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Life In Joseph Campbell's The Allegory Of The Cave

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All sentient beings are in some way shaped by the ideas that surround them. It is impossible for any thinking creature to ignore the philosophies held by their parents, friends acquaintances, and their society. Children, for example, have their personal worldviews profoundly affected by their parents, friends, and teachers. They typically follow the ideas of their parents and integrate the prevalent ideas of their friends and teachers. There is a phrase that describes the predominant swirl of philosophies that surround a thinking being: the philosophical environment. In like manner, Joseph Campbell stated in “The Hero’s Journey” that “Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be” (Campbell). Campbell elucidates the key to understanding meaning in life: the meaning we bring to life is shaped by our …show more content…

Plato begins by reasoning that a man who knows only shadows will only understand shadows, stating “ To them... the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images” (Plato 2). Their meaning would be shaped by this myopic view and therefore be based on shadows. He then reasons that if you free a prisoner and allow them to become accustomed to the fact that the world is not merely made of shadows, their meaning will change once again. Finally, once the man is exposed to all forms of enlightenment and has seen the natural world outside of the cave, he will be able to “contemplate him[self] as he is,” as Plato reasons (Plato 3). In reaching this higher level of environment the subject will likely change their understanding of philosophy. Every step of showing the prisoner more truth will open his eyes wider and, more importantly, change the meaning he brings to

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Is there a truer higher reality than what most people experience? This question can best be answered by examining the protagonist in both Allegory of the Cave by Plato and The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright. The answer to this question, is very complex as it includes the definition of reality, how to measure the terms truer and higher, and the consensus of people’s experiences. because there is no way to prove that there is a truer higher reality beyond what most people experience, this statement is false. While there are multiple definitions of reality, the most accurate is the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.

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Experiencing a new discovery leads to a better understanding of life. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, it explains how a group of prisoners are inside a dark cave looking at shadows believing it to be realistic; however, one prisoner gets free and leaves the cave and experience the outside world seeing real nature and the brightness of the sun and adjust to it. That person returns back to the cave to tell what he had experienced outside the cave to the other prisoners as the other prisoners would not listen to him and neglect his words. That person however cannot adjust to the darkness inside the cave once he got adjusted to the brightness of the outside world. Like Plato’s allegory of the cave, good living does require us to leave the cave.

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In “The Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoner was ignorant of the true nature of their reality and was limited by their perception of the world. In Plato, Socrates illustrated an image of a prisoner chained to the cave wall their whole life, facing only a blank wall. Behind them was a fire burning that was casting a shadow. They believe this casted shadow was their only reality. However, one of the prisoners made a bold attempt to free himself and escape outside the cave.

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“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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Have you ever wondered why life was created and what your purpose is? Well, you probably have, you just don’t remember it. We ask ourselves a variety of questions every day. It might be a simple or hard question you are facing throughout the day, but the answer is the main thing you need to remember. The meaning of life is more than just a simple question like the others we ask ourselves.

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When one of the person is allowed to leave the cave and see the real world they don’t believe it. Even more when they return to the cave to tell the others. The others won’t believe the person that left because all they know is the shadows. That’s why Plato says “[…] that the true analogy for this indwelling power in the soul and the instrument whereby each of us apprehends is that of an eye that could not be converted to the light from darkness except by turning the whole body.” (Plato 750).

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1) In the allegory of the cave, Plato’s main goal is to illustrate his view of knowledge. A group of prisoners have been chained in a cave their whole lives and all they have ever been exposed to were shadows on the wall and voices of people walking by. The prisoners in the cave represent humans who only pay attention to the physical aspects of the world (sight and sound). Once one of them escapes and sees the blinding light, all he wants is to retreat back to the cave and return to his prior way of living. This shows that Plato believes enlightenment and education are painful, but the pain is necessary for enlightenment and it is worth it.

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In other words they only know about that false reality that they are living in and to them there is nothing else. Plato then goes on to describe of how those people are enlightened when one is taken out of the cave and brought into the outside world they are shown the real reality and “enlightened”. If one of the people is enlightened he or she will be motivated to help those in the cave

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Socrates’s allegory of the cave in Plato’s Republic Book VII is an accurate depiction of how people can be blinded by what they are only allowed to see. The allegory does have relevance to our modern world. In fact, all of us as a species are still in the “cave” no matter how intelligent or enlightened we think we have become. In Plato’s Republic Book VII, Socrates depicts the scenario in a cave where there are prisoners who are fixed only being able to look at the shadows on the wall which are projections of things passing between them and the light source.

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“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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Plato tells of a group of prisoners held in a dark cave chained to the walls. These people have never stepped outside into the world and can only experience shadows that are displayed on the opposite side of the cave through the light outside of the cave. One of the slaves, now liberated steps outside of the cave and is able to experience reality, or what we can distinguish as objective truth. After returning to explain to the other what he has seen there seems to be quite a difference in opinions(Plato). In his article Plato’s Cave, T.F Morris attempts to dissect Plato’s allegory and explains his belief that “… the shadows on the wall of the cave correspond to what we call reality…(Morris 417)”

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The state of most human beings is depicted in this myth of the cave and the tale of a thrilling exit from the cave is the source of true understanding. Plato has portrayed the concept of reality and illusion through the allegory of the cave. One of Socrates' and also of Plato's, chief ideas was that of forms, which explains that the world is made up of reflections of more perfect and ideal forms. In the Cave

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Plato’s theory, ‘The Allegory of the Cave’, aims to explain the nature of reality and human perception. With this theory of his, he aims to answer questions like ‘why are we here and what is reality?’ He explains this theory as a conversation between his mentor, Socrates and one of his students, Glaucon. Plato claimed that the knowledge gained through our senses is not real knowledge. In fact, real knowledge is the knowledge that is gained through deep philosophical reasoning.

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Ray Bradbury born in 1920 to a middle class family. Bradbury went on to write and publish over five hundred pieces of literature. One of the novels he wrote was Fahrenheit 451, where he attempted to predict what the United States of America would look like in the future. The novel illustrates the idea of a totalitarian government and society burning books to stop the spread of knowledge, by following the development of the main character Guy Montag. Furthermore, the novel bring up the idea of Plato’s cave, in which Montag attempts to overcome the ideas of the society he grew up around.

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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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