by Pooka

Created on: May 12, 2008

Plato's Cave Allegory

For his theories and ideas, Plato is still considered one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. Many of Plato's concepts can be seen in his allegory of the cave, most notably those involved in the divided line. Plato uses this allegory to explain how knowledge is acquired, and critique how that knowledge and those possessing it are treated. In this essay I will explicate Plato's cave allegory to explain his theory of knowledge and learning.

In his allegory, Socrates asks Glaucon to imagine a group of people sitting inside a dark cave, their hands and feed bound in chains. They are restricted so that they can only see the back wall of the cave. Behind them is a wall, and beyond that are people carrying objects back and forth across a roadway, holding the objects just above the wall. Beyond that is a bright fire, causing flickering shadows of the objects to appear on the wall that the prisoners face. The only thing the prisoners ever see are the shadows of these objects as they are projected onto the wall. From these shadows, the prisoners form their view of the world. The shadows have been all they have known since they were born, so they believe that the shadows are all that there is in existence.

He then asks Glaucon to imagine one of the cave dwellers escaping his bonds. Being able to move for the first time, he turns to see the objects being held above the wall. He becomes dazzled by the intense light, and the clarity of the objects he sees, since until then he had only seen the shadows they cast. He climbs over the wall and past the fire to the outside world. At first he is blinded by the sunlight, but then he begins to see colors and shapes for the first time in his life. The man looks around at everything around him, and he begins to wonder what created all the animals and flowers. Then he looks up and sees the sun, and realizes that this is what gives them life, just as the fire made the shadows visible.

However, the man remembers the other prisoners still trapped in the cave. He returns to them and attempts to convince them that what they are seeing are just shadows of real things. They do not believe him, and become so enraged by his foolish claims, that they kill him. Preferring the shadows they have always known to the uncertainty of a whole new reality.

There are four specific symbols in the cave allegory; the prisoners, the roadway, the fire, and the sun. The prisoners represent people and philosophers of the real world.

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