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Platos allegory of cave illusion vs reality
Platos allegory of cave illusion vs reality
Platos allegory of cave illusion vs reality
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One of the biggest questions that humans have is “what is reality”. Plato suggests that, “ we are born in illusions,” (Plato) and that the truth is initially blinding. “The Myth of the Cave,” is a narrative story about the idea of reality, it is explored though an allegory about a man finding out the truth about reality coming from a life in the dark. They can only learn about true mainly through reason and truth. The story is told as a metaphor for what happens in the natural world and how people can be stuck in the dark about reality. Plato tells the story through the voice of Socrates, his mentor.
The story begins with a group of prisoners living in a cave. Since birth they have been chained to the cave, because of this they cannot move,
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there for all they know is the cave. Behind them is a well-traveled path, and behind the path is a “blazing fire” (Myth of the Cave). This fire creates the light that makes shadows in the cave from the people passing by, these people that are passing are, “carrying all sorts of objects, such as figures of animals and humans made of wood, stone, and other various materials...” (Myth of the Cave). but along side of the path there is a wall that covers the real people, so that the only thing that prisoners in the cave see are the shadow they create and the shadows of the strange figures the people are holding above the wall. These prisoners live only with the knowledge of the shadows that they are shown. Amongst the shadows they also hear faint echoes of the real sound the people-passing make from outside. Since the prisoners don’t know the truth they think that the shadows are real and that these sounds are coming from the shadows. Suddenly one of the prisoners is released and forced to see the outside world it is blinding at first because the light is go bright because of their lifetime in the dark cave. This means that at first the images that created by the shadow will not be seen because of this blinding light. He is then told that the shadows were actually an allusion and the blinding light is the reality. Then he once again is forced to stare through the blinding light creating intense eye pain making him want to turn back into the cave looking to the things he already knows. Again and again he his is forced to stare at the outside world, but slowly he become less and less sensitive to the light, the pain slowly subsides until he can see the truth that is the outside world, “First he would be able to see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other things in the water, and then the things themselves.”(Myth of the Cave). Once he is able to see everything clearly, now including the sun. Once he see this all he is able to learn about the natural world and make conclusions about elements of the world conclusion that the sun is what creates everything, even the shadows he once thought to be reality. After making conclusions about the natural world, he moves on to making inferences about people, the future, and general human nature. Naturally wanting to share his findings with others he would go back into the cave to share his findings of the real world with the others still trapped in the cave under the illusion of a false world. Unfortunatly because he is so adjusted to the light of the world he would now not be able to see in the darkness of the cave. The prisoners in the cave assume because of this blindness he now has that, “ the ascent and decent had destroyed hid eyesight...”(Myth of the Cave). The prisoners themselves would then conclude that they must not endure the ascent because it destroyed the first mans eyesight not believing all the things he says about the real world behind them. This story is a metaphor what people of the natural world are like.
They are in the dark about the truth and reality because they are unwilling to see the truth about the light, or the real world. They live with illusions of the real world but never get to see what really happens because of this unwillingness to believe others to see. They are stuck in their predisposed ways because they were never exposed to reality. If you can only see what is in front of you can ever know true reality. This story is representative of they way people live their everyday live and how what they live constantly might not be the highest knowledge. Ultimately when he can finally see the sun it represents what s the truth and goodness. The cave represents how people live their lives, in the dark, and “world of illusion” (Plato). The shadows in the cave represent the false reality everyday people see. This allegory make one question their own believes and reality. It teaches one to think about all their experiences in their life and think if the reality they know is true. He uses this story to explain how being a philosopher is like being the prisoner that can see, and the others stuck in the cave are the general masses that will not go though the pain of losing their reality to see the
truth. Most people do not escape the cave because of their unwillingness to trust and learn. It is also through their reasoning that they do not trust the prisoner that can see the outside world, that is why you must also have trust along with reasoning because without a combination of both you can never be brought out of the dark into the light. It is quit hard to disregard everything you know as the truth and except something completely new and strange as the truth, not only do you have to trust who is showing you this new truth, but you have to whole heartedly believe it to be the truth once learned. It took the original man a lot of pain looking at the sun to be able to see the truth. Some people do not want to endure this type of pain to see the truth because the truth hurts. In my opinion people don’t leave they cave because it too hard to give up the reality they have know for their entire life. A good example of this is religion. For thousands of years religious rules have been passed down through generations and generations. To most extremely religious people science is considered the fake truth because it goes against their reality, to others religion is the false reality and science is the ultimate truth and reality. The extremely religious cannot believe in the science because it goes against everything the believe, and makes these things false. Plato creates this story to make a person think about how their reality could be true or false. It is the metaphor if the story that really creates the space for thought and reflection. Its also makes you think about others and if their reality is the truth also. Everyone sees the world differently because everyone’s life is different.
In society it is a person’s duty to teach others what they do not know. People do not need to tell others of their knowledge, but in order for society to function together people must all be taught the basics of reality. In the parable “Allegory of the Cave” the author and philosopher, Plato, uses hypothetical situation, rhetorical questions, and diction to tell his audience that a person’s reality depends on the environment they are raised in, and how it is the responsibility of the ones knowledgeable to teach others so society can thrive with most of the same beliefs.
Plato’s cave had chained prisoners and that was the only life they ever knew. They couldn’t move their heads, and the only objects they could see from the outside world were the casted shadows created by the fire. They saw the truth from the shadows, but they were distorted. What they were seeing was only one side of the truth, not the whole thing. When one of the prisoners was free to go, he was forced to be dragged out of the cave. It
What is reality? An enduring question, philosophers have struggled to identify its definition and basic concept since the beginning of time. Plato, in his provocative essay, The Cave, used symbols and images to ridicule and explain how humanity easily justifies their current reality while showing us that true wisdom and enlightenment lies outside this fabricated version of reality. If he were alive in modern times, he would find society unchanged; still uneducated and silently trapped in our own hallucination of reality with only the glimmer of educational paths available. While this may be a bleak comparison, it is an accurate one as the media influences of today present a contrasting picture of education and ignorance that keeps us trapped
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 addition to the chained people, there are other people in the cave. Plato refers to them as the puppet-handlers and they are the ones holding those in the cave captive. (It is important to realize that the prisoners do not realize this--in fact, the prisoners do not even realize that they are being held captive since this existence is all they have ever known.) Walking behind the prisoners, the puppet-handlers hold up various objects found in the real world. Due to a fire that is burning the mouth of the cave, the prisoners are able to see the objects and each other only as distorted, flickering shadows on the cavern wall in front of them.
The "Allegory of the cave "is broken down into four levels. The cave itself representing the tunnel we as humans have dug for ourselves away from the world of learning and knowledge to a world of safe answers where nothing is ever questioned . The cave represents the human's subconscious struggle to be safe and hide from the unknown. Beginning with Level one . The shadow watchers(the mystified )Illusion the figures and shadows reflection on the cave wall.This level is best described as such because the prisoners are not seeing what is real .They are seeing a copy or illusion of what is the real.They are seeing what they want to see.Level two The shadow casters .I believe the shadow casters area people who realize that the world is not as it
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.
Both authors make a point of showing the narrow-mindedness of humans by nature. In “Allegory of the Cave”, the prisoners believed that the shadows they were seeing were reality, with nothing more to it. The comfort of the said perceived, and therefore the fear of the unrecognized outside world would end in the prisoner being forced to climb the steep ascent of the cave and step outside int...
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
They are facing the wall, they are unable to move or see anything besides the shadows of their own bodies, puppets and objects, which are intentionally substituted by other people. The shadows appear on the wall from the fire that burns behind them. Prisoners can also hear the sound of an echo that reflects from the wall. The only reality that they know and are aware of, are the shadows that they see and the echo that they hear. Everything changes when one of them have a chance to leave the cave and finds out what the truth is and how the world looks like. The process of finding out the truth is not easy, it is quite painful and overwhelming. It takes time for a prisoner to adjust and comprehend the new information, considering the fact that knowledge that he had was far from the truth. What is even more challenging, is the posture of the prisoner after discovering the reality, who has to go back where he came from. He does not agree to live in denial for the rest of his life with other prisoners who believe in the shadows. Since he discovered what the truth is, he does not want to be fed up with lies anymore. (Plato
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...
The basic premise of Plato's allegory of the cave is to depict the nature of the human being, where true reality is hidden, false images and information are perceived as reality. In the allegory Plato tells a story about a man put on a Gnostics path. Prisoners seating in a cave with their legs and necks chained down since childhood, in such way that they cannot move or see each other, only look into the shadows on the wall in front of them; not realizing they have three-dimensional bodies. These images are of men and animals, carried by an unseen men on the background. Now imagine one of the prisoners is liberated into the light, the Gnostic path will become painful and difficult, but slowly his eyes will begin to accommodate what he sees and his fundamentalist view about the world will begin to change; he sees everything through an anarchic thinking and reasons. When he returns into the cave, his fellow prisoners will not recognize him or understand anything he says because he has develop a new senses and capability of perception. This is the representation of the human nature, we live in a cave with false perception of reality that we've been told since childhood, but we must realize that these present perception are incomplete.
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 ...
Plato, a student of Socrates, in his book “The Republic” wrote an allegory known as “Plato's Cave”. In Plato's allegory humans are trapped within a dark cave where they can only catch glimpses of the world above through shadows on the wall.2 Plato is describing how the typical human is. They have little knowledge and what they think they know has very little basis in fact. He describes these people as prisoners, in his allegory, and they are only free when they gain knowledge of the world above the cave.