Allegory Of The Cave Analysis

In chapters 5-7 in the Republic, Plato argues that there is a fundamental difference between appearance and reality, and that there is no true knowledge of appearance.

Plato defends his positions best in the Allegory of the Cave, where he distinguishes the differences between appearance and reality, and how appearance does not have true knowledge.

In the allegory of the cave, men are chained to in a cave as prisoners and only see shadows and reflections on the walls. The prisoners believe that the shadows and reflections that appear on the walls are entities and perceive them as reality. The prisoners believe the shadows are real because they have never left the cave, and do not know of any other such reality outside exists. And

After a few moments his eyes begin to adjust and he starts to understand that their is a world outside the cave, and that shadows in the cave are only reflections of people outside. He realizes that the sun is the source of the light, and that his previous reality was only the reflection of the outside world. Now after being enlightened, he returns to the cave in order to share his experiences. He begins to tell the other prisoners that the figures that appear on the walls and the voices that they hear are not true, but rather only a reflections of world outside. The prisoners are reluctant to believe him, and mock his views because they can't understand or fathom a reality outside of their own. As a result the other prisoners are stuck in an illusion of their reality, due to the fact they cannot see past the appearance of the shadows and accept a truer reality. They are stuck in the shadows of the cave, and cannot be enlightened by the sun's truth. On the outside the sun lights up the world and clearly shows what reality actually is, light cannot reach inside the cave therefore they are stuck in the dark. In this allegory. Plato clearly distinguish appearance to be what we can comprehend by using our senses. In the