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Allegory of the cave summary essay
Allegory of the cave summary essay
Allegory of the cave sparknotes
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Summary The Allegory of the Cave was about a set of prisoners being chained at their neck and legs in a dark cave where they were stationary to only see the wall in front of them and nothing more. The only thing visible to the prisoners was a small light which was a shadow reflected from the wall of fire behind them to the only wall they could see with some sort of figures exceeding the height of the walls. One of the prisoners was set free and forced into standing on both feet, turning around, and walking which he did through tremendous pain and suffering. As the prisoner was forcefully dragged to the top of the cave into the daylight, he was blinded with the strong brightness of the sun that it took a while for his eyes to become adjusted.
In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, Plato described a group of people that have lived their lives confined to a cave, tied to a pole making them face a wall. On this wall you could only see shadows of what was going on behind you, and from that they misperceived shadows from reality. One day, one of the inhabitants broke free and was able to leave the cave, only to be shocked by what “true reality” was outside of the cave and what was different from the shadows he saw on the cave wall. He was so excited that he wanted to go back into the cave and basically enlightened the other prisoners about what he saw,
The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, shows the contrast between sense experience and rationalism. The story explains that in the cave where some people have known nothing of the outside world and can only comprehend what they see based on what little they do know of their cave. The people have come to the conclusion what the shapes represent and what causes them and believe it to be correct and thus believe it as the reality of the world. However what they don’t know is that this is not the world and what they will soon find out is that the things they once saw with their eyes what they smelt, what they heard, what they felt were just shadows of real images and objects cast on the wall by fire. What this does is show that sense experience can be at fault because the one perceiving is at times is ignorant of the fact that they know nothing of the true reality of the world and its workings. One must be showed how things are in order to learn and thus no longer be ignorant but have now begun taking steps towards wisdom.
Plato's Allegory of a Cave is a story about prisoners that are chained underground, who can not see anything except for shadows caste on a wall by a fire. The only thing that these prisoners can see is the shadows of people. Eventually, one of the prisoners breaks free of the chain and ventures out into the real world. In the real world the freed prisoner discovers that the shadows in the cave are created from light diverge off people. He recognizes there is a whole new world filled with light. The freed prisoner is very confused and blinded by the light so he decides to return to the cave. When the prisoner returns to the cave, he shares what he saw in the real world with the other prisoners. The remaining prisoners treat the freed prisoner like he is crazy and they tell the freed prisoner that the real world does not exist. The prisoners in the cave do not believe in the real world because the cave is all that they know exists.
The "Allegory of the cave "is broken down into four levels. The cave itself representing the tunnel we as humans have dug for ourselves away from the world of learning and knowledge to a world of safe answers where nothing is ever questioned . The cave represents the human's subconscious struggle to be safe and hide from the unknown. Beginning with Level one . The shadow watchers(the mystified )Illusion the figures and shadows reflection on the cave wall.This level is best described as such because the prisoners are not seeing what is real .They are seeing a copy or illusion of what is the real.They are seeing what they want to see.Level two The shadow casters .I believe the shadow casters area people who realize that the world is not as it
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
James Baldwin once said “It is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long cherished...that he is set free, that he has set himself free - for higher dreams, for greater privileges.” This quote displays the abundance of courage that is needed to leave everything an individual has in order to move forward. The bravest thing he can do once he has lost his identity, is to surrender who he was and open his mind to the possibility of wo he is going to be.
My understanding of the cave allegory is someone who has lived his life in confinement; the only life he has ever known. Isolated from the outside world, everything that he experiences is a false reality. He sees things projected on the wall and he thinks they are real, when in fact, they are illusions. Once he is torn away from his environment, he is frightened of what he is now experiencing. As his senses awaken, he begins to see and experience the beauty all around him. He now realizes that this is how life is truly meant to live and he must go back and share his discovery with the others. However, they are not eager to leave their familiar surroundings. Upon returning to the cave, he has a hard time adjusting to his previous environment, He now knows all that he previously thought was
The Allegory of the Cave is a parable that demonstrates how humans are afraid of change and what they do not know. In this work, Plato suggests a situation in which men are living in an underground cave. The one entrance is located near the top and there, a burning fire casts shadow. The men of the cave are chained so that they can only see the wall and cannot turn around. When objects pass by it creates a shadow on the wall. The shadows are the only thing they can see and therefore is the only thing they know to exist (747). Somehow one of them gets loose and wanders outside the cave (748). When he gets out, he is astonished at what he finds. He comes back in to tell the others about what he saw. The other men think he is mad and plot to kill him (749). This illustrates how fear, inherent in the primitive nature of man, only serves to promote his ignorance.
In this section, Plato is setting up the scene for the Allegory of the Cave where he also gives the Analogy of the Divided Line and the Analogy of the Sun. Plato is narrating a discussion between Socrates and Glaucon.
Both authors make a point of showing the narrow-mindedness of humans by nature. In “Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoners believed that the shadows they were seeing were reality, with nothing more to it. The comfort of the said perceived, and therefore the fear of the unrecognized outside world would end in the prisoner being forced to climb the steep ascent of the cave and step outside int...
Plato’s concept of The Allegory of the Cave is an idea based on his theory of forms. The theory argues that our knowledge of reality/forms is not real knowledge; only our knowledge of these forms can be considered as real knowledge. The Allegory of the Cave is a conversation between Glaucon and Socrates. Socrates explained the cave to Glaucon. There’s a group of prisoners who are bound by chains on their hands, legs, and even neck....
A person’s fear of trying something new will destroy more dreams than when failing to achieve those dreams. A regular routine will make a person feel relaxed, but also may limit one’s knowledge. An uncomfortable situation goes a long way in terms of self-development because stepping outside of a comfort zone advances a person’s performance and knowledge; it is building a mental toughness strategy. In the Allegory of the Cave, the shadows seen by the prisoner provoked curiosity to experience the world outside of their mental cave. The curiosity leads to higher standard of knowledge and self-content. Plato states, “the truth would literally be nothing but the shadows
Can you imagine being fed knowledge only from shadows on a cave? Allegory of the Cave is an amazing story that follows a very interesting plot. The central idea that Plato is trying to convey in Allegory of the Cave is that you can’t let new knowledge and experiences change who you are, and how hey shows this idea is really interesting!
In "Allegory of the Cave" Plato's describes the journey, which individuals must embark on in order to achieve enlightenment. Plato depicts a comprehensive metaphor that aims to outline the disadvantages we face as a result of a lack of education. When analyzing the ‘Allegory of the Cave’ it's imperative to remember that there are two elements to the story. The first element is the fictional metaphor of the prisoners and the second element is the philosophical view in which the story is supposed to portray, therefore presenting us with the allegory itself.
When I first read the passage from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, in Book 7 of the Republic, 518D-E, many questions have come to my mind. Such as where it “there” that is mentioned in the passage, and what is “this art”? To come up with ideas and interpretation of this passage, I read the whole section and come up with the thought of true, beauty, and the reality.