Throughout the last five weeks, I have read three of Plato’s dialogues: the cave allegory, Euthyphro, and the Apology. While reading them, I was able to see Plato’s view of a philosophical life. To live philosophically is to question appearances and look at an issue/object from a new perspective. In this essay, I will explain Plato’s cave allegory, Socrates’ discussion with Euthyphro, and the oracle story in the Apology. I will also discuss how they all express Plato’s conception of what is involved in living philosophically, and how they all relate to the cave allegory. In Plato’s dialogue, the cave allegory, I am given a story about a prisoner and allowed to depict an image of what the cave looks like. Inside the cave are prisoners, a fire, a rocky path, and people who carried various artifacts that project shadows on the wall in front of the prisoners. The fire represents the sun, the rocky path symbolizes the journey of the soul, the prisoners represent us, the shadows were what they believed to be the truth, the people carrying the artifacts symbolize influences in life for example parents or teachers. The cave as a whole represents the visible realm. In the dialogue, the prisoners are chained so that they can only see what is in front of them and being depicted on the wall. “They’ve been there since childhood, fixed in the same place, with their necks and legs fettered, able to see only in front of them,” (514b). A prisoner is freed and dragged outside the cave,
In comparing and contrasting each work, the philosophies of both Plato and Voltaire will then be compared to my own individual view on philosophy, demonstrating how each work can resonate within my own life experience. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” tells the story of a man who lives in a cave along with many other people. Each person passes along the walls of the cave, carrying many different figures and statues with them. Although the people do not see the actual figures, they are able to see the shadows of both themselves and the figures, as a result of the fire that lights the cave. Plato goes on to tell of one man that breaks free from the confines of the cave, making an ascent to the
Since they could not move their heads, the shadows produced by the puppeteers are all the prisoners can perceive. They accept these images to be the truth, rather than just shadowy representations of what is actually in existence. In Plato’s theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The raised wall and chains symbolize the limitations in our thinking. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding when Socrates proposes the question- what if one of the prisoners was to be freed and “compelled to turn his neck around and
3078607 Professor Cheryl King English 1301.81049 24 September 2016 “Allegory” Response “Everything that is seen is not always what is made out of it.” What does that quote mean? Are there people who actually understands this quote and live by it? In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” Socrates explains to Glaucon that life is like being chained up in the cave and having no general knowledge about life. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave portrays a positive message by demonstrating the importance of education.
Plato is one of the most well-known Philosophers of all time. A lot of one’s modern-day perception of things can be traced back to him. Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito are short works that help readers experience the depth of Socrates’ mind. In Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, Plato uses Socrates and the Athenians to explore the relationship between the city and the individual.
The Euthyphro is one of Plato’s classic dialogues. It is a well-verbalized piece which deals with the question of ethics, consisting of a conversation between Socrates and one other person who claims to be an expert in a certain field of ethics. It is additionally riddled with Socratic irony in which Socrates poses as the incognizant student hoping to learn from a supposed expert, when in fact he shows Euthyphro to be the nescient one who kens nothing about the subject being holiness. Plato's main goal is to edify us, and he believes firmly that cognizance only comes when we are able to justify and account for our true credences. Thus, edifying is not simply a matter of giving the right answers.
First off, one rhetoric that " The Allegory of the Cave" has is a metaphor. A metaphor is comparing two unlike things. The focal thought is, a few detainees were bolted into a give in and the couldn't escape. It speaks to that how much freedom is worth. In the event that you never had an opportunity to see the outside world, you just can envision what it resembles.
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.
In analyzing great Philosophical literature, few works are as famous as Plato's Apology and Allegory of the Cave. Although lesser known to the uninitiated to the world of Philosophy, but certainly no less famous or important, is Voltaire's Good Brahman. At first glance, each of these works appears quite different and only have the commonality of being older Philosophy texts. However, upon closer examination we find that they have more in common, despite their less obvious differences. In the following paragraphs, we will seek to explain each work individually and then compare and contrast both Philosopher's works.
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)”
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.
The allegory of the cave reminds us that we should question the reality that we fail to understand because we’ve come to accept the reality that is presented to us rather than seeking out beyond our limitations. The story “Allegory of the Cave,” by the Greek philosopher Plato, Plato tells a story about cave people who are chained up and facing a wall. Their reality is what is being reflected from behind them and are unaware of what goes on beyond the cave. Through the Allegory of the Cave, Plato is trying to tell us about how the human perception of reality is limited, and the only way to achieve a true understanding is through being educated and brought out of what you’ve become accustomed to.
Searching for the truth is very challenging, as the world today entrenched in lies. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” briefly tells a story about cavemen being chained on most parts of their body, restring all movement including their head, since childhood. Then, he discussed the consequences inflicted onto the cavemen, specifically their perspective towards the truth after being chained for a long period of time in the dark cave, which resembles many events occurring in a person’s daily life. Based on the discussed effects, the author argues that human beings should always seek the real meaning of truth.
Plato created the theory of The Allegory of the Cave in which prisoners are facing a wall that shows shadows and echoes cast by things they cannot see. The shadows that the prisoners see are made by people in front of a fire there is a parapet, however the prisoners think that the shadows that are being casted are real people. Plato created this idea to portray how humans are the prisoners and how we are controlled by society, media, and the government. He believes that once we break that bond with society we learn more about ourselves and reveal our true identity. Also the deeper we get away from society and the world the more we learn about ourselves and identity.
Plato used the allegory of the cave to illustrate his theory of forms or idea. The allegory is about several prisoners who have been chained up in a cave since they were children. They are all chained so that their legs and necks are immobile, forced to look at a wall in front of them. Behind the prisoners, there is a fire. Prisoners watch shadows projected on the wall of the cave from things passing in front of a fire.
However, the prisoners who don’t seek past empirical evidence live in bliss because they don’t desire to seek the truth. It is clear how the allegory of the cave fits into the Republic, because Plato’s idea of the education system is not where students passively receive knowledge from a teacher. Plato believes that education and learning is a transformative experience that doesn’t just change ideas and thought but it transforms the soul of a student. He suggests that the students need to desire and seek knowledge and though it is difficult, once the student see’s the world differently they cannot go back. If students don’t question their beliefs and ideas, they will never discover the truth, which is why critical thinking is vital in education.