ipl-logo

The Allegory Of The Cave From Plato's The Republic

551 Words3 Pages

What if every known thing in the world turned out to be misguided? What if people within the world learned ways of life and adapted to environments only to find out that it was all a lie? In "The Allegory of the Cave" from Plato's "The Republic", the same questions were considered and analyzed by Socrates, the speaker of the story. The Philosopher Socrates explicates his allegory of great curiosity to Glaucon, a man of whom Socrates shares his wealth of wisdom with. Socrates' purpose in expressing the allegory is to show how the human race may not always see the truth but rather convince themselves that what they see is the truth. In other words, people allow themselves to believe what they would like to believe. As Socrates speaks, he has a questioning, curious and wise tone towards Glaucon, he speaks as if he does not even know the truth himself. By continuously asking Glaucon questions, Socrates is sparking a somewhat confused and thoughtful reaction. Glaucon himself sounds so deep in thought, he cannot utter more than a "very likely", "I agree", or "very true" to Socrates. By listening to or reading Socrates' words, the intended effect of his allegory is to provoke an opinion towards what is the actual …show more content…

Socrates effectively conveys the cave as a symbol for how complacent the world has become as a result of his imagery. People are okay with staying in the cave and not going out into the real world, despite the exciting news are told from those who have been freed. By not going out into the real world, the truth can never be revealed to the prisoners, they would rather judge others for making up supposedly false stories. People becoming complacent to their own norms and hiding from the truth holds them back from developing beautiful experiences, which is why Socrates shares his story with Glaucon. The world needs to come out of the

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Plato's Allegory Of The Cave And Las Meninas

    876 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato breaks the story into four main scenes to demonstrate the path to enlightenment for the unenlightened reader. He uses a story of a man trapped in a cave,

    Read More

  • Comparing Fahrenheit 451 And Allegory Of The Cave

    1174 Words  | 5 Pages

    After Socrates experienced a new reality and nature, he planned on going back to the cave to persuade the prisoners to join him. He asks Glaucon if his eyes will have to readjust to the darkness of the cave after being in the sunlight. Because the prisoners were used to seeing the illusions of shadows inside of the cave, they did not want to change their perception of the world and leave their home. Socrates asks, “And if they can get hold of this person who takes it in hand to free them from their chains to lead them up, and if they could kill them, will they not actually kill him?”(Plato). Socrates is planning on freeing the prisoners from their chains and taking them out of the cave, but he questions Glaucon if the prisoners would kill him if they got the chance.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Allegory Of The Cave And The Truman Show

    708 Words  | 3 Pages

    In reality, many people live without an absolute knowledge of the world and often times, they are comfortable with this ignorance. Likewise, Plato introduces the idea of this unawareness through The Allegory of the Cave, a short story in his published book, The Republic: Book VII. In his book, he narrates the story of a few prisoners who are held captive in a dark cave, where the only light that shines through is from a fire that burns behind them. He further explains that the prisoners are completely bound and unable to move their body or head. Moreover, he reveals that the captives grew up with no outside communication and consequently, the way of life in the cave was all they knew.

    Read More

  • 's Cave Allegory, Euthyphro, And The Apology

    1170 Words  | 5 Pages

    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,

    Read More

  • Socrates The Allegory Of The Cave

    1506 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The Allegory of the Cave” exemplifies a path of intellectual transformation that has important parallels to the journey of a hero. Socrates’ description of the Allegory of the Cave represents education and the role of education on the soul. This analogy consists of several stages that highlight the philosopher’s heroic journey. The first stage is an image of cave prisoners who spend their entire lives looking at shadows. The prisoners are “chained not just by their legs but by their necks, so that they can’t move and can only looks ahead of them” (Plato 239).

    Read More

  • On Communication By Bohm Summary

    785 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside

    Read More

  • Comparing Plato's Republic And Frederick Douglass

    936 Words  | 4 Pages

    The allegory of the cave contains a very poignant message about learning and new experiences but it’s not real. It’s written as Socrates telling a story in order to illustrate his point. The first man is forcibly removed from the cave and shown the light, creating a painful experience. Douglass’ story is autobiographical and it shows a true need for knowledge in order to be free from the bondage of slavery.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Matrix And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1232 Words  | 5 Pages

    This message entails people's outlook on reality and the perception that is presented to them. Overall I believe that Plato’s allegory has proved to exemplify a more effective transition from illusion to reality due to its relatability to Socrates message depicting human perception and

    Read More

  • Plato's Allegory Of The Cave Essay

    569 Words  | 3 Pages

    Behind and above the prisoners is a fire. In between the prisoners and the fire is a raised stage where people are holding images of objects, which casts shadows on the wall the prisoners see. Later, Socrates talks about what happens if one of those men were to be freed of his chains and introduced to the world outside of the cave. The man would see that not only are the shadows not real, but are images of something else and conclude that what he took as truth in the cave wasn’t the complete truth. Socrates

    Read More

  • Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

    735 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is just like in our lives when we are born into something and we do the same thing over and over again each day for the rest of our lives. This is when we are in the cave and looking at these images going past. Plato then starts to give us the idea that what if these prisoners are forced to leave the cave and venture out elsewhere so they do not have to look at the wall anymore. This is when we are scared to change the way we do things like doing something everyday for the rest of our lives but you change it anyway because you know it is for the best. Once they begin to leave the cave they are confronted with physical objects instead of these different images.

    Read More

  • Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    447 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Plato's Allegory of the Cave a conversation is taking place between Socrates and Glaucon. the conversation is meant to discuss human perception Socrates attempts to explain that human perception is only what we can obtain through the senses. Plato explains that the senses are only a part of the whole picture and that concrete perception alone is never the entire story. This can explain human error in perceiving scientific and philosophic notions in his time as well as in today's life. Plato explains to Glaucon a situation of prisoners in a cave who have only been exposed to very dim lighting there entire lives and have not been exposed to other people or even looked upon each other.

    Read More

  • The Allegory Of The Cave In Plato's Republic Book VII

    595 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Searching For Truth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Nature Of Reality In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. One of Socrates' and also of Plato's, chief ideas was that of forms, which explains that the world is made up of reflections of more perfect and ideal forms. In the Cave

    Read More

More about The Allegory Of The Cave From Plato's The Republic

Open Document