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Analyzing Plato's allegory of the cave
Analyzing Plato's allegory of the cave
Plato's allegory of the cave summarized
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“A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways- by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize the same thing happens to the soul” (Plato 3). In a literal meaning, the term dark is defined as, “with little or no light,” and the term light is defined as, “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible” (Dictionary.com). However, when used in a piece of work, such as this one, darkness and light can be associated with an endless amount of meanings. For instance, by using imagery, any author can write a story about one event that’s happening, but have a deeper, more meaningful message that isn’t so straightforward. For example, in both Oedipus the King and “The Allegory …show more content…
In Plato’s short story, a group of men have been imprisoned in a dark cave their whole lives and know nothing else, only the shadows on the wall. This leads Plato into questioning, “What do you think he would say if someone told him that what he had formerly seen was meaningless illusion, but now being somewhat nearer and towards more real objects, he was getting a truer view” (Plato 2)? By using this example of light imagery, Plato is showing how knowledge is represented by the light. This is because when the men are in the dark cave they know nothing, only what their senses have been telling them. Plato is trying to get the point across that what you think you know can always be challenged by knowledge. At this point the man comes to the conclusion that everything he once knew isn’t what’s reality. However, the other men in the cave weren’t enlightened like he was, and when he came back down into the cave and his eyes weren’t used to the darkness and, “They would laugh at him and say that he had gone up only to have come back with his sight ruined” (Plato 2). He uses dark imagery representing the ignorance of these men. As mentioned above, the men only know sitting in the obsidian cave watching shadows on the walls, they don’t know about the light the man was exposed to or even the whole other world outside …show more content…
After analyzing both, the conclusion can be made that Plato was more effective in conveying his overall message. The main reason for this is because Sophocles only uses imagery to show that Oedipus is blind to himself and his own actions, whereas Plato utilizes imagery to explain how the man is blind to the world because of his lack of knowledge. For that reason, Plato’s work was more effective because by choosing to describe the cave and making it symbolize ignorance, you can not only picture it in your head, but also understand the meaning behind the use of the cave. The same goes for when the man is exposed to the light for the first time and gaining knowledge. Plato made sure the reader was able to picture the cave by describing the darkness and the the fire giving off the only light, while also making sure we understood their lack of knowledge of the real world. He does this by saying, “They could only suppose that the sound came from the shadow passing before their eyes” (Plato 1). Plato is describing the prisoners lack of knowledge while also giving us something to picture in our heads. While Sophocles does give us some examples of this, his are more straightforward and they aren't used as frequently as Plato’s were. This means he didn't give the reader a lot to picture in their head, and there wasn’t as much of a turning point in his work where you
In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus, the King, there are various instances where Oedipus tries to escape his destiny—enlightenment—only to discover the truth that he cannot. Similarly, in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” the prisoner travails to understand and adjust to his newly visited environment. In both works, the men first had to realize their ignorance before they could begin to acquire knowledge and true understanding of the complexities of the human condition. Specifically, in Oedipus, the King, it was Oedipus’ illusion of himself as a man unequaled in leadership whereas in “Allegory of the Cave” it was the prisoner’s initial refutations of enlightenment being shown him until he realizes its intellectual, spiritual, and social significance.
In the Plato’s allegory of “ The Cave” the Shadow refers to the illusion of
But as his eyes gradually began to focus to the light, he would begin to see images more clearly. The light enables the prisoner to see the true image and not just the shadow of the image. If this prisoner was to go back to the cave, he would find that it would be impossible to conform back to his old world. At first he would not be able to identify shadows because his eyes would not yet be adjusted to the darkness in the cave. If the returning prisoner were to tell the other prisoners about the light and that their shadows were not real images, they would not believe him and would accuse him of trying to disrupt their way of life. Finally, since the prisoner could no longer fit in, the others would be forced to kill him. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a symbol for the contrasts between ideas and what humans perceive as reality. For example, Plato would argue that ideas go beyond the physical world. Think of a cup. That
Though it takes time, the prisoner is able to adjust; Stephen Buckle writes, “Speak of ‘mental gaze’: an expression which evokes precisely the metaphor of a mental vision – of knowing as seeing with ‘the mind’s eye’ – that is a cornerstone of Plato’s allegory of the sun” (Buckle 313). Along with the “Allegory of the Cave,” comes the “Allegory of Light,” which serves its purpose of emphasizing Plato’s views, “The sun reaches its greatest development as a symbol in Plato,” (James A. Notopoulos 223). The light, moreover, serves as a means of finding reality, something the prisoner strives to do and teach his fellow prisoners about (finding the light). Additionally, the abstract understanding of both fire and light can be linked to Plato’s ideas of enlightenment. Plato writes, “Then, the release from the bonds and the turning around from the shadows to the phantoms and the light, the way up from the cave to the sun; and, once there, the persisting inability to look at the animals and the plants and the sun’s light, and looking instead at the divine appearances in water and at the shows of the things that are…” (Bloom 211). Furthermore, the concept of the sun serves an important element in the “Allegory of the Cave,” as it resembles a higher source, or as Plato would say, a pure form. Notopoulos writes, “He therefore found in the sun of Greek tradition a highly developed
Plato appears certain of what the "light" beyond the cave will reveal to the one who has made the journey out. Firstly it will provide a means of illumination that will expose the "real existence" of the world. In the brightness of the "light", everything would be seen in their full beauty instead of the vague impressions shadows create. He would receive accurate information about life and therefore dispense with the need to discern between the truth and the lie. Furthermore, he would also see himself in his own "proper place". He would no longer be confused about his identity, role in society or purpose in life, and could then carry out his duties confidently and effectively. Secondly the "light" itself also symbolizes the "idea of good". Since it is mentioned in the allegory that if one were to act "rationally", he would need to rely on the "idea of good". It ca...
The Allegory of the Cave and Oedipus the King are two very different stories. The Allegory of the Cave is about a single prisoner who is lead out of a cave he had been in since his childhood and sees the true light of day. Oedipus the King is about a man who wants to find the murderer in his city and all the secrets of his past come to light and lead to a tragic end. Hmm…maybe when you really think about it The Allegory of the Cave and Oedipus the King really are kind of similar. Along with comparisons, there are contrasts with these two stories. Both the philosopher and Oedipus didn’t realize they were in the darkness, but once they entered the true light of enlightenment, they became permanently blind. Although the philosopher is very reluctant
Plato believed in the power of forms more so over the objects we see every day. This belief is made evident in his allegory of “The Cave” in Plato’s “Republic”. Plato weaves a tale between his mentor Socrates and a theoretical student Glaucon. In it, Socrates describes a cave where several men have been chained and restricted to only a certain point of view since childhood. They are made to face a dimly lit cave wall and can only see shadows of forms cast upon the wall behind them from a bonfire from which, forms come and go via a pathway from the outside world into the cave that sits in front of the bonfire. These men take great pride in recounting details of the shadows displayed before them, even so far as to create a hierarchy among the prisoners of who possessed the most knowledge of the shadowy illusions. Socrates then shakes things
“Plato's Simile of Light. Part II. The Allegory of the Cave (Continued)”, A. S. Ferguson, The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Jan., 1922), pp. 15-28, Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association, Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/636164
In "The Allegory of the Cave," prisoners in a cave are forced to watch shadows as people behind them are forced to accept these shadows as reality -- "To them... the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images. One prisoner, however, is released, and stumbles into the real world, containing more depth and complexity than they had ever known. At first, the prisoner will be pained at the bright, piercing light, but will eventually recover. According to Plato, the freed prisoner is then obligated to return to the shadows of the cave, to inform the shackled prisoners left behind of the real world. The prisoners, however, will not believe the freed prisoner, and may even go as afra s to kill him for such "lies" contrary to their "reality." The pursuit of the truth is, therefor, a painstaking but rewarding process. According to Plato, the physical world is a world of sight, one that lacks meaning if left alone. Only those who manage to break into the sunlight from the cave will ascend to the intellectual world. The prisoners in the shadows only know of the dull physical world, while those who ascend into the sunlight learn of the spiritual world, and are exposed to the first hints of truth. The soul ascends upward into the realm of goodness and of the truth, where "... souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell.." The pursuit of goodness and of the truth, then, improves the soul, as the soul desires to be elevated to a higher state of knowledge and morality. Caring for the self and the soul involves freeing the shackles of the physical world and ascending to the "... world of knowledge... the universal author of all things beautiful and right... and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual..." The soul yearns to dwell in a world of morality and knowledge, and only the pursuit of
The cave image, in Plato’s reading, is expressed as an analogy for humans and our lack of education. Imagine a prisoner in a cave, chained and unable to turn his or her head and restricted to see only what is directly in front of them. What they are seeing are shadows casted by objects, people and animals behind them which are being illuminated by firelight behind and above them. The objects are carried along a low wall behind the prisoners. Occasionally the shadows speak, and the echoes of the words they speak reach the prisoners and they realize that they seem to come from the shadows. The prisoners can talk to each other, and they assume that the names they are using are the names to what they see and hear. The prisoners inside the cave
The shadows in Plato's cave represent us, humans, and it is important to get out of the cave. We must be like the freed prisoner. The first step for the shadow is to "stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains." (Plato 317) From total darkness to seeing light will cause great discomfort for the shadow at first. This is a change that will help the shadow to step out and later on to see the reality. We have to take the first step, or in order words realize the change that is happening. By accepting change we can then gradually start to improve and grow our knowledge. For the shadow, the change showed him truth and reality. For us, a change should also be something that we can learn from and seek truth. To do something we are not use to or new can be difficult, therefore we must learn to get use to and adapt to changes.
The saying goes that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Perhaps it is fitting, then, that in his Allegory of the Cave, Plato uses the image of a cave to illustrate the effects of education on the human soul and how the symbolism represented in the allegory ties in to a broader discussion of one of Plato’s main philosophical ideas, the Theory of Forms. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato (who is speaking as Socrates to one of his students, Glaucon) asks us to imagine an underground cave in which a group of prisoners have lived since birth. The prisoners are chained to the ground and are positioned in such a way that they can only stare at the cave wall in front of them. Thus, the prisoners’ world has been reduced to a world of darkness, and the only thing that is real to them is the shadows and echoes of passersby as they walk past the mouth of the cave. But, Socrates goes on to say, the reality that the prisoners perceive is a false one; it is only by being dragged
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, accepts that the there are two worlds, and that there is a difference between reality and illusion. The prisoners in Plato’s cave, were content with accepting what was presented to them as reality. As the one prisoner was able to gain more knowledge of the world he was able to accept that the ideas presented to him where not actually reality. Plato’s concept relates to the idea that without knowledge we will forever be trapped in a “cave”. Everything that is presented in life is not always reality. The more knowledge that people acquire the more truth that they are able to see. The world presents itself in two ways and as humans we must be able to decipher between what is real and what is not. Plato’s Allegory of the cave explains how as the prisoner evolved and was able to see a higher level of reality, he would not be able to become accustomed to the life that he once
The circumstances that are described by Plato have a metaphorical meaning to them. The allegory attacks individuals who rely solely upon; or in other words are slaves to their senses. The shackles and chains that bind the prisoners are in fact their senses .In Plato’s theory, the cave itself represents the individuals whom believe that knowledge derives from what we can hear and see in the world around us; in other words, empirical knowledge. The cave attempts to show that believers of empirical knowledge are essentially ...
Plato, a student of Socrates, in his book “The Republic” wrote an allegory known as “Plato's Cave”. In Plato's allegory humans are trapped within a dark cave where they can only catch glimpses of the world above through shadows on the wall.2 Plato is describing how the typical human is. They have little knowledge and what they think they know has very little basis in fact. He describes these people as prisoners, in his allegory, and they are only free when they gain knowledge of the world above the cave.