Plato: The Allegory of the Cave, from The Republic anyone read it??

Question

I do not understand it's main point/s.
Who is Plato?

Answer 1

absolute genius student of Socrates :>>
try this explanation:

Answer 2

Plato is one of the two great philosophers of the West, the other being Aristotle (Plato's student). Some people have said that all Western ideas about most things come from Plato.

The cave allegory is an attempt to talk about knowledge and how it is gained. Most people begin and live most of their lives as if chained in a cave and able only to see shadows cast by realities on the cave walls. This means that most people do not know what reality is or truth is, but only have opinions (shadows) and incomplete understanding. If one day someone was to enter the cave and free the prisioner of his or her chains and they could go outside the cave and see how things really were, they would then gain knowledge and not have only opinions about shadows (unrealities). The role of the philosopher (and by inference, the teacher) is to free the prisioners in the cave and lead them outside where they can know the truth. The prisioner in the cave is the way the great majority of people are--they don't know anything, they say all kinds of nonsense about shadows (opinions, beliefs) that they think are real...Then one day, perhaps, they are set free and can turn around and leave the cave and see what the realities are that were casting those shadows and thus come to know what is real and what isn't.

Answer 3

Are you reading this essay? Plato was one of the most important Greek philosophers in history. I am just reading a leadership book that used the Cave allegory as a way to explain how individuals intellectually mature. The point of the Cave is that because is dark, the only things you really "see" are not real...they are images that you build based on your individual experiences. So, as you get close to the entrance of the cave, the light now increases, so you can see objects as they really are. Plato equates the Cave with your soul and intellect...your goal, journey in life is to pursue wisdom (so, walking towards the light)...and return to the cave to bring others out with you.

Hope this explanation helps. Wikipedia has an excellent explanation as well.

Answer 4

So basically, We are all prisoners in our body. Plato believes that when we die our soul is freed and we have true knowledge. Right now, we cannot have true knowledge, because we are to distracted with pleasures of the body, and even neccessary things for survival, like food. Alright, so... The people are imprisoned right? They are strapped and they face a wall. There is a fire in the back, and there are people that walk in front of the fire. These people are walking behind the prisoners. So, all the prisoners see are shadows. Plato says that these shadows are what we see here on Earth. Every object here is a copy from something original in Heaven. SO! One prisoner is freed and he walks outside the cave. FIRST! The fire blinds him, and his eyes need to adjust, then he sees clearly. Then he walks outside the cave, and it is bright! So he must adjust his eyes again, and he sees everything clearly. OK, so remember, these guys have been imprisoned and bound since birth, so they believe the shadows on the walls are real objects. and that is all they know to be real. So the freed man, who is now enlightened, returns back to free his fellow inmates, but when he returns to the cave he fumbles and falls, and looks like a fool. So when he tries to free the prisoners and enlighten them, they are angry with him for disturbing the life that they know. And they don't believe him. They have become comfortable in being strapped, and seeing shadows. Much like us, who have never seen the Heavens. Get it? Got it? Good.

Plato studied under Socrates, and many of Socrates dialogues were written through Plato

Answer 5

The man in the cave thought that his "view of the world" was complete and accurate - in reality his view was narrow and limited because he was IN A CAVE. Plato was trying to teach us to "open our eyes" to all sides and all points of view. When we speak as the ultimate authority we may be speaking from a point of view that is distorted by our perception. Simple.

Answer 6

People only really see a limited viewpoint of things. We need to get out of this cave and see more clearly. The sun is knowledge and truth and we need to get out into the sun to find this truth, or else we decieve ourselves.


Plato is a greek philosopher who studied under Socrates and wrote a series of dialogues, usually with Socrates as the protagonist.

Answer 7

The guy in the cave had limited experience and it influenced his view of reality. His perception was his realtiy.