Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave" as Means to Explain "The Apology"

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.

In Plato's “Allegory Of The Cave” he expresses that people are innately born with abilities like thinking and communicating, but their individual outlook on life is relative to their experiences in life; their educational awareness. Like the men chained in the “cave”, restricted to see only shadows of images cast by fire light and muffled echo sounds of voices; if one is restricted from experiencing new things, places or ideas, then in life their reality is limited to only the experiences they have had. The shadows the prisoners see on the wall are their reality not the actual objects that made the images. As our text “”Think” buy Judith A. Boss indicates, experience and facts we receive from additional resources is the basic level of thinking. Without continued facts and experiences, without education, our thinking is limited to our narrowed reality (shadows).

In these, he tested to see how wise so-called wise men were and each and every time he claimed that these men were not wise at all. Socrates went and tested all sorts of men from poets, politicians, and artisans. He claimed that all were inferior to him because they claimed to know much when they knew not much at all. And that, although he did not know all the tings these men knew, he was still wiser. He went so far as to tell these men what he thought, and even stated all these feelings in the court. This, no doubt, led to his general hatred more than any other act. But I wonder, had anyone ever questioned Socrates? And on what basis did he judge wisdom? Socrates claimed that a man who thought themselves the wisest were the least, but that is exactly what he was, a man who thought himself the wisest. Maybe he was the type of person to dislike any man who’s intellect challenged his own. “Is there not here conceit of knowledge, which is a disgraceful sort of ignorance? And this is the point in which, as I think, I am superior to men in general.”

The Allegory of the Cave, also know as The Analogy of the Cave, Plato's Cave or Parable of the Cave is presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work “The Republic “ as a theory concerning the perceptions of human kind and compares the effects of education to the lack of education on our observations. The passage is written as dialogue between Plato’s brother Glaucon and his teacher Socrates.

In the ‘The Allegory of the Cave’, Plato uses a philosophical situation to help us as the reader to examine our perception of life by what is around us. Plato uses such an abstract situation to show that we can mistake the information that we gain due to our position in a situation for truth.

In his explanation of his behavior, Socrates also adds that part of his duty as a wise man, is to make sure that he questions the behavior of other wise men to make sure that those men are also aware

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

At that end, Socrates claims he began to see himself as a representative of the oracle’s words; instead of pretending to know a great deal, he chose to profess his ignorance and be honest with himself about it (23e). To that end, he was able to act as himself and maintain his integrity. During the trial, Socrates holds everyone else to the same standard; when he talks about Meletus, his accuser, he calls him out on not actually caring about what he professes to care about – namely, the charges against Socrates. Through the trial, Socrates has proved not only Meletus do not care about the matter he mentioned in the charge, also he has no idea what is he talking about either a lot or a little, Socrates cleverly seduced Meletus go into his trap, by using the anger that Meletus hold against Socrates. Because obvious there are some much better answers for Meletus to answer.

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

In order to do this, he goes about Athens questioning those he believes to be wiser than him, including politicians, poets, and craftsmen. Upon this questioning, he discovers that even those perceived as the wisest actually know far less than one would expect. Even the craftsmen, who have much practical wisdom in their respective fields, see their success as merely a tribute to their vast knowledge of many subjects. This, Socrates claims, is not true wisdom. Human wisdom can be described as the acknowledgement and acceptance that one does not know everything, nor is one capable of knowing everything. This, however, does not mean that people should sit idly by, never pursuing wisdom, for it is still vital to the attainment of a good life, which should be the ultimate goal of mankind.

In The Apology, Socrates presents his defense to his jurors when on trial for teaching nontraditional philosophies and, allegedly, affecting the community adversely. In this account, Socrates explains that his behavior stems from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi which claimed that he was the wisest of all men. Recognizing his ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he is aware of his own lack of knowledge. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considers it his duty to question supposed wise men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. In a famous passage, Socrates says that God specially appointed him to the city, “as though it were a large thoroughbred horse which because of its great size is inclined to be lazy and needs the stimulation of some stinging fly” (The Apology, 30e). Without him to rouse, persuade, and reprove the community, Socrates claims society is liable to drift into a deep sleep of unproductive activity and ethical laziness. When people ask why Socrates cannot quietly mind his own

Since he had asked the audience at the beginning of his defense to not interrupt him even if something he said disturbed them, he now uses that to his advantage to and asked himself a question as if it were from a thoughtful member of the jury. The fictional person, Socrates uses to once again work his words around the court to make them think in the way that he wishes them too. He infers that his primary argument was sufficient and uses the query to lead into his next topic of discussion: his wisdom. Socrates’ has already made it know to the court that he is a wise man and he has eloquently persuaded them that he is not as bad a man as rumors would have them believe. During the second part of his argument, Socrates addresses in greater detail than the previous, his view of philosophy and takes a stance defending it. Interestingly enough, this is still being used to clear Socrates’ name and acquit him of his “crimes.” He seeks to clarify the reason that rumors about him came about in the first place. He speaks first of the Delphic Oracle and how the god told Chaerephon, regarding Socrates, that no man was wiser than he and how in an effort to bring a counter-argument to the god, the philosopher set out to interrogate men considered wise. Socrates also cites that another source of the Athenians’ distaste towards him was rooted in the youth that he taught, who

Socrates found his purpose through oracles and dreams by a divine power, “…since I was trying to find out the meaning of the oracle, I was bound to interview everyone who had a reputation for knowledge.” (Apology 22a), from the oracle of Apollo, Socrates believed that his purpose was to philosophize. Socrates would question reputable wise men and try to prove the oracle that he (Socrates) was not the wisest man. After interviewing men with a high reputation, Socrates began to expose them for their ignorance and their deficiency. He also determined that his wisdom was of no value, yet he was the wisest mortal. He also established that there are three levels of wisdom; “real wisdom” (the highest), being “wisest among men” (the middle), “not being wise, but seeming wise, especially to oneself” (the lowest). Even after establishing his purpose and proving the oracle, he felt as if he should still philosophize (Mission from God, pg. 20). Along with morality, Socrates had the belief that our purpose in life was to examine how to live, he thought that we must come

Socrates knowing himself, held in certain that he had “no wisdom small or great” (Plato, trans. 1871). Upon hearing the prophecy about him from the Oracle of Delphi asserting that there was “no man wiser” than him in all of Athens, he became puzzled (Plato, trans. 1871). In response to the message about him from the Oracle of Delphi, Socrates felt obliged to disprove this statement by seeking a wiser man, and once found he would refute the prophecy by affirming to God "Here is a man who is wiser than I am; but you said that I was the wisest"(Plato, trans. 1871). Socrates embarked on a search for men with “the reputation of wisdom.” First, he interrogated a politician, then the poets, and then artisans. While questioning the politician, he found that “although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still

“See human beings as though they were in an underground cave-like dwelling” (193). Although Plato’s famous allegory of the cave doesn’t appear until Book VII of The Republic, its significance cannot be understated. The meaning behind the Greek philosopher’s imagery manifests itself throughout the rest of the work, specifically Book I. After outlining the description of the cave and demonstrating how the rest of The Republic dramatizes it, I argue that Plato (or Plato’s Socrates) is revealing a relationship that posits philosophy, which can only come about through mutual respect, as critical for the city’s well-being, but ultimately not enough just by itself.