The Allegory Of The Cave By Ray Bradbury

Reality is the most intriguing concept in philosophy; throughout the ages, philosophers have been trying to understand the difference between real and unreal things. Philosophers allocate a whole branch of philosophy, Metaphysics, to study the nature of reality and existence. However, Greek philosophers, like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, were the first to question the nature of reality and its ultimate form. In the “Republic”, Plato tried to explain the idea of reality throughout his allegory of the cave; the allegory represents various philosophical ideas about the metaphysics of reality, epistemology, and education.

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).

People seem to think that everything that happens to them everyday is real. The question is, though, “What is real?”. Is everything you see everyday really real or is it fake? We might see fantasies that other people or machines have created for us. Maybe we are the ones that are not enlightened yet. Numerous essays and films have been produced on this subject. One essay is “The Allegory of the Cave” written by Plato in 360 B.C. Also, the movie The Matrix was filmed in 1999. Even though many differences can be drawn between “The Allegory of the Cave” and The Matrix, there are many similarities as well.

In “The Allegory of the Cave”, the focus is based on prisoners who are chained up in a cave and can only see the shadows of the real world. In this story one prisoner is released into the “real world” and tries to enlighten the other prisoners. In The Matrix, the main character Neo is living in a world controlled by a computer program and he does not know. He is brought into the real world by people that have been enlightened and he plans to help the other people. Even though The Matrix and “The Allegory of the Cave are set in different points in time and show some different points of view , they also have comparable plots, characters, and symbols.

Throughout history, one thing has been consistently clear: humanity is failing.Whether it be consistently, or a huge downfall all at once, humanity has proven time and time again it is not capable of supporting itself with an effective communication system. Yes, world leaders are known to sit down and talk to each other, but has that ever been effective? Are these people talking or participating in a dialogue? The difference between a conversation and a dialogue is that during a conversation, nothing is suspended in order to understand while in a dialogue, people check their assumptions, prejudices, and judgments at the door to have their minds open for discussion.

Being skeptical in the 21st century is at an all time high because not only is having one’s own opinion accepted, its encouraged. Additionally, because of the open society we live in, it has allowed mankind to examine their life at a deeper level. Now, people can be skeptical of their religion without worrying about being persecuted. Often people question what is reality and whether seeing is indeed believing. Three passages that indulge in this skepticism are The Matrix, The Allegory, of The Cave, and Meditation I of the Things of Which We May Doubt. All three of these passage at the root propose the same idea that reality is not what is observed; furthermore, that there is a true reality that one can attain by being skeptical of their current reality and thinking outside the box.

If you had a vast and extraordinary knowledge that would bring truth and light to the rest of the world but would be violently rejected by the world for this knowledge, would you still share it? Over that past centuries, philosophers, religious leaders, scientists, teachers, and dreamers have brought their insights and enlightenment to the forefront of society knowing that they would be violently rejected. Many of these enlightened individuals have been later claimed as martyrs for their knowledge and actions when they are later proved to be the truth. So why do they do it? A great philosopher, Plato, debates such a topic and explains the reality and risks of being one who is enlightened in an ignorant society. In his work The Allegory of the Cave, Plato urges his reader to find enlightenment and face its risks through his

What is truth? What is the truth, of what truth is? There are many answers to this question. Each answer may lie different, inside of each person. Only you know what truth is to you. In this essay I will describe what truth is to me, how I verify truth, and whether I believe truth to be good or bad. I will then compare and contrast my idea of truth, to that of Plato’s truth, from his ideas in “Allegory Of The Cave.”

The main trait of human intellect is its curiosity, its questioning nature about itself, the perceived world and the other people for which a meaning is sought. From ancient times, this endeavor became known as philosophy. Over the course of time, many such philosophers came into being and enhanced our knowledge about the meaning of things, us and our life. In the next paragraphs will take a look to a couple of them which are considered today among the greatest philosophical minds of all times: Socrates and Voltaire. We will explore their view on philosophy through some examples: Apology and Alegory of the Cave Reading for Socrates and Good Brahmin’s for Voltaire.

The world is full of boundaries and limits, but what does this mean? Do we develop and implicate these boundaries ourselves, being subconscious acts of our mind or have they developed from a greater power in the universe. Joel Silver’s production of the 1999 film The Matrix effectively explores and showcases how realities can differ. As the characters overcome a perceived reality challenging a “computer generated dream world” (The Matrix, 1999), they develop an understanding of the imprisonment which artificial realities on an individual’s mind. Similarly ‘The Allegory of the Cave’ which is one of Plato’s greatest works, illustrates reality beyond the capabilities of our senses (touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste).

In Book 7 of Plato’s Republic, "The Allegory of the Cave” is a symbolic story of which there are prisoners in a cave with a fire that is located behind them. They have always faced the wall of the cave and have only seen what was outside of the cave from the shadows. They believe that the shadows of the objects carried are real, but in reality, it 's just a shadow of the truth. The prisoners play a game where they guess what the shadows are and end up believing that it is the truth. However, when one prisoner escapes and faces reality, where the sun is a source of life, he realizes that the game was pointless. He seeks for meaning and truth from his journey outside of the cave. Socrates then insists that he must return to the cave and share what he has found with the prisoners because it will benefit everyone as a whole. However, when he returns and informs the prisoners, they react by not believing him and threatening to kill him if he set them free, because they are scared of the change that would occur after knowing the truth. Socrates believes that knowledge gained through senses is no more than an opinion. True knowledge is gained through reasoning and understanding. The allegory could symbolize positivity in modern American society.

The theme of The Allegory of the Cave by Plato is when enlightened about reality you may stand alone because the deception conceals the reality from the others, It’s hard to accept new given information because of how comfortable you already are, but it’s best to branch out. Plato conveys this theme in his The Allegory of the Cave with many examples such as having a moral dilemma, event significance, and symbolism. One of the main points that Plato uses to explain the The Allegory of the cave is use a Moral Dilemma. Plato explains that the prisoners who “replied, watch the process whereby the prisoners are set free from their chains and, along with that, cured of their lack of insight, and likewise consider what kind of lack of insight must be if the following were to happen to those who were chained” (Plato 3).

Many individuals question human nature and how our society is created to find justice. “Allegory of the Cave” written by Plato, a Greek philosopher, was a dialogue between Glaucon and Socrates.. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, depicts the idea that some people are seeing the truth to be “aching. People were born to be told things, which naturally believed is hard to know what is true. They are unable to see the reality and when told the truth, it would be hard for people to accept it any other way. As a result, people would exceed its limits to find the truth. Some may say this allegory, is the reflection of our world today .There are many representations that can be shown how this can be applied to how we live our everyday lives. One of

Plato was a famous Greek philosopher who was taught by Socrates, another famous philosopher. Plato told an interesting story, one that is referred to as the cave allegory. The story would appear to be simple, but it is riddled with deep symbolism and lessons. In this story, there a group of prisoners who live in a cave. They are shackled to a wall their backs are turned from the light and all they can see are the shadows on the wall. The only light they ever see is the moon, but they cannot face the sun. One day someone came down to the cave and pulled one prisoner out of the cave. The prisoner kicked and screamed, he was afraid of facing the light. But once he was out there he was amazed at all the figures and magnificent things he had missed out

The Allegory of the Cave, or Plato's Cave, was presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work Republic (514a–520a) to compare "the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature". (Wikipedia, 2017). From what I understood in the text the allegory of the cave is a dialogue between Plato’s teacher Socrates and his brother Glaucon. I believe that the four man parts of the allegory of the cave are; the cave, the shadow game, the escape and the return.