...What does Plato’s analogy of the cave tell us about human beings? Plato's analogy of the cave is intended to explain our journey to knowledge which is the purpose of philosophy. He does this by comparing an average person to someone who has been confined to an isolated life in a cave with the ability to only look at the shadows casted on the wall. This is used to represent the limitation of the human mind and their inability to look beyond their senses. The prisoner is enslaved to a life of in cave only seeing the shadows that are casted on the wall in front of him. This symbolises an average person who has not embarked on the journey to true knowledge and is living their life only seeing what is on the surface, what they want to see. In the cave the prisoner is held by chains, this represents the power of society over the average human being and is reinforced by the influence of media which portrays a life of misapprehension. The prisoner is cloaked with a false reality and has never known life outside the cave, this tells us that human beings have become accustom to their ‘comfort zone’ and refuse to believe in a world that they have never seen. This relates to Plato’s idea that our senses are what deceive us but can we seek a world that we have never seen, heard or felt? The mind is where all great things are conceived and no two minds are alike, this allows us to seek truth through reasoning. Plato believes that our mind is conditioned by the walls of society and humanity...
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...ts 4. What is your understanding of Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’? Plato’s Allegory of the Cave illustrates the long and arduous journey that is undertaken on the road to true enlightenment. The influence of Socrates is prevalent throughout the text. Socrates, who was Plato’s mentor, was ‘committed to a life that cultivated wisdom’. (Lecture Notes) The pursuit of Truth (The Allegory of the Cave) is one way in which we become wise. I agree with the Allegory to a certain extent. I do believe that people can have a fear of the unknown and can therefore remain static or ignorant as it were. However, I also believe that many people, and in particular children, are naturally inclined to explore and question and therefore further their knowledge, which is at odds with the prisoner as presented to us in the Cave. The first thing that must be done when discussing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is to ask ourselves what it represents. Firstly, it’s important to point out that it is told by Plato in the context of education. The Allegory is a metaphor for the journey people must take on the road to true enlightenment or in order to gain true knowledge. He utilises the Allegory as a way to explain his theory of forms and his differing views of illusion and reality. The prisoners are living in a world in which they ‘can only look straight ahead of them and can’t turn their heads’. (Plato, 1955, p.256) In this sense, we see what we are told to see and we believe/accept it without ever questioning...
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...Explain the analogy of the cave in Plato’s republic (25 marks) Plato, 428-347 B.C., was an Athenian philosopher who lived in Ancient Greece. In 407 B.C. he became a pupil and friend of Socrates. After living for a time at the Syracuse court, Plato founded (c.387 B.C.) near Athens the most influential school of the ancient world, the Academy, where he taught until his death. The “Republic” is one of Plato’s greatest books that he has written. Plato’s presents one of the most famous analogies in philosophy: the cave. This analogy illustrates the effects of true knowledge. True knowledge moves the philosopher through life without any distractions, which in due course brings him to the Form of the Good. He tells the Allegory of the Cave as a conversation between his teacher Socrates who inspired many of Plato's philosophical theories and Glaucon. In the dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon, Socrates asks Glaucon to imagine a cave, in which prisoners have been kept since their childhood, and each of them is held where they are all chained so that their legs and necks are unable to turn or allow them to move. This leaves them in a predicament where they’re forced to look at a wall in front of them. Behind the prisoners is a fire and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway (bridge), on which people can walk. These people are shadow play, and they are carrying objects, in the shape of human and animal figures, as well as everyday items. The prisoners could only see...
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...seems that it is going back to the days in which people had to fight for their rights and it seems as if this is the one thing that will forever be needed. Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” emphasizes how one often is hidden from reality, the prisoners were faced with the chance to escape after one left, but they decided to stay within the cave since that is what they have known all their lives. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King emphasizes moral obligation, his letter was a call to action with the way people of color were being treated and he advocated for change. major themes from both plato and mlk are evident in michael...
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...1. Reflect upon Plato’s account of the experience of the prisoner who is freed from his chains in The Republic. Do you agree with Morpheus in the Matrix that most people prefer to remain in the prisons of their minds? Please show evidence that you have carefully read the primary text(s) and viewed the film clip(s). The intent of this paper is to display the scope of the question “what is reality?” in relation to Plato’s arguments in ‘The Republic’ and the theories and inferences put forth in the film ‘The Matrix’. I will discuss the extent to which reality may be more than what appears ‘real’ to us, and I will also address the logic behind the human desire for security through examination my own thought processes. In the Plato’s Cave scenario in The Republic, the prisoner who is freed from his shackles is taken from his own world, the world as he has always known it and lead to enlightenment through the discovery of a new, better world. He is coming from a place where he is happy in his knowledge of his surroundings. When he is shown the world as it really is, he is leaving what he once believed was the only version of reality. He is shown that what he has experienced in the Cave was governed by other forces. As people, we are both enlightened and unenlightened on this matter. What is to say that we are not the prisoner? We are perfectly happy to live in the state in which we find ourselves right now, so thoughts of leaving our secure reality can be daunting. Could we not be...
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...Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a tale of truth and reality versus ignorance. It is an analyzation of human perception and can be applied to modern life. Allegory of the Cave also presents the difference of being closed minded versus being open minded. It shows the advantages gained to those who are open minded. It also presents the disadvantages and how ignorant one sounds when one is closed minded. Plato's Allegory of the Cave takes place in a dark cave. There are prisoners in shackles with something in place to keep their heads from turning. They are basically forced to only look in one direction. Behind the prisoners there is a fire and a runway where showmen can place items such as vases. The fire casts shadows on the walls the prisoners are facing and they play a game. They begin to guess what the shadows are and those who get the most right are considered to be the smartest people of the group. These prisoners know nothing but what is casted in front of them. To these prisoners, they are not shadows of objects but real objects themselves as they have no reality. Out of the group, one prisoner is freed and allowed to venture. He begins to look at the fire, the statues, and treys to comprehend everything. After direct sunlight to his eyes he is pained and confused. In that moment, being released might have seemed like the worst thing possible to that prisoner. Being utterly confused is frustrating and the pain of turning his head and staring at direct sunlight is a...
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...One of the most famous allegories in Philosophy is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. An allegory is typically a moral or political story that can be interpreted to have a hidden meaning or lesson. Plato’s allegory could have many different lessons throughout it, the interpretation is truly up to the individual hearing the story. For me, I believe that when Plato was comparing the Sun as being the same as the Good, he was referring to the sun being like the light of knowledge, or when an individual achieves enlightenment. I interpreted Plato’s Allegory of the Cave as his explanation of people coming out of the darkness of illusion and opinion, and into the light of knowledge and wisdom. Plato used the light of the sun to help him to explain the...
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...------------------------------------------------- PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE ------------------------------------------------- (flow of events) Plato's allegory of the cave describes a group of prisoners living in a dark cave. They are bound in chains preventing them from moving easily. Being stuck in the same place and position all the time, they have nothing to do but stare at the wall in front of them. A fire casts a light against that wall on a platform in the cave. While people on the outside of the cave go their own business, the objects they carry cast unclear shadows on the wall. As a result, the prisoners in the cave spend their time trying to figure out what the shadows represent, assuming that sounds from the outside came from the shadows themselves. One day, a prisoner was dragged outside from his restraints by force. He was disoriented and confused when he saw the outside world for the first time. As time went by, he began to see the brilliance of the world and returned to the cave to tell the other prisoners about what he saw. His fellow prisoners think that he has gone crazy and lost his mind, rather than being relieved to hear of what else the world holds. Since they only know life within the confines of the cave, they assume that is all there is to life. ------------------------------------------------- ELEMENTS Cave - represents the physical world of illusions in which most people live. Shadows on the wall - symbolize the assumptions and guesses...
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...The Allegory of The Cave’ by Plato – The Meaning The Allegory of the cave by Plato should not be taken at face value. In essays and exams, whoever is marking it expects you to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the theory. You can then use these to think about criticisms and then to form your own opinion. The Cave •In Plato’s theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding. The Shadows •The Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Plato’s opinion you are a ‘pleb’ if you believe this (their insult for those who are not Philosophers)! The Game •The Game represents how people believe that one person can be a ‘master’ when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this. The Escape •The escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses. •The Sun represents philosophical truth and knowledge •His intellectual journey represents a philosophers journey when finding truth and wisdom The Return •The other prisoners reaction...
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...Plato describes his allegorical cave as a “cavernous cell under the ground,” fit with prisoners “with their legs and necks tied up.” It’s described as a very undesirable place, yet I’m situated right in the middle of it. By choice. Okay, that was a bit of a dramatic start. Let me explain. I interpret Plato’s cave not as a physical place, but in a more abstract sense. To me, the cave represents the various pressures that are placed upon me by society; the notion that success is achieved by blindly accepting and begrudgingly completing tremendous amounts of schoolwork. How people believe that intelligence is defined by test scores, and the reason to pursue extracurriculars is to look good for colleges. In many ways, Stuyvesant represents the...
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...In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners spend their lives on-ly seeing shadows. Once free, one of the prisoners experiences intense pain when he looks at the light of a fire. And when he exits out of the cave into the light of the sun, this causes even more excruciating pain and rage. But a whole world is now revealed. After getting accustomed and acclimatized, the former prisoner feels lucky for the transformation and wisdom and feels sorry for the prisoners in the cave. He goes back to help them, but back in the cave, none of them believe what this freed man describes. People with big ideas that challenge other’s reality, lifestyle and worldview are often ridiculed and killed. Plato and Aristotle are the heart and soul of western...
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...From Plato’s Book VII of The Republic, “The Allegory of the Cave”, he talks about the prisoners in the cave. Those who get used to see the shadow in the cave believe these are the truth. Once they were set free, they may take the real images to illusions. It reminds me of the Chinese idioms, it is about a frog who always living at the bottom of a well. He is only able to see the little patch of sky above and he believes this is the real sky. It is often used as metaphors for a person with a limited outlook or narrow view. And he or she believes this is the truth. I think when I was thinking about transferring major. It does related to Plato’s point of view. When I first came to UCI, my major is business economics. Business is worldwide. Each...
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...wild, for food, and for domination of new territory. Around World War II era the United Stated sent a battalion of soldiers, tanks and Humvees to breech Hitler’s territory. As his men focused all of their weapons and manpower on this 26th Platoon another battalion snuck around Hitler’s forces and took the town from behind. What is the significance of this? The 26th Platoon was made entirely out of balloons. Every soldier, tank, and weapon were made out of inflatable plastic sacks of breath. Using this “Ghost army” the U.S. took over a large town that more or less won us the war. If the Germans knew the reality of the situation they wouldn’t have been fooled by the appearance of the battalion. This can very closely be related to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave.” In this writing he tells a story of men trapped in a dungeon, unable to move, being forced to watch a wall that displays shadows of objects. The prisoners must watch these objects and recite the name of the object that they are told. This is the appearance of what is real. They know nothing but shadows and even though they know the name of the objects they may not know their use or anything further. They do not fully understand but cannot object because they do not know anything else. When one prisoner is released into “reality” he learns more than ever before. When he rejoins his friends and tells them about all he has learned they don’t believe him. They cannot comprehend the fact that there is a world outside of what they...
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...In Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave," Socrates tells an allegory of the hardship of understanding reality. Socrates compares a prisoner of an underground cave who is exploring a new world he never knew of to people who are trying to find a place of wisdom in reality. According to Socrates, most people tend to rely on their senses too much and believe the world as it is appeared to our sight. In order to free our souls from this mental prison, Socrates suggests that we should go through a phase that does not only prepare ourselves for the real world but also prevent us from heading to the wrong direction to seek the truth - education. In conclusion, Socrates believes those who have reached a higher level of knowledge and wisdom should bear a responsibility to lead the community and improve it because they are blessed with better education and are able to enjoy a different reward than the power to control others like most politicians do. Two thousand years after Plato has written down the allegory, it is amazing how we can still relate it to our everyday lives. As Plato wrote in "The Allegory of the Cave," education is a very important phase that leads us to wisdom and helps us to get accustomed to the real world with less difficulty. Apparently, this theory has proven to be correct for the past two thousand years. Until today, those of higher wisdoms are mostly people who have mastered a thorough and solid education; and they certainly have become the leaders of the...
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...Explain Plato’s analogy of the cave. Plato’s cave analogy of the cave it this because it is a simple story that has a metaphorical meaning. Plato uses this analogy to show the link between the physical world and the world of forms. Plato thinks that this analogy helps people to understand why the physical world is all an illusion. Only true reality can be found in the world of forms, in which everything is unchanging. Plato’s analogy is set in a cave, the cave is meant to represent the physical world, from which people only see what Plato describes to be an illusion. The prisoners within the cave know of nothing but what they have seen for all their lives. Behind the prisoners are a low wall and a walkway, in the walkway a fire burns, every now and then people walk past the fire carrying objects that reflect into the cave as shadows. The prisoners see the shadows and think that what they see is reality, like we think about our world now. The sounds made by the people walking past are thought to be from the shadows, what is seen and herd here is thought to be real. The shadows represent the images of the forms, which are all that is seen in the physical world. The prisoners in this case represent the ignorant individuals who need to discover the philosophical truth; they believe that the shadows they see are the real objects because they know of nothing else. Plato relates this to the 5 senses, touch, taste, smell, sound and sight, it is easy for people to believe what...
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