“The Allegory of the Cave” Response
In Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” I agree with the claim that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that real knowledge must be gained through philosophical reasoning. I agree with Plato’s reasoning because if a person's reality has only been shadows and misplaced noises in a dark cave all their life, then, in their opinion, that is their definite reality. To quote Plato, “ Then in every way such prisoners would deem reality to be nothing else than the shadows of the artificial objects” (Plato 748). To gain real knowledge you must use philosophical reasoning. In the closing paragraph Plato states that we should compel the philosophers among us to rise up as rulers and “care” for the less educated men. Saying if we have these philosophers trained to see the dark and understand the shadows, and bring that knowledge with them into the sun then they will achieve a spirit unlike other States
…show more content…
Plato states that the men who only have the knowledge they have gained through their senses are the men who fight about shadows only and are distracted in the struggle for office, thinking they are doing a great good. To quote Plato again,“ So our city will be governed by us and you with waking minds, and not, as in most cities now which are inhabited and ruled darkly as in a dream by men who fight one another for shadows and wrangle for office as if that were a great good,” (Plato 752). Although I agree with Plato, I believe philosophers walk a fine line between enlightened thinking and obsession with the unknown. I can also see how someone would disagree with sensory knowledge being opinion. I believe a person would think that because our