Socrates The Allegory Of The Cave

In Republic Book VII, Socrates and Glaucon discuss the effects of being educated by using the allegory of the cave as an example of some sort of society that's brought up with an ignorant view of the world, and their reaction to information that's brought back in that completely contradicts their world view. In that passage, Socrates suggests that we’re prisoners to our senses and are only able to perceive some fuzzy image of the real world, but that we can only escape if we really want to go beyond our senses. In my opinion, he refers to how our joint senses and society we grew up in as our cave that we’re in bondage in, and that he means that we all grow up in a social niche that often gives us opinions about things or other groups based

on very faulty information. To further illustrate his point, Socrates uses many symbols to talk about our bondage such as the chained up prisoners that are only able to face one direction as a symbol for the society we grow up in that makes everyone conform to the same point of view. Socrates then ends up with the conclusion that the only way to free ourselves is through educating ourselves willingly to challenge our perceptions of the world. I agree with Socrates points of view that we’re born into this world living in some sort of cave that we as a society accept distorted views about the world around us that filters through our cave as fact. In my opinion, the way to overcome it is through a university education that provides us clearer information, even though it may offend us and challenge our preexisting notions with an open mind, or else we will just end up getting scared about the light outside the cave burning our eyes and just end up running back to our distorted perceptions about the world.
To further elaborate from before, I see Socrates’ allegory of the cave as a reference to a very closed-minded society that indoctrinated us to believe at one point of view about the world, “They’ve been there since childhood, fixed in the same place with their necks and legs fettered, able to see only in front of them, because their bonds prevent them from turning their heads around.” (Republic VII 514a 4-7).

The earlier passage refers to the rigid society we are born into that has us all fixed into a common point of view that doesn’t give us much room to look at the same thing at different perspectives. The cave allegory can also apply to societies created by totalitarian systems in which only distorted information flows through with no other conflicting perspectives that may cause the people in the cave to question what they’ve seen before being able to flow through. Since we grow up being prisoners to the society we grow up in, we’re actually comfortable living in bondage in the cave and the only way to leave is voluntary. If someone gives you information that completely contradicts your perspective, or leave for college with a closed mind, just like in the allegory, the light outside the cave will compel you to flee back to ignorance because it offends your perspective, “And if someone compelled him to look at the light itself, wouldn’t his eyes hurt, and wouldn’t he turn around and flee towards the things he’s able to see” (Republic VII 515e 1-3). From what's described, someone else can’t force you out of your own ignorance and that only you can do

it.
In my opinion, the scared prisoner running away from the light represents a rigid society that is resisting any other perspective, and other examples are seen like if an outsider came into that society with beliefs that would be considered blasphemy to them, with the immediate reaction being to silence them. Like what's mentioned in the Republic that if an escaped prisoner came back talking about the outside world, he would be ridiculed and possibly killed if the others are able to. (Republic VII 517a 1-7). This reference could be seen in historical events where religious societies would often go after people with contrary religious beliefs, or totalitarian regimes going after the intellectuals. Something else like this would have also been felt by Socrates through ridicule from his critics with opposing traditionalist views, and even with his persecution because his ideology offended their point of view so much. Even though many of the prejudices against Socrates came from exaggerated information, some portions of society were quick in believing it and passing judgment on him as described by Leshkevich in the following passage, “Communal thinking is understood to lie at the root of racial, ethnic, and religious prejudices. Such thinking gives rise to feelings of community participation, provides easy acceptance of the authority of power and the state” (Leshkevich). Thinking like this is seen in many regimes throughout history that would use prejudices to go after a group and solidify the regime’s ideology.
Lastly, this allegory can also be seen as an indoctrination in society where one is not willing to leave because they would be ostracized society and their families, if they were to leave that communal style of thinking. A person wouldn’t be inclined as easy to leave their social group and family, even if what they’re living in is a lie. Many examples such as leaving a religion, coming out as a gay person, or criticizing political policy in certain societies could be seen ways that would get you thrown out of that cave. Therefore one will be willing to leave all that to see the world beyond the prejudices they grew up in.
Throughout the allegory, Socrates uses many symbols to illustrate the bondage we are in like the cave being the rigid social niche that we’re brought into that most of us go on all our lives just knowing about. The chains that keep the prisoners trapped in the cave is a symbol of the pressures like our families that prevent us from leaving the cave to explore the outside world because of the fear of being ostracized for having conflicting views once you see the world for yourself (514a 4-7). The shadows that filter from the fire’s light are the prejudices and stereotypes of your social niche about other groups and the world based on faulty information. (514 b 1-4). The same previous passage talking about puppeteers can also be seen as a reference to what the elites in societies want everyone else to see. The dazzling by the light that the prisoner experiences is the shock someone feels when they see their beliefs and prejudices come into conflict and challenged.
Socrates comes to the conclusion that only a proper education can free us from our shackles of ignorance and learn how the world actually is. Using Diotima’s point of view, I agree with Socrates, but only if one acknowledges that they’re ignorant about the, or we will continue going on without questioning what we perceive by never going on a track towards wisdom. I believe that a university education is the way to free us from ignorance since we’re exposed to many people from different walks of life that we would have only heard prejudices about in our cave, “It’s an education in which the student develops an appreciation of all of these different types of entities. The student develops an appreciation of the different types of religions, even though they might be different from his or her own” (Earl). As described by Assistant Professor Earl, the effect of an education changes the prejudices about others to appreciate the differences in our world instead.
I also believe that the university system is freer to challenge our perspectives about the world no matter how controversial the challenge to our beliefs. Since many receive a university education far enough from where they grew up in, to many it’s like leaving that cave for the first time and being free to experience what’s on the outside free from the ridicule from the others in the cave. A university student exposed to many things that they have considered blindly as fact, teaching them to even question their view of the world as more as the reflection of the truth. Furthermore, that lesson has expanded to not just accept information just on face value and to actually investigate for the truth, no matter how obvious something might seem at first.
Socrates’ uses his allegory of the cave to describe the bondage of the social constructs people are born into and how many are not able to free themselves from it due to ignorance. Throughout the allegory he used many symbols like the chains to get his point across about how people are really held by society to a very rigid viewpoint. He comes to the conclusion that only willingly wanting to leave the cave and through education, one can free their selves from the shackles of ignorance. Therefore, I agree with Socrates and believe that through a university education, one can educate themselves and free themselves from the societal prison that they were born into, and be able to freely pursue the truth.