How Does Plato Rely On The Senses

Consequently, in Plato’s “Allegory of The Cave” we come to find a set of cave people that are chained and blinded to the world that they are living in. These are the individuals that one would consider to be the unenlightened, those who live in a world of lies and deception. Which Plato refers to as the sensory world. Although the vast majority of these individuals believe in this false world that has been created for them to believe. According to Plato’s allegory, there are those few people who get the opportunity to get out of the cave that they are chained to, “suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained

Socrates continues the conversation with Glaucon and now focuses on the obligation of the guardians and philosophers to serve the people as a result of their education.

The flaw that Plato speaks about is trusting as real, what one sees - believing absolutely that what one sees is true. In The Allegory of the Cave, the slaves in the caves know that the shadows, thrown on the wall by the fire behind them, are real. If they were to

The prisoner’s process of apprehending knowledge in The Allegory of the Cave is depicted as an arduous yet spiritual process. When the prisoner begins to acclimate into the world outside of the cave, he has to learn and observe in steps. The prisoner first starts with seeing shadows because it is what he is used to when he inhabited the cave. Then, he can see the reflections of objects. After, he is able to move on to watching the actual objects. The released prisoner eventually can observe the night sky. Finally, he can look at the sun and truly understand the importance and meaning of it (Plato.153). The prisoner cannot merely stop at looking at objects because he has to comprehend the new world and look deeper into its meanings. He is unable to physically contact the sky which causes a feeling of uncertainty and wonder. The sun represents the truth and realities of the world, which is why he was so blinded by it when he first was forced out of the cave. The knowledge that the prisoner now possesses gives him the strength to rise above the standing of those who are stilling living in the shadows. In order to fully grasp the knowledge of the world, an individual must slowly understand smaller concepts before attempting to gain the full truth.

“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

In Plato’s essay, “Allegory of The Cave” Plato creates a story about three prisoners in a cave, through this he further makes his point that without knowledge our view of the truth is askew. Plato explains that the three hostages have been shackled in the dark cave their whole lives unable to see the real world. The only piece of actuality they can see are shadows of people crossing in front of the opening of the cave. These figures can drive anyone insane without having any real truth to what the images could be. Without any awareness of the real world just outside of the cave they are forced to adapt and therefore accept their own reality. Plato goes on to say that, “the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (122). The obscurities are significant because they are the only apprehension the prisoners have, they have nothing to compare it to. The actuality of it to the captives is something other than the truth would be outside of the cave. The forms on the wall are only just shadows, but to them that is everything they have ever known. Plato through his legend portrays

First, Plato argues that humans are vulnerable to false ideas because of the limitations of our senses. This is shown in the conversation between Socrates, a speaker in his allegory, and Glaucon, the second speaker. Socrates explains to Glaucon that the prisoners in Plato’s metaphorical cave are bound to assume that the shadows thrown on the wall, by the fire, are real and that the objects held by the passers-by, along the road, belong to the shadows. “And so in every way they would believe that the shadows of the objects we mentioned were the whole truth.” (Plato, 26). Because these prisoners have relied so much on their senses to make judgements, they have developed a tendency to make false judgments about the things happening around them. Plato believes that the world as seen using our senses has more fake to it than real. As humans, each individual is limited by their own physical abilities, mental abilities, and even social abilities. This is the reason why not all human beings can successfully break records as easily as others. It is also a reason why humans can not answer the question “What happened before the beginning?” or “How did the beginning start?” We are limited by what we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste every day. We are limited by what we are accustomed to because we rely so much on them to provide us the truth and place a kind of belief on it that can not be easily altered.

The prisoners have been in these conditions since their earliest stages of life. The cave, the wall, and the chains are all the prisoners have ever known. Behind the prisoners, there was a raised path. Above the walkway was a platform, where there was a fire burning, and in front of the fire, was a parapet, which as Plato described it , was like that of the screens Puppeteers use to hide themselves and have the puppets be visible . Each and every day, the prisoners see nothing, but the shadows of the objects and people passing between them and the fire. For their entire lives, the prisoners are exposed to nothing but those images and the sounds made by those walking around. These shadows are all they have ever known, in essence; these shadows are their only “reality”. As time passed, the prisoners would grow accustomed to these sights, later on the prisoners would match the objects with names and the familiar sounds to the images of the shadows (514; Appendix A). In discussing the allegory with Glaucon, Socrates toys around the concept of what could happen to a prisoner should they be released after having lived their lives in the cave, with the only knowledge the possess of the world, are the images and sounds by the wall.

Plato, being a Socratic apprentice, followed and transcribed the experiences Socrates had in his teachings and search of understanding. In Plato’s first work, The Allegory of the Cave, Socrates forms the understanding between appearance vs. reality and the deceptions we are subject to by the use of forms. In the cave, the prisoners’ experiences are limited to what their senses can tell them, the shadows on the walls, and their shackles; these appearances are all that they have to form their ideas. When one of the prisoners begins to question his reality he makes his way out of the cave and into the day light. This prisoners understanding of his reality has now expanded, thus the theory of forms; when he returns to the cave to spread the news, the others do not believe him. They have been deceived by their reality and what

The main idea presented by Plato in his infamous Allegory of the Cave is that the average person's perceptions are severely limited by personal perspective. Plato uses the metaphorical situation of prisoners chained together in a way that limited their visual perception to the shadows projected from behind them onto a wall in front of them. He uses that metaphor to illustrate that perspective determines perceptions and also that once an individual achieves a wider or more accurate perspective, it becomes difficult for him to communicate with those who are still limited to the narrower perspective that he may have once shared with them. Plato meant his allegory to apply to the limitations of perspective attributable to social experiences as well as to the absence of formal education and training, particularly in logical reasoning. Plato believed that logical reasoning is a skill that must be learned through formal training and that without adequate training, it is substantially impossible to understand the logical perspective.

Plato’s logical strategy in the allegory of the cave is of deductive reasoning. Plato uses a cave containing people bound by chains which constrict their neck and legs in such a way that they are unable to turn around and there is a fire roaring behind them casting shadows on the wall. Since the prisoners cannot turn their heads to see what is casting the shadow the only thing they can perceive are the shadows and the sounds that seem to becoming from them. This is what Plato argues in the allegory of the cave “To them, I said, the truth would literally be nothing but the shadows of the images.”(The Allegory of the Cave Plato). Since these prisoners know nothing outside of the cave they are ignorant of the “light” and are content on

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).

In Plato’s allegory there are many major concepts of knowledge and how new knowledge can alter a person’s entire life. One of Plato’s points is that people will cling to what they have always been told when presented new knowledge and may terrify them. Plato says: “. . . you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever former state he had seen the shadows . . . that what he saw before was an illusion . . . Will he not fancy the shadows?”(Plato’s Allegory pg. 4) Another point Plato made is that the truth, more times than not, is painful. Plato says: “And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away...” (Plato’s Allegory pg. 3) Plato also makes the point that sometimes knowing the truth and trying to break people who stay firm to their old beliefs may be strenuous and will be cast out. Plato says: “. . . if there were a contest . . . in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den . . . would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eye . . . and if any one tried to lose another and lead him up…they would put him to death.”(Plato’s Allegory pg. 4) These points can be seen in students life’s as they grow in knowledge.

According to Plato, truth can exist only as an absolute. For him, as well as for all the other followers of Socrates, truth is attained through a series of steps that take the student through the different levels of reality, until finally the ultimate goal is reached; absolute truth resides in the world of ideas, but to get there, the person seeking wisdom must first recognize and conquer the lower stages. One of the best visualizations of this journey is found in Plato's parable of the cave, in which the prisoner of appearances is led (almost dragged) through the phases of recognition and learning. At first he is chained inside the cave, immobile, staring at a wall on which he sees mere shadows of objects passing between him and the fire situated at the back of the chamber. However, even these objects are just reflections of reality, being nothing more than statues of humans and animals, which are themselves merely the outward appearances of the world of ideals; therefore, the prisoner who looks at the shadows and believes them to be the truth is actually four times removed from the reality he seeks. When he is finally released from his bonds, he turns around and sees the objects that cast the shadows; this is the first step toward his goal, the point at which he begins to have doubts about the world he thought he knew. As the man moves out

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