Plato's Cave

The good is not knowledge but it is knowledgeable. It is the cause of all good because it is independent. Light and sight are said to be like the sun, but not actually being the sun, and science and truth are said to be like the Good, but not actually being the Good. Therefore, by this discussion, the Good is beyond ALL being and is the cause of most of existence. The “Divided Line” is a bit more complex than the sun analogy because there are so many more parts that culminate to form this topic. It is divided into two main sections. The top section is what Plato calls the intelligible, which means that it is really only “seen” in the mind. The bottom section is called the visible because it can be physically seen. Each of these sections is

The allegory of the cave is a very well-known philosophical idea that has infiltrated its way into modern thinking. The allegory of the cave relates to the effects that education has on the human soul. There are civilizations inside the cave, but there is no light to see what’s around them. Without light, how do they know that the outside world exists? In this analogy, Plato sets this scene in which a civilization is chained up inside of a cave. There is a single individual who maneuvers his way through the cave to find an exit. However, this is a difficult process because the fire inside the cave makes it painfully hard to leave. Most people would turn back because the pain is too overbearing. But, he continues on and allows his eyes to adjust to the light. This leads to an entrance into the outside world. It’s bright and unclear at first, but after some time, he sees that there is a world beyond the cave that is grand and far beyond anything anyone could’ve imagined. Later, he goes back into the cave to share the good news of the outside, but rarely anyone believes him because they don’t have the capacity to grasp such ideas. In this situation, the individual is the philosopher while everyone else are just the citizens. The philosopher is rational and wise and has inherent knowledge, while everyone else is left in the dark because a place of self-knowledge cannot be