When depicting learning, books may feature an adolescent sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher lecture for an entire school day, but in actuality, learning is a constant personal discovery through our environment and throughout our entire lives. Learners cannot have information thrown at them without context and personal investment, but rather they should be directed towards knowledge which will spark desire. Plato’s (trans. 1968) Republic and Margaret M. Clifford’s (1990) article “Students Need Challenge, Not Easy Success” both demonstrate this point, but Clifford takes it a step further to propose that all learners should take these leaps, not just the most intelligent individuals as Plato (trans. 1968) claims. Human beings can not learn by having information drilled into us, but rather we have to be willing to recognize and interpret the world around us without the risk of punishment or failure.
In Republic, Plato (trans. 1968) relays his thoughts on learning through the perspective of Socrates, a greek philosopher. Socrates uses an allegory of a cave in order to explain how humans learn throughout the different stages of life and discovery. The allegory begins in the dark where a group of humans are bound in a sun deprived cave so that they can only look straight ahead towards a wall (Plato, trans. 1968). Unbenounced to them, there is a fire which casts shadows of statues of real entities found in nature. But because the prisoners can only see what is projected
The process of apprehending true knowledge is a task unfit for those who cannot overcome the concepts that the truth is associated with. This task of discovering knowledge tests an individual and their dedication to the process. However, this process is grueling and does not always yield the expected or desired result. According to philosophers, such as Socrates and Plato, humans are born with innate knowledge that becomes accessible through reasoning and life experiences. Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave describes of a group of people, in a cave, that have been shielded from society for their entire lives and were given an alternate and limited education. One man is forced out of the cave and into the light of the real world, where he
The "Allegory of the Cave" is Plato's attempt to explain the relationship between knowledge and ignorance. Starting with the image of men in fetters that limit their movement and force them to look only ahead, this is the idea that all men and women are bound by the limits of their ignorance. Men and women are restricted by the limits of the education of their parents and the small amounts that can be culled from their environment. Images and shadows are representations of those things surrounding us that we see but do not understand because of our limited knowledge. As we obtain the ability to see things more clearly in the cave that is our ignorance, we start to then
In Allegory of the Cave, Plato conveys his message through the use of rhetorical device, repetition, and educational format, the Socratic method. The message explains that humans have preconceived ideas of reality, but they do have the power to achieve the truth or true knowledge. Ergo, it is necessary to spread the upper echelons of knowledge to others who do not possess it.
According to Socrates the human nature is to be ignorant because in the text of Allegory of the Cave it states, “in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all and is seen only with effort”. (35) This excerpt explains that the humans would rather sit in comfort and not make the effort to gain more knowledge than what they have; which puts them in the chains of ignorance. The Allegory has many types and shadows of reality within its text giving readers room to interpret, inside its parameters of thought. Both the Novel and the Allegory can also be interpreted as a warning for this modern
How does the allegory describe the process of acquiring knowledge? In the Plato’s Allegory of the Cave it describes the process of acquiring knowledge as escaping the illusions and sense experiences shown in the world. It states that the process is hard but once you have escaped from the illusions, you must go back to the cave to teach others about reality and the truth. 5.
The Allegory of the Cave is written by the brilliant mind of Plato. In the famous dialogue, Socrates, a well known philosopher, teaches to a student, Glaucon, about gaining wisdom and enlightenment. He uses the cave and the prisoners as an analogy to help make his argument more clear and understandable. It questions those who have knowledge and their responsibilities. Those who have knowledge may not realize that he or she plays an important role in society and its future. Their role involves appreciation, morals, and betterment for society. When someone gains wisdom from an experience, he or she should be morally obligated to pass on the wisdom to others because it can overall benefit society.
The cave allegory also proves that the role of education is not to teach in the sense of feeding people information they do not have, but rather to shed light on things they already know. Education "isn't the craft of putting sight into the soul. Education takes for granted that sight is there but that it isn't turned the right way or looking where it ought to look, and it tries to redirect it properly." (2)
Sometime between 507 and 517 B.C. Plato transcribed a story from Socrates that could describe the ignorance and enlightenment of people and their interactions with change called “the Allegory of the People in the Cave”. Two of the major recurring themes in the story illustrate the epistemological argument as well as the views of rationalism. I will also briefly explore the tangent of Empiricism inspired by the story’s experiences to help understand the cause and effects of ones search for knowledge. In this essay we will summarize the story and explore the philosophical views of those characters in and why in the end they feel the way that they do, “The Allegory of the People in the Cave” text is more than a story but rather an important
Plato's allegory of the cave is an allegory (a story with a deeper meaning) about first discovering philosophy and its teachings, the allegory starts of as prisoners at birth have been forced to watching shadows puppets projected on walls of a cave from a fire; the prisoner, as Plato says is every person to have existed or to exist at this moment in time. As the prisoners watch the shadows, they're perception of reality are the shadows and they live out their lives as normal until one of the prisoners is released, the light from the fire hurts their eyes, they are exposed to things that they can't understand, slowly they come to terms that the shadows are not reality, it's actually the objects; when the official allegory says "... While his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous ?... " it's where Plato explains that where the prisoner is exposed to the teachings philosophy and where they discover what is reality actually is. The prisoner becomes curious, so they discover more of the world and what reality is, their perception of reality becomes stronger, their curiosity wants the other prisoners to see what they see, as the
Human experiences are an everyday aspect of individuals lives. The way individuals see, touch, smell, feel, and even remember is through unique experiences. People do not realize it, but our everyday life and community shape how the mind experiences certain events. Because of these, the way individuals see the world is different from person to person. The mind interprets the world around the individuals, however, it can only interpret what it is exposed to. It is up to the individuals to allow the mind to be more aware of the human experiences by having more knowledge of the surrounding, having no false reality, no ignorance, and accepting enlightenment. The Allegory of the Cave, by the philosopher Plato, successfully
Plato furthers his argument on knowledge and happiness in his Allegory of the Cave, he argues Mephisto’s claim that humans should disregard knowledge. He illustrates the sun being the form of all things good or knowledge and describes the prisoner’s journey to reach the sun. The cave demonstrates the effect education has on a citizen’s soul and how humans can evolve in their learning
In the story the “Allegory of the Cave”, written by Greek philosopher Plato; provides the most insightful stories that explains the nature of reality. During the era of the Greek philosopher Plato, the Allegory of the cave was written to compare, “the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature. This was written as a discussion between Plato’s brother Glaucon and his consultant Socrates. However, Plato utilizes a series of rhetorical strategies throughout his story. He provides us with symbolism, polysyndeton, and deductive reasoning.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave describes ignorance and the process of enlightenment. The cave symbolizes a
One of the most intriguing and thought provoking topics discussed in class was Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. After learning about this topic, I had many thoughts about today’s society and how Allegory of the Cave applies to it. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave describes a group of individuals living in a cave, with their necks chained, facing a blank wall. Objects passing in front of a fire behind them create shadows on the wall in front of them. The prisoners believe that the shadows are reality. If one of the prisoners were set free and told that the people and things he now sees are more real than the shadows, he would not believe. If forced out of the cave, he would be blinded by the sun, but would gradually be able to see reality. If this same prisoner went back to the cave, he would not be able to function in such fake reality and if he tried to explain to
INTRO: When thinking of education, most children groan and whine about learning. However, they don’t realize that they have been learning for their entire life. Their education started when they were first born, and it has changed and shaped them into the character they are now. This idea was first thought of by Plato, another philosophy he had was of a cave. In this Cave Allegory, there are prisoners lined up against a wall so they can’t move their head to look elsewhere. Behind the prisoners there is a fire creating shadows on the wall where they are forced to look. A person comes in and unties one and shows him the fire, then later he shows him the outside of the cave. At first the prisoner is blinded by the light, but is later acceptant to the