The Allegory Of The Cave From Plato's The Republic

What if every known thing in the world turned out to be misguided? What if people within the world learned ways of life and adapted to environments only to find out that it was all a lie? In "The Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's "The Republic", the same questions were considered and analyzed by Socrates, the speaker of the story. The Philosopher Socrates explicates his allegory of great curiosity to Glaucon, a man of whom Socrates shares his wealth of wisdom with. Socrates' purpose in expressing the allegory is to show how the human race may not always see the truth but rather convince themselves that what they see is the truth. In other words, people allow themselves to believe what they would like to believe. As Socrates speaks, he has a questioning, curious and wise tone towards Glaucon, he speaks as if he does not even know the truth himself. By continuously asking Glaucon questions, Socrates is sparking a somewhat confused and thoughtful reaction. Glaucon himself sounds so deep in thought, he cannot utter more than a "very likely", "I agree", or "very true" to Socrates. By listening to or reading Socrates' words, the intended effect of his allegory is to provoke an opinion towards what is the actual

Socrates effectively conveys the cave as a symbol for how complacent the world has become as a result of his imagery. People are okay with staying in the cave and not going out into the real world, despite the exciting news are told from those who have been freed. By not going out into the real world, the truth can never be revealed to the prisoners, they would rather judge others for making up supposedly false stories. People becoming complacent to their own norms and hiding from the truth holds them back from developing beautiful experiences, which is why Socrates shares his story with Glaucon. The world needs to come out of the