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An essay about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
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In Book 7 of Plato’s Republic, "The Allegory of the Cave” is a symbolic story, of which is located in a cave and where a fire is positioned behind prisoners. The prisoners have lived facing the wall of the cave and they have only seen shadows of which were displayed from objects outside of the cave. They believed that the objects’ shadows were real; however, in reality, it was a shadow of the truth. The prisoners would play a guessing game as to what the shadows were and they believe that their guesses were the truth. However, when one of the prisoners escaped, he faced the reality that the sun was the source of life and realized the game they were playing was pointless. The journey outside of the cave led the prisoner to seek for meaning and truth. Socrates then insists for him to return to the cave and share his discoveries …show more content…
The song expresses how we should try to be positive, even in our toughest times, which I believe is true. There are points in our life, of which are hard but you should have faith and a positive outlook in order for the world to become a better place. This example relates to "The Allegory of the Cave," by Plato, because if the prisoner never left the cave, he would have never discovered the truth. The lyrics or questions, "How did we get here? Where are we going? And why is life so hard?” are what some people today would think about, especially since there is no definite answer to them. Everyday, there are challenges face, but we should have hope. If we had a negative perspective, nothing would improve and this could relate anything. For example, when I struggle with an event in my life, I think of it as a conflict that helped me become a stronger person. Everything happens for a reason and if you keep a negative outlook, you will remain in the same situations and not
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.
In Book VII of The Republic, Plato tells a story entitled "The Allegory Of The Cave." He begins the story by describing a dark underground cave where a group of people are sitting in one long row with their backs to the cave's entrance. Chained to their chairs from an early age, all the humans can see is the distant cave wall in from of them. Their view of reality is soley based upon this limited view of the cave which but is a poor copy of the real world.
As people, we tend to believe everything we see. Do we ever take the time to stop and think about what is around us? Is it reality, or are we being deceived? Reality is not necessarily what is in front of us, or what is presented to us. The environment that we are placed or brought up has a great impact on what we perceive to be the truth or perceive to be reality. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is one of the most significant attempts to explain the nature of reality. The cave represents the prisoners, also known as the people. They are trapped inside of a cave. They are presented with shadows of figures, and they perceive that to be reality. The cave can be used as a
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.
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.
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.
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
To begin, Plato’s Allegory of the cave is a dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon and its main purpose, as Plato states is to, “show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.”(Plato) The dialogue includes a group of prisoners who are captive in a cave and chained down, only with the ability to stare straight at a wall. This wall, with the help of a fire, walkway, and people carrying different artifacts and making sounds, create a shadow and false perception of what is real. This concept here is one of the fundamental issues that Plato brings up in the reading. “To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” (Plato). These prisoners, being stuck in this cave their entire life have no other option but to believe what they see on the wall to be true. If they were to experience a real representation of the outside world they would find it implausible and hard to understand. “When any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up a...
Do we really understand the world we live in and see everyday? Is our everyday perception of reality a misinterpretation, which somehow we can’t break free from? A famous Greek philosopher by the name of Plato sought out to explain this in an experiment he called the Cave Allegory. I will discuss what the Cave Allegory is as well as talk about the movie Interstellar, which is a great example of Plato’s Cave Allegory and how it relates to Plato’s ideas. The question we have to answer first is, what is Plato’s Cave Allegory?
In the story “Allegory Of The Cave” it shows a life lesson on how individuals can act stubborn in the world because they are not educated or aware of certain artifacts. In this essay i will give you examples of how real life situations relate to the story “Allegory Of The Cave”. In Plato’s story “Allegory Of the Cave” there are a group of prisoners that have been chained in a dark cave their whole life not being able to turn back at all. The only contact they have with the outside world is seeing the shadows of the things that pass behind them. Then one prisoner becomes free and is able to explore the outside world. When the freed prisoner steps outside for the first time in his life the beaming sun blinds him but then gets used to the sun
However, Plato feels it is our moral duty to return to the cave: “…to this end he created them, not to please themselves, but to be his instruments in binding up the State.” (Page 290 lines 15, 16) In this line, Plato suggests that by re-entering the cave and freeing others from their binds and the darkness, you are fortifying
Reading Response #2: Detailed Analysis on “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato In the essay “Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, Plato portrays the concept of how education of a soul can lead toward enlightenment. He wants the audience to know that experiencing new education can give new knowledge. His viewpoint relates to his idea of forms as people struggle to see the reality beyond the delusion. He emphasizes that ideas are not the way world observes it.
The Allegory of the Cave is a story written by Plato during the Classical period; in this allegory, it is described through dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon. The story teaches us about reality, self enlightenment, and human nature. The scenario has it as some prisoners are shackled and bounded so that they can only see what’s in front of them. There is a fire behind them and puppeteers that create shadows of the things that they hold on the wall in front of the prisoners. They are secluded away from society; one prisoner is freed and led to the surface where he faces actual reality.
At first glance, it would seem that Plato’s ideal polis is built upon a great contradiction. In the Republic, Plato repeatedly espouses the virtues of truth and of continuously searching for the truth. In fact, the words ‘true’ and ‘truth’ are written over 900 times in the Republic. At the same time, however, Plato mentions several different falsehoods that would be of vital importance to the polis. In fact, he sets out guidelines as to who in the polis can and cannot lie.
Philosophy and the Allegory of the Cave Philosophy is probably one of the hardest words to define. Although dictionary and other professionals provide their own definition for philosophy, the word seems to be a study or a discipline that cannot be understood easily. Defining philosophy is similar to going outside of the inner life and discovering other environment. It is fearsome, difficult, and risky at the same time.