real one. In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”, the escaped prisoner synonymous to the character Neo in “The Matrix”, exhibiting a shared theme behind both plots. Socrates suggest that with effort, all that is beautiful and right can become visible or apparent to the prisoner, where as in The Matrix, Neo is called to a similar fate, under the premise that the zenith of existence for both the prisoner and Neo is enlightenment.

In Books V and VI of Plato’s Republic, Socrates claims that true philosophers are the best fit to rule as kings to the cities because of their political greatness and wisdom which stems from their knowledge of the intelligible realm. Through the allegory of the cave, Socrates enhances his argument that the people inside looking at the shadows are constrained within their own understanding in the perceptual and physical realm. In comparison, true philosophers have a greater sense of truth and understanding from their knowledge of the world outside the cave. Ultimately, true philosophers who have true knowledge, contrasting to the others who only have belief, are fit to rule because of their understanding of justice and intent to adequately

Allegory of the Cave, is a popular work of Plato. In the excerpt, Plato gives his take on what exactly does it mean to be in the “reality.” Throughout the excerpt, Socrates explains to Glaucon about a cave. The inhabitants of the cave have never seen the day of light. Literally. The people in the cave are prisoners, they are bounded by chains and shackles. They have no idea about the “real” world. The only thing they can see are shadows cast by the fire in the center of the cave. They believe these shadows are real, in truth, they are not. To me, I think the cave represents our mentality as human beings. We only know what is true because we were taught that it is. Not that we have pondered the thought of it really being that way, it's just because we learn by following. On the other

The Allegory of the Cave is a story written by the Greek philosopher Plato that was used to convey the ignorance and the lack of education of people and the role philosophers represented. The Allegory of the Cave tells the story of some prisoners in a cave. They are chained up facing one way their whole entire lives, seeing nothing but a wall and shadows. Being oblivious to the outside world, the prisoners believe nothing else exists; hence, they can not make sense of neither the shadows they see nor the sounds they hear. On the wall that the prisoners are facing towards, shadows are casted. The light source that casts these shadows is a fire located behind the prisoners which the prisoners cannot see. In between the fire and the prisoners,