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Socrates And Glaucon In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” there are two speakers, Socrates and Glaucon. This is a written recording of a conversation between the two; Socrates being the teacher and Glaucon being the student. This approach to explaining his ideas is crucial to how the information is received, it is also otherwise known as a Socratic dialogue. The reader believes that they are coming to their own conclusions, however, Socrates is asking Glaucon questions that he knows only have one answer. Socrates does the majority of the talking in this lesson, while Glaucon plays a more passive role by answering with a simple yes or no. The point of depicting Socrates's ideas in this way, however, is not to make Glaucon look incompetent but rather to connect the reader with the conversation and put themselves in Glaucons shoes. This passage is from the very end of the allegory, which is significant in terms of context as it is a startling and even extreme conclusion to come to. The content of this passage goes much deeper than face value as well, as an allegory is a symbolic narrative that conveys a deeper meaning. To end on such an abrupt note is to show the reality of the situation and change how the reader interprets it. Until this point in the allegory, he doesn’t necessarily show us the …show more content…

Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers and teachers of this time, however, he wasn’t known to record his teachings hence why Plato is the one writing this conversation. This was also a period of great revelation; multitudes of scientific and philosophical ideas were being spread throughout Greece and Rome and so it makes sense why Plato would write an allegory about changing beliefs. He is saying we should not be set in our ways if ideas are constantly shifting and we should try to come closer to the truth even if it is not a conventional or comfortable

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