Most people are comfortable in their ignorance. According to the short story “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, the willingness to enlighten comes from the things you learn and come to understand regardless the oppressive circumstances. When people are taught the way of one lifestyle they become conservative just to lose appreciation they could have for a new journey…. Everyone becomes scared of trying something new in their lives but forget that chance is okay and vital in moving forward in our everyday lifestyles. The only thing that is holding you back, is you.
The cave men only know of only one thing ignorance in not knowing of what reality is, or blatantly the truth of what makes the real world, real. Being confined is something that you can't let go or be let go of. These cavemen are not only being
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Given a chance to know his whole life was an illusion and there's more than what meets the eye made the caveman curious to know if the shadows are any different to the clearer picture. Like a person is never perfect a person is never always right. When a Teacher teaches their student their method could be true but not right because there is more than one way to teach it. Being one track minded hinders the ability for a person to learn and understand to excel. Enlightening others comes from being open minded and acknowledging there is more than one right being able to face yourself and allowing yourself to take chance and risks regardless the outcome. What meaning could there be if you don’t defeat your pride by stepping into uncharted waters and saying “I stumbled I fell but this is the best part that got me there”. Giving ethical stories that will last you a lifetime and enlighten others around you because your forged conclusion does not have a lid on it. We can chose not to believe but always understand both
In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and the song “The Cave,” by Mumford and Sons, they both treat the metaphor of a cave as a dark, bad, and evil antagonist that restricts you from seeing the truth and reaching your full potential. The cave can be seen as a permanent chain or an opportunity for change.
Knowing the truth pushes people to understand reality and to have a meaningful purpose in life. However it is only a small portion of the world that is brave enough to take on the obscene verity of life. These few do not accept what they are told, the crave to know what is beyond each wall, over each mount, and across each ocean. They want their reality to be their own wild and true experiences in nature. Chris went out into the world to seeking truth. Instead of being told or given what he sought, he wanted to find the answers to his own questions. For example, Chris wanted an answer about his...
Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” He questioned the very nature of why things were the way they were, while never settling for simple, mundane answers. Socrates would rather die searching for the truth than live accepting what he considered a blatant lie. I like to think of myself the same way. I too would rather examine the wonders of life rather than accept what I am just told. The truth is some can’t handle the truth. I on the other hand welcome it with earnest anticipation and fervent enthusiasm.
We as humans tend to have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. We look for knowledge about everybody and everything that surrounds us in our day-to-day life. Sadly though, we must accept that in the grand scheme of life we (as a society) tend to put pleasure above our quest for knowledge. The pursuit of knowledge tends to take time and energy, two things we call invaluable, and it also shows us things that might depress us. Contrastingly, ignorance takes no time and energy.
Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” explains his beliefs on education of one’s soul and the core of the way they shape themselves. The rhetorical devices that Plato represents inside of his story explains how much freedom is worth in this world. The deeper meaning inside of what Plato describes can further be found out once a reader realizes the type of rhetorical devices are being used. For example, Plato portrays prisoners being locked inside of a cave without a way out. These prisoners never got to see the outside world, yet he mentions they “see shadows” which explains they are only able to catch a glimpse of reality from the outside. Plato’s use of imagery gives us a mental picture on the tease we may feel to notice reality but not be able to experience it. In reality, we do not value freedom as much as we are supposed to. We seem to not see the world as he sees it. With the help of personification, Plato uses human like characteristics to describe non-living things to give
Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" presents a vision of humans as slaves chained in front of a fire observing the shadows of things on the cave wall in front of them. The shadows are the only "reality" the slaves know. Plato argues that there is a basic flaw in how we humans mistake our limited perceptions as reality, truth and goodness. The allegory reveals how that flaw affects our education, our spirituality and our politics.
The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. He sees it as what happens when someone is educated to the level of philosopher. He contends that they must "go back into the cave" or return to the everyday world of politics, greed and power struggles. The Allegory also attacks people who rely upon or are slaves to their senses. The chains that bind the prisoners are the senses. The fun of the allegory is to try to put all the details of the cave into your interpretation. In other words, what are the models the guards carry? the fire? the struggle out of the cave? the sunlight? the shadows on the cave wall? Socrates, in Book VII of The Republic, just after the allegory told us that the cave was our world and the fire was our sun. He said the path of the prisoner was our soul's ascent to knowledge or enlightenment. He equated our world of sight with the intellect's world of opinion. Both were at the bottom of the ladder of knowledge. Our world of sight allows us to "see" things that are not real, such as parallel lines and perfect circles. He calls this higher understanding the world "abstract Reality" or the Intelligeble world. He equates this abstract reality with the knowledge that comes from reasoning and finally understanding. On the physical side, our world of sight, the stages of growth are first recognition of images (the shadows on the cave wall) then the recognition of objects (the models the guards carry) To understand abstract reality requires the understanding of mathematics and finally the forms or the Ideals of all things (the world outside the cave). But our understanding of the physical world is mirrored in our minds by our ways of thinking. First comes imagination (Socrates thought little of creativity), then our unfounded but real beliefs. Opinion gives way to knowledge through reasoning (learned though mathematics). Finally, the realization of the forms is mirrored by the level of Understanding in the Ways of Thinking. The key to the struggle for knowledge is the reasoning skills acquired through mathematics as they are applied to understanding ourselves. The shadows on the cave wall change continually and are of little worth, but the reality out side the cave never changes and that makes it important.
Freedom in mind, freedom in nature, and freedom in subjectivity of individual are three kinds of freedoms. However, freedom should be expressed within the limits of reason and morality. Having freedom equals having the power to think, to speak, and to act without externally imposed restrains. As a matter of fact, finding freedom in order to live free is the common idea in Plato with "The Allegory of the Cave"; Henry David Thoreau with " Where I lived and What I lived for"; and Jean Paul Sartre with " Existentialism". Generally, Plato, Thoreau, and Sartre suggested that human life should be free. They differ in what that freedom is. Plato thinks it is found in the world of intellect, Thoreau thinks freedom is found in nature, and Sartre thinks freedom is found in subjectivity of individual.
The process of enlightenment takes a lot of strength from people, physically, and mentally. It requires constant persistence, perseverance, and meditation. Two pieces of literature that explores the transition from ignorance to enlightenment are Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”. Fahrenheit 451 describes a fireman, Guy Montag’s change from being completely ignorant to being fully open-minded. “The Allegory of the Cave” illustrates a prisoner’s move from being oblivious to full broad-minded. Throughout the two pieces, Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 and the prisoner in “The Allegory of the Cave” underwent a remarkably similar process, from ignorance towards enlightenment.
And when we ( slaves) climb out of the cave, we see the world how it should
Inside the cave the only knowledge that you can experience is the knowledge that is already installed into your head. In the cave viewpoint “The truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the image.”(Plato 450) M This quote explains that everything that is viewed in the cave is only a shadow of the real thing. But, the outside of the cave is made up of real images that can be hurtful “He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world” (Plato 451). This quote explains how humans need to adjust to new knowledge. At first, the outside of the cave is defined as unreal, because you are in denial that there is more to the world than just your cave. When one realizes the actual things that are present outside the cave one will want to spread the word and tell the other prisoners. But, one will not spread the word because the other prisoners will not be open to the knowledge. They will see your viewpoint as being insane do to the fact that they have not been exposed to the
The truth is a very strong and complex human understanding where many individuals have their own meaning of truth with some having truth with great meaning. As for Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” he has a meaning of truth which describes people of the cave stuck in the shadows shrouded from the life above ground. For the individuals above ground they have a brighter life with more. The people above are aware of the present and what happens, while some who want to also keep the cave people below. However, there are certain individuals who live above ground with thought of the people below. The truth described by Plato follows those who are like philosophers, those that have an understanding of the cycle and placement of people above ground and of the cave people. The truth about the life he describes is gained by understanding the difference between both lives and help the people to live as Plato explains, “You must contrive for your future
The Allegory of the Cave is a metaphor found in Book XII of The Republic written by the Greek philosopher, Plato. It is a dialogue between Plato and a man named Glaucon that discusses several different theories about human nature and the idea of enlightenment. Many people question whether or not the theories mentioned in Book XII apply to the government of the United States as it is today. It is evident after reading Book XII of Plato’s Republic that the answer is yes; his theories remain relevant, even in the world of today.
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 ...
The knowledge can equip one when he or she pursues the truth. However, an illusion of owning the knowledge can do exactly the opposite. People tend to have their opinions, but it is important to realize that we may do not own the knowledge that we thought we had. The perplexity can be a sign for us that reminds us the existence of ignorance of ourselves, just as what Socrates said, “…he would be glad to find out, whereas before he thought he could easily make many fine speeches to large audiences about the square of double size…” (Meno, 84c).