ipl-logo

Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

621 Words3 Pages

Plato’s, “The Allegory of The Cave” talks about the different areas of philosophy containing metaphysics, epistemology, etc. It also includes Plato’s theory about the World of Forms. Plato’s Allegory is a metaphor that compares and contrasts the way in which we perceive and accept what is real. He suggests that people are trapped by their inability to accept things they aren’t familiar with. The prisoners in his allegory have a specific mindset that is accustomed to what they know and what they have seen (the shadows). To think beyond what they know is to challenge the basic fundamentals of their lives. Sharing knowledge with others ultimately leads to negative consequences because it would call for change, development, and acceptance of what people believe is the truth. …show more content…

All they have ever seen is the wall in front of them and the shadows the puppeteers behind them cast. All the prisoners know is the cave and its shadows and finally when one of them is free and able to leave the cave he cannot believe this other reality he is seeing. The sun, the water, his own reflection, he is shocked by this new world and starts to question everything. The cave and its shadows were his truth and now this alternate reality is hard for him to believe. The prisoner in Plato's allegory struggles to adjust when he first learns about this new reality, but he eventually understands after seeing with his own eyes. The knowledge he learns he seeks to share with his former prisoners, but he is perceived by them as being crazy and they ridicule him because how can they believe something they have never seen? How can they imagine this other reality when the cave and the shadows are all they have ever

Show More
Related

Similarities Between The Truman Show And The Allegory Of The Cave

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],’

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Allegory Of The Cave And The Truman Show

708 Words | 3 Pages

In reality, many people live without an absolute knowledge of the world and often times, they are comfortable with this ignorance. Likewise, Plato introduces the idea of this unawareness through The Allegory of the Cave, a short story in his published book, The Republic: Book VII. In his book, he narrates the story of a few prisoners who are held captive in a dark cave, where the only light that shines through is from a fire that burns behind them. He further explains that the prisoners are completely bound and unable to move their body or head. Moreover, he reveals that the captives grew up with no outside communication and consequently, the way of life in the cave was all they knew.

Read More

Analyzing Plato's 'The Allegory Of The Cave'

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.

Read More

Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

1066 Words | 5 Pages

The prisoners being inside the cave seeing shadows only rely on what they see to be realistic and dwell in their positions. The prisoners do not know what the outside world is like. Suddenly, one prisoner gets released and get out of the cave and see a new world. In that case, the prisoner experiences a new surrounding and quickly adjusts to it; however, the other prisoners would not listen. Like that, we realize that we adjust to our present surroundings; but once our surroundings change, we quickly adjust to the new surroundings.

Read More

Comparing Douglass And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

1043 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

Death And Rebirth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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.

Read More

The Allegory Of The Cave In Plato's Republic

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

Read More

Ignorance In Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

474 Words | 2 Pages

The shadows in the cave represent this small part of the truth, or the false truths that we are presented by politicians, our parents, and other powerful figures in our live who can easily influence us. The man who was able to see the outside world, or the whole truth, was eager to share his findings with everyone he knew, believing that knowing the truth would lead to a happier, more fulfilling life. This view completely contrasts that of those still constrained to the cave, who are content with the truth that they know, regardless of whether or not it depicts reality. Through The Allegory of the Cave, we are able to deduce that people who learn to read between the lines and identify the larger picture can be just as happy, and fulfilled, as

Read More

The Allegory Of The Cave, Book VII Of The Republic By Plato

1656 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

The Sunset Limited By Cormac Mccarthy

956 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the conversation, we see themes of perception and reality that are similarly consistent throughout Plato’s, Allegory of the Cave. Where Plato presents a hypothetical scenario in which prisoners are enclosed in a dark cave since they were born and their bodies are positioned so that they can only see shadows on the wall in front of them, they perceive these as reality because they

Read More

The Four Stages In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

1201 Words | 5 Pages

In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato uses a conversation between his former teacher and an unknown person named Glaucon to lay out this deep and complex extended metaphor. This intricate metaphor is a step by step representation of how one could achieve true comprehension of the world around them. In this, there are four stages one must complete. The first stage is when the people are shackled in the cave, and he/she is required to use imagination to come to conclusions about the realities of life. When the ex-captives break away from the manacles and see the light from inside the cave is known as the second phase, and this is where one tries to define instead of imagine.

Read More

The Impact Of Prison Environment On The Religious Beliefs Of Incarcerated Inmates

1863 Words | 8 Pages

The United States prison system has been observed to impact the religious beliefs of incarcerated individuals significantly. According to a cited source, 72.2% of male inmates become more devout in the Islamic faith during prison. This statistic highlights the influence of the prison environment on the religious practices and beliefs of inmates. The increased religiosity among incarcerated men has been observed and can be attributed to several factors. One such factor is the need for guidance, as incarcerated individuals may feel lost or uncertain about their future.

Read More

The Nature Of Reality In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

728 Words | 3 Pages

Introduction Plato, a famous Greek philosopher wrote the Allegory of the Cave. He tried to answer some of the profound questions which arose about the nature of reality. He tells the story of 'Allegory of the Cave' as a conversation between his mentor, Socrates (Plato’s mentor), who inspired many of Plato's philosophical theories, and one of Socrates' students, Glaucon (Plato’s older brother). He uses an allegory as a short informative story, to illustrate 'forms' and the 'cave,' in his main work, The Republic (which first appeared around 380 BC). It is one of the most perceptive attempts to explain the nature of reality.

Read More

Personal Narrative Analysis

167 Words | 1 Pages

The value that I was able to find in this narrative writing assignment was the ability to be able to tell my story. It gave me the opportunity to actually think about myself and the life experiences I have gone through. Although, I often go back and reflect from time to time to see the growth in which I have overcome. While in other ways it was hard to believe I made it through those experiences. To reflect on the memories makes it all so real.

Read More

Human Nature In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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

Read More

More about Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

Related Topics

Open Document