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Examples Of Allegory Of The Cave

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Republic: The Allegory of the Cave Plato is one of the greatest and most influential philosophers of all time. He was a student of Socrates and was a great influence to Aristotle whom he taught. He is a very key figure in higher learning as he founded the first institution of higher education in Athens and had written a lot of works that have shaped the field of philosophy. He represented his work mostly in letters and dialogues that created the basics of philosophy. One of his most famous dialogues is the Republic, which is a representation of the Socratic dialogues that defines justice, just people, and their characteristics. In the book Seven of the Republic, he gives one of the most vivid and elaborate metaphor called ‘the allegory of …show more content…

The people were only able to see the shadows of the puppets that passed behind them projected on the blank wall by the fire that burned behind the chained people. The people started to name the shadows because they were the closest things they had to reality regardless of the fact that other people were controlling the puppets. They were oblivious to the fact that the objects were carried by other people which led them to believe that the echoes of the people were the voices of the objects they saw. In this allegory, Socrates is trying to explain to his student that shadows seen by the prisoners were the only reality they knew because they had never seen anything …show more content…

It signifies the discomfort caused when an individual realizes that what they know could not be further from the truth and as such opening the mind to a new and wider scope of knowledge and information. In return to the cave, the freed prisoner is enlightened and pities his fellow prisoners for their one-dimensional view of the world and would want to bring them out of the cave for them to experience the same sun. However, due to the sudden change in lighting, he would be blind at first which would make his fellow prisoners skeptical and even adamant to leave the comfort zone and into the real world as it is harmful and

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1112 Words | 5 Pages

In the Allegory of the Cave by Plato the people who can only see shadows create their own version of the truth based on what they know, “To them [the people stuck in the cave unable to move],’

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1174 Words | 5 Pages

As Socrates becomes curious about the world above the cave, he asks Glaucon a series of questions of what the prisoners see, hear, and experience because they are only able to see the shadows casted on the wall by the glowing fire. Every time Glaucon responds to Socrates, Socrates’s urge to free himself from the cave becomes larger. Socrates questions, “And if someone even forced him to look into the glare of the fire, would his eyes not hurt him, and would he not turn away and flee [back] to that which he is capable of looking at? And would he not decide that [what he could see before without any help] was in fact clearer than what was now being shown to him?”(Plato). Glaucon then responds “Precisely.” to Socrates.

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773 Words | 4 Pages

Plato tells us that the prisoners are confused on their emergence from the cave and that the prisoners’ will be blinded once they had been freed from the cave. After a period of time they will adjust their eyesight and begin to understand the true reality that the world poses. The stubbornness to develop a different perspective is seen in much of today’s society. The allegory of the cave is an understanding of what the true world is and how many people never see it because of their views of the society they are raised in.

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1170 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the last five weeks, I have read three of Plato’s dialogues: the cave allegory, Euthyphro, and the Apology. While reading them, I was able to see Plato’s view of a philosophical life. To live philosophically is to question appearances and look at an issue/object from a new perspective. In this essay, I will explain Plato’s cave allegory, Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro, and the oracle story in the Apology.

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968 Words | 4 Pages

Plato’s Allegory of the cave represents life/death/rebirth. Life/death/rebirth is a popular archetype that most authors use in fictional books. Plato’s Allegory of the cave begins with people that are locked in chains inside of a cave. The people inside the cave see shadows on the wall of animals and creatures that they think represents their life. This cave is an illusion of life that the people are experiencing.

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1150 Words | 5 Pages

“The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, and A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt all have in common a person that is challenged by a group of people on their beliefs, ideas, as well as knowledge. In “The Allegory of the Cave”, one person is challenged based on his knowledge about the world outside the cave. Next, An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, Dr. Thomas Stockmann is challenged by the people of his town on his belies of the water being contaminated that later is proven to be true because he sends a sample to be tested. Lastly, A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, Thomas More is challenged by King Henry and his followers on his idea of divorce because he is dedicated to the Catholic Church which doesn’t approve of King Henry divorce. Furthermore, I believe Dr. Thomas Stockmann is a greater hero than Thomas More.

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484 Words | 2 Pages

History Homework 500 word essay The 95 Theses By. Tyquan Houston Martin Luther was a monk and a professor at the Wittenberg University.

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451 Words | 2 Pages

At that moment, he is able to realize that what he thought to be the only reality was really a copy of the real reality. Again he assumes that the statues and the fire are the most real things out there; completely unaware that there are other things more "real" beyond his cave. However, when the prisoner is dragged out of the cave into the real world he finally understands and learns that there are other things out there that he has not seen yet that makes up the world and reality. He is finally enlightened by the knowledge he received by observing his surroundings beyond his

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1613 Words | 7 Pages

“Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul already;” (Plato). Spoken by Socrates in reference to the philosophy of life, this quote depicts the meaning of broadening our horizons in order to gain knowledge and escape the shackles that confine us in the form of deceit. This quote is portrayed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as the prisoners detained in the cave are deluded by their perception of reality, and the prisoner that escapes loses that distorted world and becomes enlightened. The cave is a representation of the hidden lies in which the prisoners are provided as the premises of their knowledge and are restrained from the truth to remain ignorant. Ultimately, one of the prisoners discovers that the world in actuality is

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1897 Words | 8 Pages

In the dialogue, Socrates claims that after a prisoner leaves the cave and sees the sun (which symbolizes truth and knowledge), he will not participate in the cave dwellers’ ignorance. Similarly, individuals who chose to become enlightened to the true nature of reality do not partake in the ignorance of humanity; instead they encourage individuals to believe in philosophical knowledge. The cave dwellers believe that the shadows on the walls are real, just like individuals accept the reality of the world with which they are presented; however, they are both illusions, which are perceived. This is because over centuries human perception is merely a shadow of reality and individuals are like the cave dwellers who believe the perceptions created by society (Cleveland). Therefore, humans need to raise past the perceptions governed and taught by society in order to break through ignorance and travel on a path of

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606 Words | 3 Pages

#2 Plato’s Allegory In Modern Day Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is about the human perspective and enlightenment. In todays society Plato’s allegory is still relevant and is deeply rooted in education. College students are a perfect analogy for the “Allegory of the Cave”. We are told from the very beginning that we need to have an education to be successful in life.

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713 Words | 3 Pages

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” has a variety of rhetorical devices that play a major role in the story. Right off the bat this whole story is an allegory because it has a very powerful meaning behind it. The story has metaphors in the passage that supports the story. There are personification that gives human like qualities to non living things. There are many more rhetorical devices used throughout the whole story that supports the entire meaning for example; metaphor, polysyndeton, personification and allegory.

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728 Words | 3 Pages

Because of this they cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these real people that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes of the people whom they do not

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785 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside

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1159 Words | 5 Pages

In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the people think that their entire reality is the shadows that they see on the walls of the cave. Plato explores the truth and criticizes that humanity does not question what is real. Plato explores that the human understanding and accepting of what is real is difficult and

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