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Path Of A Philosopher: The Allegory Of The Cave, By Plato

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Path of a Philosopher The Theory of Forms, surmised by Plato, is the theory that knowledge gained through the senses is not real and real knowledge must be gained through philosophical reasoning. Plato demonstrates this theory in Book VII of his “Republic”, “The Allegory of the Cave”. The story is written as a conversion between Socrates and Glaucon, in which Socrates describes the philosophical awakening of a prisoner as he escapes from a cave in which he had been chained inside, along with other prisoners, his whole life. The story uses symbols such as, the shadows, the escape and the return to demonstrate the journey philosophers take on their quest for knowledge. First, the prisoners are described to have dwelled inside the cave their …show more content…

Socrates asked if after escaping, “when he came out into the light, that his eyes would be filled with its beams so that he would not be able to see even one of the things we call real?” (Plato 748). Glaucon replied “no, not immediately” (Plato 748). The objects the prisoner sees after leaving the cave are the objects that created the shadows inside the cave, or the real objects. It is painful for the prisoner to see them because he is not accustomed to the light, or truth. A truth which contradicts his previous beliefs, “Plato says that true and reliable knowledge rests only with those who can comprehend the true reality behind the world of everyday experience. In order to perceive the world of the Forms, individuals must undergo a difficult education” (Macintosh). The escape stimulated a philosophical awakening, “at first he would discern the shadows and, after that, the likeness or reflection in water of men and other things, and later, the things themselves, and from these he would go on to contemplate the appearance in the heavens and heaven itself” (Plato 748). The escape represents the prisoners journey towards knowledge, “he would be able to look upon the sun itself and see its true nature, not by reflection” (Plato 748). The prisoner is now a

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