The Allegory Of The Cave By G. Wells

At the beginning of Flowers for Algernon, Charlie could only see one side of things that he is exposed to; similarly, the prisoners of the cave could only see shadows. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates says to Glaucon , “The truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (Plato 1). Being chained limits the prisoners to see and hear anything but the shadows on the wall and the echoes bouncing off of it. However, shadows are never the truths; they are an exaggerated version of the actual person or self. What they see is a false image, but they believe it is true because it is what they

Explain the Themes addressed in Plato’s allegory of the Cave, Making particular reference to the Theory of Forms

Materialistic items play a key role in the world today. People use these items, such as technological appliances, to fulfill their daily wants and needs. However, most people do not realize the negative effects of such a heavy reliance on material goods. In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato shares his idea that an overdependence on items can negatively affect ethical decisions. This idea is discussed in “The Veldt,” by Ray Bradbury, The Truman Show, by Peter Weir, and Daniel Key’s novel, Flowers for Algernon. Throughout all three stories, characters greatly rely on items and other people, leading them to make unethical decisions. In some cases, people are objectified as a result of being needed, desired, and treated unfairly. In “The Veldt,” The Truman Show, and Flowers for Algernon, an overreliance on items leads to a loss of focus on morals and what is ethically important.

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

I was brought up to understand there are actually three sides to the truth in all situations when you’re trying to achieve justice. My grandfather described them as yours, mine, and somewhere between these book ends reside the real truth. I believe that American society today is faced with evaluating perceived truths everywhere they turn when dealing with our government. We must determine what we can accept as truthful when communicated by our elected government officials who promote their own self-worth and interests of their supporters and constituents rather than the American public. As citizens of society, we must weigh this information and determine which version is best representative of the future state of government that represents our position. Socrates stated in Book VII, The Allegory of the Cave, “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images (Plato, 2015, p. 117).” This statement represents in my opinion how each of us must evaluate information presented and determine if you can accept that as our truth.

Many people question themselves when they think they aren’t right about something because everyone else around them believes the opposite. What you think might be truer than you think because the world tends to believe what they want to, and not the truth. In Plato’s philosophical example of life in the “Allegory of the Cave” he explains and questions his views on human existence and the reality of things. Everyone has a different reality and a way that they perceive things but other factors like the media influence and persuade us. The media has the power through the radio, television, or other technologies to tell us things that might not even be true but we have to believe them because we don’t know what is true. The

Explain the allegorical significance(s) of the cave in Plato’s Republic. How is the cave an allegory of Plato’s philosophy? How is the allegory of the cave an allegory for enlightenment or philosophical education? How and why are most human beings like prisoners in a cave? Who are the puppeteers? What does the world outside the cave represent? What does the sun represent? Etc. What is Plato’s Theory of the Forms? What is a Form? How does the allegory of the cave express Plato’s Theory of the Forms? How is philosophy the art of “turning around” and what does this mean? Is the allegory of the cave relevant to contemporary social and political life? Can the allegory be used to critique contemporary social practices?

The shadows may also represent lack of knowledge ,and the light could represent enlightenment. The prisoners are comfortable with their false reality because it is what they are familiar with, even though it may not necessarily be the truth. The enlightenment is undeniably true but scary, so the prisoners would rather be comfortable in their ignorance than learn the truth about the real reality beyond what they perceive. A real life example of this would be if someone ( )The restrictions against education at the time is what many believe the Allegory of the Cave symbolizes and how the truth can always be found by those who are willing to open up their minds and eyes. Opening one's mind to instruction is the only way to learn, but people are ignorant so they do not to wish to learn anything that is not their own knowledge or contradicts prior knowledge even when presented with undeniable evidence. A famous example in history would be Galileo sailing around the world and people still choosing to believe the world is flat. The reason they still believed the incorrect belief,is that it is what had been believed for years prior ,and it is what was comfortable for the people of the time to believe even when they were presented with the

The shadows represent people who accept the evidence through experience and disregard logical reasonings. We can see this directly through the prisoners believing the shadows are the truth due to their only prior knowledge being limited to life inside the cave. Whereas the game mentioned in the book symbolizes how the wisdom reiterated by the person whose inception of the truth is disoriented by the falsities. However, they continued to be are praised for empirical knowledge they present. An example of this would be when prisoner returns to the cave and present their advanced evidence of reality to the others.

In his book, The Republic, Plato is mostly concerned with the notion of justice and how to create and maintain a society founded on the principle of justice. Allegory of the Cave contributes to his argument that a society must be found on justice because it claims that knowledge is gained through reasoning. Allegory of the Cave is a theory where what you see, hear, touch, smell and feel is just an opinion. The important concept is that you have to experience and become educated to find reasoning. Plato’s republic can be connected to today’s world through representative government.

“Choosing a Map for Life,” by M. Scott Peck, “The Allegory of the Cave,” by Plato, “The Truman Show” and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes describe the views and perspective of the reality in our world. We have to get out, discover the world around and revise it. By setting up a map or goal and revising it in the world, will make us to control our perceptions and draw close to the reality.

Imagery used by Plato as part of his writing style of allegory examines the shadows of the cave as ideas offered at surface level. Plato is showing people are there to believe what is given to them because they do not know anything else to be true. The shadows are explained, as “truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (Plato 450). Shadows are a brilliant use of imagery because they resemble something dark, indescribable, and hard to recognize. This helps support Plato’s argument because the truth can only be seen at the basic level without any complex details; it is just known to be true. His philosophy is that people can only see beyond the surface if they have to capability to do so and believe, what others think is crazy.

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).

The Allegory of the Cave or also known as, Myth of the Cave, is a good example of explaining the feature of the way people think. It is a concept that demonstrates how humans are fearful of change and what they don’t know. Plato says that men are living in an underground cave and it is a situation. The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. Plato talks about being free, everyday life, knowledge, and essentially what he wrote to be true. I think that he was very unique with his writings because there are so many ways to look at the world and his way was just one. He was educated highly and is recognized as a philosopher to this day.

“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