The Allegory of the Cave by Socrates and The Republic of Plato

1500 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Strengths and Weaknesses of Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” essay

In my paper I will address the interdisciplinary relationship between the Western philosopher Socrates’ in the Allegory of the Cave, an excerpt from Republic by Plato, and the Eastern mystic Paramhamsa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi. I will examine Yogananda’s Autobiography through the Platonic monocle and reason on why there are flaws in the allegory and how that can be corrected by adopting bifocals that combines both. The objective of this is to inspect, delve, and widen Socrates’s perspective that there are extra factors that relate to the steps that lead up to the light. In the allegory, Socrates claims that the prisoners “have their legs and necks in restrains, so that they’re held in place and look only to the front” (Plato, and Joe Sachs 210). The claim is defective in explaining whether the prisoners are compliant and oblivious of such enslavement, and are awaiting a rescuer, or some of them are aware of the shadows but are waiting to be released from delusion. Does man bound in chains depend on the spontaneous compassion from someone present in the light, or are there more components that lead someone to be merciful, to free prisoners “and” to point them to the light? To direct this corollary on an accurate path, I will adopt excerpts from the Autobiography to candidly further the campaign of the cave.
To accumulate an improved understanding of Socrates’ cave, I shall first delve into my interpretation of the Autobiography to show the viewer on how this relates to the apologue. The Autobiography begins with his early life, but for the purposes of this essay I shall skip to the time that begins with his high school years. Young Mukunda, a nervous student, frets about the final examinations as he picks up a textbook i...

... middle of paper ...

... The mystic directs his own destiny and makes himself an example, but the philosopher directs others destiny and makes themselves the example.

Works Cited

Farge, Emile I. "Thomas Merton And Paramahansa Yogananda: Two Prayerful Mergings Of Cult And Culture." Merton Annual 20.(2007): 164-184. Religion and Philosophy Collection. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Farge, Emile J. "Going East With Merton: Forty Years Later -- And Coming West With Paramahansa Yogananda Today." Cross Currents 59.1 (2009): 49-68. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Web. 2 Apr. 2014
Morris, T. F. "Plato's Cave." South African Journal Of Philosophy 28.4 (2009): 415-432. Religion and Philosophy Collection. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Plato, and Joe Sachs. Republic. Newburyport, MA: Focus Pub., 2007. Print.
Yogananda, Paramhamsa. Autobiography of a Yogi. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1971. Print.

Show More
Related

  • The Dividing Lien of Plato's Allegory of the Cave

    2640 Words  | 6 Pages

    Plato’s theory of philosophy is clearly defined throughout Books VI and VII. It is in these two books that the allegory of the cave is introduced, setting up specific boundaries of what philosophy entails. The simile of the cave helps people grasp a perceptive of the complexity of what philosophy is in a way in which it is easy to understand, while still encompassing all the elements of philosophy. In Book VII the education of the philosopher king is addressed, showing insight to how various forms of education are valued in a philosophy based society.

    Read More

  • Nietzsche´s Life and Survival: Buddha´s Meaning of Suffering

    1975 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bronkhorst, Johannes. Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism. Leiden: Brill, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed December 5, 2013).

    Read More

  • Plato and Bacon

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    The "Allegory of the Cave" represents a complex model on that we tend to are to travel through our lives and understanding. The four stages of thought combined with the progress of human development represent our own path to complete awareness during which the most virtuous and distinguished can reach, and upon doing so shall lead the general public. The story as told by Socrates and Glaucon presents a unique look at the manner during which reality plays such a crucial half in our own existence, and the way one understands it may be used as a qualification for leadership and government.

    Read More

  • The Allegory Of The Cave And The Apology By Plato

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Trail Of Socrates And The Apology Of Plato

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this essay, the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical. In Plato’s Apology, it seems that overall Socrates did an effective job using the 3 acts of the mind.

    Read More

  • Plato's Allegory of the Cave and Perceptions of Reality

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    To sum up, Plato’s cave is an allegory of the human condition, each of us is a prisoner, chained down with distorted illusion of reality. To gain individual autonomy

    Read More

  • The Allegory of the Cave

    1971 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Allegory of the Cave has many applications to both Plato’s writing and life in general. It describes the education of a philosopher, as well as how others look on the philosopher after he has gained the knowledge of the Forms. It also describes what it is like to see the forms. After understanding the forms, what once were objects, real things, become merely shadows. One sees everything as it truly exists, as it’s form.

    Read More

  • Plato's Cave

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    To sum up, Plato’s allegory of cave depicts the human condition, each of us is a prisoner chained down with distorted illusion of reality. To gain individual autonomy one must awaken the unconsciousness, we must kill our imperfection and liberate one’s senses. We cannot accomplish individual autonomy by watching what’s on the screen, but rather using our own consciousness, begin a Gnostic path, and enlightened each other, hence we can build our own philosophical ideologies and get out of the ignorance, that is the cave.

    Read More

  • The Allegory Of The Cave

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    The allegory of the cave is Socrates’ example continuing on the divided line theory focusing on section C) Belief and D) Illusion. He goe...

    Read More

  • Asceticism in Buddhism and Hinduism

    1799 Words  | 4 Pages

    Eliot, Sir Charles. HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. 1921. Vol. 1. London: ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD, 1954. 3 vols. wisdom library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .

    Read More

  • Allegory Of The Cave Essay

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    First of all, in the ancient philosophy, most of the philosophers have examined to identify their critical thinking through some thoughts and incidents. In the textbook “The Allegory of the Cave” Plato illustrates that how human beings perceive and conceive the reality in darkness, and which he implies as an imperfection of thinking and lack of training or education. In addition, the writer has described his thinking through his imagination, and creating portrait such prisoners in the cave who are chained up and asked to figure out what was the reality of creating fire image on the wall behind the prisoners. Although prisoners could not answer exactly what was happened or what was going on behind them because of brightness of light. Likewise, this is because of not being familiar with what a group of people were created the image and it was an...

    Read More

  • Michelle Bernal Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Plato's allegory of the cave is a metaphysical illustration of the philosopher’s view of the humanity. We are represented by the prisoners, who are mired and held captive by an extremely limited view of the world, and prevented by their chains from viewing the actual Truth of existence. We are each locked up in our own worldview, living our lives unknowingly in the shadow of actual truth. Having nothing else to rely upon but our meager eyesight and hearing, capable of only believing in shadows and whispering disembodied voices, once exposed to truth, it is blinding to us. We are dazzled and disoriented, afraid of the glaring sight that has been so rudely forced upon us.

    Read More

  • Socrates The Allegory Of The Cave

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Socrates begins the story in a cave where cave dwellers are bound in chains, facing a wall, and unable to move in any way. This implies that they were prisoners of the cave. In between the prisoners and the opening of the cave was a fire and a walkway. On this walkway people pass by the fire carrying statues and a variety of other things such as trees and animals creating shadows for the prisoners to see. Because of the fact all the prisoners can do is talk to each other, they begin to name things, which is a way of identifying and understanding what they sense around them. The things that they are trying to identify are not true though; they are shadows of statues of the real thing. One of the prisoners gets

    Read More

  • Difference in the Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle and Their Influence.

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    The word Philosophy comes from the Greek words of ‘philo’ meaning love and ‘sophos’ meaning wisdom (Philosophy). It is the pursuit for wisdom, to comprehend human behavior, nature and ultimately the meaning of life. Plato was the student of Socrates, influenced by his work, Plato aged to become a great philosopher himself; establishing his philosophy from that of his teacher. Aristotle was the student of Plato, and like his teacher, grew up to ground his philosophy from that of Plato. Although, both Plato and Aristotle criticized their teacher’s works, they were also influenced by them. Both Plato and Aristotle developed their own modes of knowledge acquisition; Plato’s Platonic Idealism and Aristotle’s Analytic Empiricism. In this paper, my objective is to identify the differences in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, which lead to the development of two contradictory modes of knowledge acquisition and their influence on succeeding thinkers.

    Read More

  • The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Socrates was brought to trial for the corruption of the city’s youth he knew he had done nothing wrong. He had lived his life as it should be lead, and did what he ne...

    Read More

More about The Allegory of the Cave by Socrates and The Republic of Plato

Open Document