Finding Truth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

There are many attempts to understand the world and the good behind it. One believes that different people experience the good in different matters depending on the life they have been given. However, one can argue that people attempt to understand the good in the world and the components that define it to find a sense of balance in their lives. Understanding the idea of good and the things that contribute to a good life can be well beyond what the human mind can comprehend. The answer is constantly sought out so that one may obtain knowledge of what makes something good and vice versa. Discovering the good life would help humans to build a starting ground in their quest to discover the truth about the nature in which reality is derived from.

Throughout the course, many different authors and their works have been studied to understand their beliefs and thoughts on a particular subject. To obtain a clear understanding of what it is to be good one studied Plato and Aristotle and their positions on the matter.
From the various works that have been studied, Plato and Aristotle both each have their unique ways of explaining in what they believe the good to be. Plato believes a just life can lead to a good life. However, Plato also believes that life is worth examining and that an unexamined life would be a meaningless life. In Plato’s Apology, Plato states, “examining myself and others is the greatest good to man” (Apology, 4). One believes examining their life and the world around them allows them to understand and know about human excellence, which can then lead them to a good life. For example, an individual wakes up, eats, works, returns home, and sleeps. It is a repeating cycle that never ends. It is not common for the people in our society to sit down and contemplate over the life they have been given. Rather, if asked to examine their lives, they would find meanings and extraordinary findings in their ordinary lives that they missed due to being caught up in their daily routines. Examining their life would unveil new things that can help to find the good in a life in which they may have once thought to be nonexistent. TRANSTITION NEEDED Plato also believes that being a just person can lead an individual towards the good. Justice can bring happiness, which at the end results in an individual living a good life. Plato suggests that justice is not only concerned with the politics but also with the human soul. The human soul is divided into three parts: desire, spirited, and rational, just as ideal city-state. Plato suggests that justice can be found in the ideal city-states, which consists of producers (the moderate people), the guardians (the courageous people), and the rulers (the wise people). Plato argues that justice plays a role in achieving a good life.
However, in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he points out that knowledge can be good and can also lead to a good life.

The Allegory of the Cave is a story about prisoners who spent their whole lives down in the cave and isolated from the world. The prisoners only perceive the shadows to be their reality. It can be interpreted that the prisoners do not know the truth of their existence and the world that they live in. The shadows that are created from the burning fire are the only representation of what their reality is. One can deduce that the prisoners do not know what it is to live a good life or what is even considered to be good. It is not until a prisoner escapes that he is able to experience the real world and the actual reality that it holds. The exposure to the new world allows the prisoner to realize what true reality is and see the sun, which represents good and all things good. Their freedom will allow them to experience joy however, also teach them to pity the other prisoners still in the cave. However, the Allegory of the Cave teaches that knowledge is good. Knowledge has the ability to change our perspective and transform our thinking. It is said to be innate in human beings. The text mentions that the idea of goodness is the origin of everything that exists. According to Plato, “good appears last of all, and seen with an effort...and [is] the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual” (Allegory of the Cave, 3). This quote explains that a constant effort must be made to move toward in finding the good in the world and also finding the good in one’s life. The text mentions “to attain knowledge...they must continue to ascend until they arrive at the good” (Allegory of the Cave, 5). Plato also points out that fact that if one wants to be good, then you would have to know and experience what good is. Socrates, Plato’s instructor, stated that there is no definition of what it is to be good because it would be flawed because good is considered

to be indescribable. Defining what the good is what constrains the true meaning. However, the highest understanding revolves around the idea that there is good in everything that exists and that everything exists for some kind of good. All existent objects have a definable feature, which allows it to have its own kind of goodness. Plato says that unity binds the many differences together that make up the good. As a society, spreading knowledge would be informing people of the good resulting in the good of the whole.
Similarly, Aristotle, the student of Plato, believed the highest good is knowledge and reason. He said knowledge of the good is the ultimate end. In contrast to Plato, Aristotle believed that everything is worth learning. Plato on the other hand believed one finds knowledge on ideas alone. Everything Aristotle says is based off his own experiences. In Metaphysics, Aristotle claims that “all men by nature desire to know” and the reason is that “most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light [the] many differences between things” (Metaphysics, 1). Plato stated that to know good one must experience good. Similarly, Aristotle believes “experience is knowledge” (Metaphysics, 1). However, Aristotle mentions that leading a good life will result in happiness. He also mentions that everything that one does has a purpose for attaining happiness. It is happiness that at the end that leads one to the good life. In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he states that “every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1). One engages in the art of craft or techne for the purpose of making some sort of product. The product that is created allows one to engage in an activity. This cycle of creating and using the created products allows one to learn to do things for a deeper purpose and help one to obtain their true happiness. There are many factors that can lead to happiness. It was discussed that people seek happiness in honor, money-making, family, political life, religion, and bodily pleasure. For example, a man seeks out honor to assure themselves of their inner goodness. However, Aristotle argues that a happy life is not a life of bliss, and being deprived of it will bring happiness. Family and religion may seem important factors that contribute to happiness but it is not necessarily the highest form of happiness. Though it may seem that money and bodily pleasures can bring happiness into one’s life, Aristotle argues that it does not. Money is useful for other purposes but not for happiness. One can say that Aristotle would agree with the saying that money cannot buy happiness. Aristotle says that knowledge and reasoning is what brings happiness when he states, “knowledge and every pursuit aims at some good” (Nicomachean Ethics, 2). Human nature marks out political life and a life of contemplation is what makes an individual happy. The highest form of good is independent of others and is a freedom that leads one down to happiness.
After analyzing both the authors, it was found that they had some similar concepts for the good life but also different approaches. Plato was more concerned with the fact that justice leads to the good life whereas Aristotle believed that is was knowledge. However, both authors mention that the end product resulted in happiness. One believes that Aristotle's approach is more highly preferable. Humans are curious creatures who are always looking for a life that benefits them. They want a life where everything that exists is good and away from all the bad that exists in the society. Gaining knowledge allows them to find new discoveries and helps them to understand thus leading them down to happiness. Humans seek to find a deeper meaning when contemplating the things that surround them and their lives. For example, doctors researching a new drug have the potential to cure some sort of disease and create a good life for themselves and also give an opportunity to someone else. The doctors find new discoveries and understand new concepts that they were unable to do so before. Their findings would lead them to bring good to the society as a whole. According to Plato and Aristotle, the good life is out there for everyone if steps are taken to move towards it. Finding justice in a society can lead people to happiness however, justice may not always be found. People are given certain situations in which justice may not be served to them, just like the case with Socrates. However, knowledge can be found anywhere one looks. People can learn to analyze the things in front of them as well as the other complex things. If one can find happiness, then one can find the good life.