Plato's 'Allegory Of The Cave'

In Plato's Cave, the prisoners are tied down with chains, hand, and foot under bondage. In fact they have been there since their childhood, which much like matrix people are seen as in reality being bound within a pad whereby they are feed images/illusions which keep them in a dreamlike state and they have been in this bondage by virtue of the virtual reality pads in the fields since their youth and like the allegory of the Cave they are completely unaware of such a predicament since in regards to the Cave they have become conditioned to the shadows that dance upon the wall and do not see the true forms of which the shadow is a mere non-substantial pattern of. In the Matrix, within the person of the virtual world, it is a non-substantial pattern of the world, it is reflective of the real world, it is a shadow in its form and nature being a simulation of the world at a particular point in history. Like the prisoners in the cave, those who are prisoners in the system of a matrix are held in their calm state by reason of the illusion that stimulates them and tricks them into remaining asleep or rather into being ignorant of the fact that they are prisoners in pads so the machines can feed on their bio-energy. The shadows on the wall which are reflective is to keep the prisoners on the Cave unaware of the fact that they are prisoners, that they are under bondage and have never truly seen life outside of the Cave. The shadows on the walls are by puppets, perchance puppeteers. They could be seen as the agents, whom within the Matrix being programs are to maintain that the humans asleep in the matrix remain in their comatose state, they are to support the illusion, by keeping man actively ignorant of what is truly happening, so they never wake up. The puppeteers of the puppets which are seen on the wall to keep the mind of the prisoners stimulated so they never realize that they are chained, and only have a vision that is straightforward, which is basically saying their minds are only subjected to a single perspective and they are blind to the degree of seeing within other perspectives, broader perspectives and this in and of itself is a limitation.

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

While interpreting Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave’’ in which is a representation that described a narrative of the society of people in before Christ years. I realized how there was a major comparison of people in today’s society that reflected the same prisoner traits as the prisoners that were described in the dialogue. According to the Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” It described conditions of people chained at birth unable to function as independent individuals that were locked in a protracted dark cave. They were allowed to rotate their necks but could not stand up unless told to or leave the cave. Within this cave they could only watch a wall showing flash images and objects as if the prisoners were watching a play or movies at a theater. They believed that the pictures shown on the wall were factual in which they were just shadows of objects that were behind them. The objects reflected forms and puppet that were placed up by puppeteers to create shadows on the wall. The prisoners were unable to see the puppeteers and seemed as if they were watching a puppet show in the dark.

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

Knowledge is the perception by sentient beings of an upper world filled with ideas and pure forms of objects instead of the material, real-world forms that these sentient beings sense. Plato, in his Allegory of the Cave, uses an analogy between prisoners chained in a cave who can only see reality as shadows on the wall. In his story, one escapes, and discovers the “true” world of reality above, but when he returns, none of his friends believe him and they say that one would be a fool for going to the true world of perception. Plato claims through Socrates, “The world of our sight is like the habitation in prison, the fire-light there to the sunlight here, the ascent and the view of the upper world is the rising of the soul into the world of

I. INTRODUCTION Plato's Allegory of the Cave describes a situation involving all people seeking knowledge and the truth, unified by this goal. The citizens chained together never see the reality, but instead the shadows being cast by it. Furthermore, they cannot speak with those around them regarding their suspicions, as the chains prevent them from doing so. To a college student, the Allegory of the Cave describes the goal that is sought after from education. College is a place students go to become critical thinkers, to question assumptions, and to master knowledge in order to move towards understanding.

Plato’s Allegory to the Cave was a very challenging yet intriguing piece to read. I had some trouble reading the story because of the way it was worded, but the deeper meaning really caught my attention. I really enjoyed the scenario that was created to convey the deeper meaning too. The deeper meaning of being able to come to face with reality can relate to many events in my life. Something else that I strongly agreed with even though it was tough to understand was the view on politics and the deeper meaning.

After reading Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” we can come to the conclusion that all that in today’s society is consider reality is just shadows. The true values of humanity have been forgotten, all we have are shadows. We think that true happiness is based on having material things. The shadows that we see today are: social media, wealth, greed, power. Since we are born we are surrounded by ideas of what is expected of us. As Plato’s Allegory observed, “Prisoners who have been chained since childhood” (Plato, pars. 1-2). Our children are raised with pictures of photo-shopped models, billboards of the latest car model, commercials of the season trends, and parents who only care about the material things. We are living in a society where

At various times in our lives, every person has asked themselves a varied version of the same questions: What is “reality”, moreover what determines our perception of reality, and what am I supposed to do with (or about) it? Throughout “Allegory of the Cave,” Plato attempts to answer these questions. Plato suggests that humans have a constrained view of the world, and that reality consist of two different perceptions, a "bodily eye” and a “mind’s eye.” The “mind’s eye”, the hypothetical site of visual recollection or imagination, involves a higher level of thinking. This eye emerges after the prisoners have been released from their chains and begin exploring the outside world. The “bodily eye,” a metaphor for the senses, relies on sensory images about the world in order to form conceptions of reality. This is the only eye present inside the cave where the prisoners’ confined.

The Allegory of the Cave, written by Plato, envisions the world as a dark cave and the humans are trapped prisoners within. All of our experiences are basically nothing but two-dimensional shadows on a sad wall. One lucky prisoner, however, manages to break free and as he makes his way out of the cave, he realizes that the real world at the other end of the tunnel is actually so much more spectacular and beautiful. He then goes back down and explains to everyone that, all this time, they’ve been living an illusion inside a massive cave. For reasons that will soon become obvious, the majority of people believe that he’s the one telling the massive lie and choose to remain where they are.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is closely related to the forms. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave he explains that life is similar to being chained to a wall with nothing to see but shadows. A group of prisoners are chained to the walls of a cave which means they have no knowledge of the outside world. Occasionally people would pass the cave producing shadows on the wall and echoes in the cave. One of the prisoners got free and made it to the outside world. He sees the outside world as disorienting and unreal. He was told that this outside was the real world and what he saw was not. He finally sees the shadows and reflections for himself. The prisoner comes across the sun which is the main source of the shadows he is witnessing in the cave. He

Think of society as a cave. It traps you inside so you have no way out. Particularly in this time gender is at the front of issues. A major problem is that people will choose what they think is acceptable for another gender. This cave belongs to contemporary society, which revolves around gender equality.

Plato’s ideas are said to possibly have stemmed from his mother, Perictione. They both argue self-control and wisdom generate life virtues that lead to a happy and harmonious society. Plato believes in the existence of absolute truth in reality. He thinks that the world isn’t about what we see, but instead a place of ideas. He says true reality is found beyond our senses.

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).

When reading “The Cave,” I immediately reason that the allegory symbolizes an individuals fight to comprehend the belief of heaven and hell. Therefore, the prisoners living within the cave must symbolize specific individuals that have interminably fought to apprehend this far off notion of some sort of afterlife. Moreover, the cave thus symbolizes the minds of these individuals, trapped in a flaming cavern. As Plato writes, “Above and behind them a fire is blazing.” (The Cave) Alternatively, I believe that the prisoners are grievously deranged. This notion derives from my hypothesis that the shadows walking behind the wall are actually spirits traveling to the afterlife. As a consequence, these prisoners are ultimately conjuring their images