What Did Socrates Have To Teach Us About Doing Philosophy Analysis

As we know, Socrates chose to never write or have his ideas published. We learned of his outlook and ideas through the writing and dialogues of a student whom admired everything about him, Plato. In the “Allegory of the Cave,” we read a dialogue that occurs between Socrates and another student, Glaucon. Socrates describes chained human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light. Due to being chained, these people cannot see the light of day, nor can they see anything that is not directly in front of them. There is a fire burning behind them, which casts a shadow on the wall they are facing. “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (Plato, 3). Because the shadows are all they see, they are all that is real to them. If one of these prisoners were to be freed to the world above, their neck would be stiff, the light would shock their eyes and they would no longer be able to see the realities they once saw in the shadows. Once the person adjusts to the light, they will be able to understand that the sun is the cause of everything

Most of the information that we learn about Socrates comes from the work and writings of one of his students, Plato. It has been alleged that the great Philosopher wrote nothing down for others to read, and as such, the knowledge and the teachings from Socrates that is relied upon to convey his philosophy and the epic story of his life comes not from himself, but his students who attempt to provide and accurate picture of the methods and philosophical beliefs held by their mentor and teacher.

Philosophy is defined as the ultimate quest to help humans seek answers to questions that orbit knowledge, reality and existence. Philosophers begin their study of knowledge by asking questions they may or may not have an answer to. One famous philosopher, Socrates, utilizes this process to question his understanding on the concepts he had already attained knowledge for. At one point during his life, Socrates is proclaimed to be the wisest man alive by the Oracle of Delphi. Upon being declared the wisest man alive, Socrates begins to question everything he thought he knew.

Though the man would then seem to be educated, Socrates takes the fantasy farther by dragging the freed prisoner out of the cave and into the actual world. At first, the man's eyes would dart from the brightness of the sun, and watch only shadows. Eventually, his eyes would allow him to look at reflections and finally at the actual objects themselves. He then realizes that the trees, flowers, houses, rocks, and animals he

The one prisoner finally escaping the cave to the outside light shows symbolism as a higher level of philosophy. Returning to the cave was the choice of the prisoner, he felt compelled to spread his new knowledge. Plato’s uses him to represent breaking free from the normal mindset shared. Plato’s argument stands since the cave represents lack of expanding on common knowledge. Even after the prisoner returns to express his findings to others, individuals with philosophies different than the norm is dismissed because of their level above previous things thought of as true.

The prisoners have been in these conditions since their earliest stages of life. The cave, the wall, and the chains are all the prisoners have ever known. Behind the prisoners, there was a raised path. Above the walkway was a platform, where there was a fire burning, and in front of the fire, was a parapet, which as Plato described it , was like that of the screens Puppeteers use to hide themselves and have the puppets be visible . Each and every day, the prisoners see nothing, but the shadows of the objects and people passing between them and the fire. For their entire lives, the prisoners are exposed to nothing but those images and the sounds made by those walking around. These shadows are all they have ever known, in essence; these shadows are their only “reality”. As time passed, the prisoners would grow accustomed to these sights, later on the prisoners would match the objects with names and the familiar sounds to the images of the shadows (514; Appendix A). In discussing the allegory with Glaucon, Socrates toys around the concept of what could happen to a prisoner should they be released after having lived their lives in the cave, with the only knowledge the possess of the world, are the images and sounds by the wall.

Once the prisoner climbs out of the cave and is fully immersed in the sun's rays, Socrates continues to explain the prisoner's bewilderment, fear, and blindness to the objects he was now being told were real. The natural reaction of the prisoner would be to recognize shadows and reflections. After his eyes adjust to the sunlight, he begins to see items and people in their own existence, outside of the cave. When the prisoner looks up to the sky and looks into the Sun, and recognizes it as the cause of all that is around him—he has perceived the "Form of the Good!" This point in the passage marks the climax, as the prisoner, who not long ago was blind to the "Form of the Good" (as well as the basic Forms in general), now is aware of reality and truth. When this has occurred, the ultimate stage of thought has been achieved, and that is

As he talks about the prisoners, he claims that - were they not released and able to go into the outside light - they “would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects” (Plato). He describes their original life in the cave as being primitive and conjecture in nature. Once released from their chains, though, the prisoner must make his way past the fire and into the outside world because for Plato, “the entire ascent out of the cave, is a story of progress toward understanding values”

The whole point of the allegory is to represent to journey to enlightenment. The prisoners represent either the unenlightened that have not had enough experience to gain great wisdom or the uneducated that have not learned enough to gain great intelligence. And being thrown out of the cave into the outside world represents the process of becoming enlightened. Once enlightened they would of course not want to leave and to make them go back into the Cave would be cruel, as is noted by Glaucon. But as is explained they must be made to descend again among the prisoners in the den, and partake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not” (873). Plato claims that these enlightened have a moral responsibility to bring their wisdom to the common people in order to help them learn more so everyone can benefit from the knowledge of an individual. This is certainly an agreeable prospect and one that is not seen enough in the real world. Once

It would never be an easy path to walk down, and it would take a lot of struggling. Only certain determined people will actually make it to the opposite side. Socrates says these most qualified people should be the ones to lead the public. I believe this is also true in today’s society. I say this because when it comes to election time, we as a country are not going to vote for an uneducated lunatic. I believe that the president should be someone intelligent with good morals and very qualified. In order to reach that high point, you must go out of your comfort zone, like the prisoner did. In life, people go out of their comfort zones all of the time. I’ve always believed that in order to achieve something you’ve never had/done, you must do something you’ve never done before, such as stepping out of your comfort zone. Only the best can be found when you make an attempt to extend yourself as a human being. I relate the cave in this story to the social norm. No one wants to step out of it because I their life, the norm is all there is. I believe the shadows would represent all of the other things that could be out there, but they have no desire to go find out what they are. They are too comfortable with what they have and haven’t gone looking for more. The cave is a comfort zone for the prisoners in Plato’s time and for teenagers today. Without the outside world, there is no curiosity, no questioning. I believe it is important to

A leader’s actions do not always follow popular opinion or the opinion of one’s superiors. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Socrates says “Human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been since childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads.” Only one of the prisoners, the leader, breaks the pattern of what the prisoners have done their entire lives when he goes on “the journey upwards to be the advent of the soul into the intellectual world” after being “liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light.” This does not follow the beliefs or opinions of the other prisoners who believe “it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.” The actions of the prisoner that leaves the

However, Socrates continues the discussion by explaining that once this individual is forced to live in this newer light, the person will begin to understand their new perception as being the true reality by degrees: “… first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven.” From this acceptance, Socrates theorized that the person would be very reluctant to return to the cave and would instead take pity on those he had left behind him in the cave. If that person returned to help the others and could make himself accepted as such, Socrates indicates the people would have a tendency to idolize him, but having only been ahead of them in seeing the true reality, this leader would be reluctant to take on such a role. However, if the person had returned to their imprisonment within the cave before their sight was adjusted, they would instead be

These two pieces written by Plato also have two characters, Socrates and the prisoners, who are similar. After returning to the cave, the prisoner would be reentering a world of darkness, having to talk to all the unreleased prisoners. He would live with the other prisoners, being able to see better than all of the rest. Because of his different perspective of reality and new knowledge, he would assume the position of the leader of the group and take care of the prisoners. Socrates does this exact thing in The Symposium. He seems to be the most enlightened one in the group and appears to be the puppet by which Plato speaks about his own views. Alcibiades speaks about how he looked up to and loved Socrates during his speech starting at 212c. Socrates acts as the mentor and leader in The Symposium, just as a prisoner would be if he were to leave the cave and become enlightened.

Socrates’s anecdote of the cave presents a ghastly image: people who “are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them, unable because of the bond to turn their heads all the way around” (193). Also inside the cave is a “fire burning” which allows certain objects (out of sight and controlled by others) to project shadows (193). Consequently, the prisoners believe that the shadows are the most real things. When a prisoner is released, he experiences pain due to the light of the fire. In time, he recognizes the truth and becomes accustomed to it. He is then “dragged out into the light of the sun” (194). After a few moments, he tolerates its rays. Most importantly though, he grasps “the sun itself” (195). Finally, the escapee is not content with keeping this

The final phase Socrates says the prisoner will go through will be his studying of the heavens by this point he believes the prisoner will be able to himself come up with conclusions regard the sun as “the source of the seasons and the years” (516c) and simply the cause for all he now sees and all he once saw. According to Socrates the prisoner will eventually recall the lifestyle and the people he left behind and began to feel a sense of pity for them but will cherish experience he has received on the surface. He says that if the prisoner were to ever return to the cave he would face the pain of having to readjust to the light in the cave and the ridicule of the prisoner who will see him as someone who has lost sight of the truth instead of the newly enlightened soul he is.