Reality And Human Perception In Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

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. Being inside a cave can be beneficial when we were to want to dwell in our own world where no one would bother. We were to know only the darkness world if we were inside the cave. That would make us to be prisoners of the cave. However, getting out of the cave would help us to explore unknown and unseen aspects of things of the new world. In other words, having the desire to get out of the dark cave and see the bright sunlight of the outside world would lead us to a bright new world. By that, leaving the cave helps us to see and discover the outside world of fascinating things. In addition, getting out of the cave leads us to a better life and helps us to be intellectual individuals knowing the surroundings around us. Having the passion and desire is an important role when we get out of the cave. Without passion and desire, we would not be able to leave the cave. In other words, we would not have the desire and the passion of getting out of the cave. Being an active person and having devotion upon it makes us to get out of the cave because being active with devotion helps us to be active to get out of the cave. Without being active, we would not be able to get out of the cave. Taking action is an important role because we should be an active person by having education and

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)” As Adler previously stated objective truth exists whether or not the human being has experienced it, in this instance the forms that cast shadows while passing by the cave. It can be inferred that both Adler and Morris agree that the negative response of the remaining prisoners in the cave towards stepping out and experiencing reality is a subjective truth and depends on the opinion of each prisoner, thereby belonging to the sphere of taste. Plato is able to present a situation in which both objective and subjective truth can cause a rift in the relationships that human beings can

In life, the world one lives in is always assumed to be the reality, without anyone questioning its credibility. As Iris Murdoch once said, “[People] live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.”(Iris Murdoch Quotes). In The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, prisoners are trapped in a cave and chained so that they are to face a wall and only see the shadows of objects that pass behind them. However, one prisoner is released and forced out into the reality, allowing the reader to understand that the world one sees and experiences is not the reality, but rather an illusion. Similarly, in The Truman Show by Andrew Niccol, Truman Bank has been growing up in Seahaven Island, a place created just for him to live in for a television show that is all about him. Throughout the film, Truman realizes that Seahaven is not the real world, and viewers see his journey to get out of this illusion, and into reality outside the false world. Both The Allegory of the Cave and The Truman Show prove that the physical world is an illusion that prevents one from discovering reality. The concept of illusion versus reality is evident in both works through similarities in plot, similarities in symbolism, and differences in character.

During the 399 B.C., Socrates for rejecting the Greek gods and for putting wrong moral ideas in his student 's minds was sentenced to death. But Socrates’ goal wasn 't that, his goal was to encourage his disciples to find any reason by themselves for what is true and real. After Socrates’ death, Plato, who was one of his best students, opened the Academy- school that continued Socrates 's ideas. In this School, Plato wrote The Republic, where he states that each individual’s perspective of reality is changing, and can change more every time. People get more knowledge about the world and their surroundings. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato represents the questions of the true reality of the world, and it refers that we see things that are not even real. The Eye of the Beholder on the other hand talks about how individuals have their own opinion and perspective of things. Comparing the Allegory of the Cave

In “ The Allegory of the Cave” 360 BCE, Plato emphasises that the cave explains human existence and envisions the world as a dark cave, and humans trapped as prisoners in that cave. Using symbolism he supports this statement by demonstrating to his students that our minds conceive the sources of shadows and the material world we live in as false truths. His purpose is directed towards his students, to help others out of the cave, to reveal the burden of false truths also know as the shadows. Plato uses a didactic tone to help his students understand and encourage them not to stay in the cave, but to free themselves and help others become free of the shadows the

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. The people who are chained up get set free by the keeper, who is a symbol of the sun, or the “Rooster” who wakes people up from their illusions. The people are blinded by the sun and they want to go back to their illusion of life. This is when the people are in the Belly of the Whale or when they are symbolically dead. Once the people realize there is no way of going back to the way it was, they are “reborn” from their illusions and live their lives to the fullest and not take for granted what they have. Plato’s Allegory of the cave is

When the enlightened prisoner returns to the cave “they all laugh at him and say he had spoiled his eyesight by going up there”(Plato __). Plato infers that society will purposely be blind to conform to society’s norms.When the escaped prisoner returns to the cave he “gets his eyes full of darkness” (Plato ___). The freed prisoner explains what the actual objects were that they were seeing were. Plato demonstrates that the ignorance and blindness to the truth is by choice. Plato says the prisoners that are chained up could not fathom the new truths; they are

In the dialogue, Socrates claims that after a prisoner leaves the cave and sees the sun (which symbolizes truth and knowledge), he will not participate in the cave dwellers’ ignorance. Similarly, individuals who chose to become enlightened to the true nature of reality do not partake in the ignorance of humanity; instead they encourage individuals to believe in philosophical knowledge. The cave dwellers believe that the shadows on the walls are real, just like individuals accept the reality of the world with which they are presented; however, they are both illusions, which are perceived. This is because over centuries human perception is merely a shadow of reality and individuals are like the cave dwellers who believe the perceptions created by society (Cleveland). Therefore, humans need to raise past the perceptions governed and taught by society in order to break through ignorance and travel on a path of

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.

We, the students are the “chained prisoners”. We are only allowed to know what the “puppeteers” allow us to know. The “puppeteers” can be seen as the teachers. Now we have to ask ourselves, what are the “shadows on the wall” that we see everyday. I believe that the “shadows” represent all of the illusions that we live by as our reality. College students, myself included, tend to have a like minded way of thinking, similar to the men in the cave. We tend to think that we know everything that there is in the world, when in fact we don’t. We seemingly have a complete grasp of what our future will be, when really our future is bound to adapt based on changes in our life. The prisoner also believes he knew what was his future based on where he was at the time, until he ventured out and discovered things weren’t as easy as they seem. Upon his realization, that things were not as he perceived them, he had to adapt to the new way of thinking. Adaption is often scary, and many people will tend to avoid it at all costs. Some people deny the need to adapt, even though it is apparent that adaption is eminent, because of fear of the unknown. The chained prisoners are indeed in denial and not willing to believe their fellow prisoners new found thought because, it goes against their already perceived

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. The state of most human beings is depicted in this myth of the cave and the tale of a thrilling exit from the cave is the source of true understanding. Plato has portrayed the concept of reality and illusion through the allegory of the cave.

The phrase “ignorance is bliss” has many different ways of being interpreted. The idea that what we do not know cannot hurt us, and that it is better to be in a situation whereby we are ignorant to the truth, rather than a situation where we know a hurtful truth, is one that can be debated at length. One of the best examples of the idea of “ignorance is bliss”, and the impact that the truth can have on people, is the Allegory of the Cave, a concept created by the Greek philosopher Plato in the fourth century BCE. The allegory shows how our perspective can change radically when given new information, and how that new information, when shared with others who are not aware of it, can give them a radically incorrect idea of the truth, when not taken in the proper context. Here, we will first explain the concept of this Allegory of the Cave, before interpreting its meaning and how it related to the greater ideals, values, and convictions that Plato and his philosophical works stood for during and after his lifetime.

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.

Imagine a country in which the only emotions you feel are joy and happiness but underneath all of this lies a terrible fact. The story Those who walk away from Omelas by Ursula K. LeGuin tells of all this and it can greatly be compared to The Allegory of the cave by Plato, The book 1984 by George Orwell and to The United States of America in many ways.

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.