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.
There are many stories out there, each with a message for its readers. Finding these messages and their deeper meaning is referred to as a literary theory. An example of this is in The Scorpio races, Puck Connely risks her life just to get some money so her older brother Gabe won’t move away. The reader will see throughout the story that kate tries to keep a relationship with her brother, train for the races, and deal with the hardship of being a woman riding an ordinary horse in a made-out-to-be men’s race. The story represents the rags to riches, leaving family, and the heros journey archetype.
Plato’s Republic, Book 7, talks about the metaphor referred to as "the allegory of the cave. " This metaphor in philosophy is use to describe the importance and effect education or lack of education has on the human mind. In book VII, education is referred to as a light that brightens the different paths that exist in life. It helps open the human mind to things that it was unaware of. Another point made in book VII, was that by educating yourself you become less ignorant to what is out there in the world.
When Plato crafted the allegory of the cave he was doing so with the intention of describing the ignorance of man and the importance of education. At the surface that may be all that can be learned from this tale, one must wonder, just who is the prisoner portrayed in this tale. Through examining the ideas presented it can be concluded that the man in the cave is a representation for ignorance, but is that it? Is that all the prisoner stands for or is there more to the tale. Let’s examine the prisoner in his natural state, shackled up and staring at the shadows presented to him.
We think that the things we see and otherwise perceive are real. However, we are incorrect because the things that we perceive are mere shadows. There are true forms of everything that we think we perceive, but we cannot see those forms. In the allegory of the cave, Plato is trying to make us understand that we see shadows and we think they are the real thing.
Our experience and perception are limited to the three-dimensional space just as the prisoners are
The shadows are real objects to them, but to anyone else they are just shadows. The prisoners would play a game guessing what shadow they would see next, praising the one that guesses correctly. Plato continues
#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.
From this passage, Plato uses abstract and philosophical language to convey his meaning of true knowledge. He does this by using a hierarchy and process for sight. Although this is an abstract and philosophical way to look at knowledge, Plato uses the outside of the cave as a tool for learning. Outside of the cave, there is room for exploration and
For the semester, we have discussed all different philosophers. They suggest direction of life and mindset in different environment and era. In the east side of the world, ancient china was very disorder for the war and there was man who insist that human’s life should be part of mother nature. He thought that universe and nature is too big to understand and human beings are very trivial thing compare to nature. Also human beings are part of nature, so they contain nature character in their instinct.
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
The prisoners cannot turn back and all that they see are the shadows or flickering images of the objects being carried by the puppeteers. All that they hear are the sounds of the puppeteers when they talk. To the prisoners, this is reality because this is all they have been exposed
It never changes and yet causes the essential nature of things we perceive in the world. These two perceptions are what Plato describes as the divided line or the journey of self discovery. This progression of the spirit, that can never be reached, becomes the ideal. Plato’s discussions include the involvement of the soul. It is clear, that the main reason for dealing with the soul is to achieve this state
In “The allegory of the Cave by Plato”, great philosophers offer a theory concerning human perception. Plato described it starting with three prisoners; these prisoners would have face the wall of the cave in a set position. They would not be allowed to move. A fire would be placed behind them with a walkway between. Along the walkway, people would walk carrying different items.
Plato says the prisoners that are chained up could not fathom the new truths; they are
