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Analysis Of Allegory Of The Cave By Plato

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The Allegory of the Cave was a metaphor created by Plato explaining the lack of education and the effect it may have on future generations. Plato begins by having Socrates describe the prisoners inside the cave as being chained by the legs and the neck to a wall with a fire lit just behind it and between that and the fire are people holding up puppets that cast a shadow in front of the prisoners. The voices made by the puppeteers reflects off the wall and the prisoners on the other side believe that those are the voices of the shadows. Socrates and Plato believe that the shadows are reality to the prisoners because they have never experienced anything else. Plato is trying to convey that the cave is the world and the people that inhabit …show more content…

The cave representing the world we live in and the people who believe that knowledge comes from only what we see and hear. It reveals that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a cave of misunderstanding. The chains representing the abuse of advancements in society such as cellphones, television and computers. Society is so trapped in technology that they rely on what they see and hear to be true instead of seeking it out for themselves and further advancing their knowledge of the world around them. The shadows on the wall represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe everything you see and hear instead of seeking it out for yourself then you are not seeing the truth only a mere shadow of it. The escapee represents the teachers who want to seek the truth on their own outside the cave of society and outside of the senses. The return of the escapee represents the teacher attempting to teach the truths about society and what they saw when they became enlightened upon leaving the cave, but all they see in front of them is what they want to believe about the outside world. In denial and scared of philosophical truths, they do not listen and stay in the cave of society happy with the “shadows” of what they see in front of

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