Allegory of the Cave 📚 (983)

The allegory of the cave essentially stresses the importance of education. The ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ is a theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning. Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners. The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life. The prisoners manage to break their bonds one day and discover that their reality was not what they thought it was. Plato does a phenomenal job of highlighting the main issue with society–people being afraid or looking down upon enlightenment and learning furthermore about what life has to offer. 

Nonetheless, there is a parallel between the prisoners in Plato’s cave and the spectators in the cinema. Plato essentially argues that many people are looked down upon when they try to educate the public. So, when the prisoner returned to the cave and tried to present an escape plan and they thought he was crazy, it further proved that people believe whatever is convenient and aren’t subjective towards learning new ideas. Plato made a great point by saying “Then, if this is true, our view of these matters must be this, that education is not in reality what some people proclaim it to be in their professions. What they aver is that they can put true knowledge into a soul that does not possess it, as if they were inserting vision into blind eyes”. The prisoners in the cave have been so accustomed to their life that they didn’t question whether or not that was truly their reality. For instance, when people watch marvel fictional or mystical movies, they don’t question the validity of it. They don’t question how all of the “fake stuff’ could be real. They don’t even entertain the idea that humans may or may not really carry superpowers. If none of this fictional stuff was real or exist at some point, why would directors make movies off of it out of the blue?  Society is built on the premises of creating a system where everyone can fall in line and be controlled. Hence why many philosophical thinkers were shunned, prosecuted, and even murdered for thinking outside the box and going against social norms.

I think it could be very possible that the physical world is not reality. Plato claims that “You have again forgotten, my friend said I, that the law is not concerned with the special happiness of any class in the state, but is trying to produce this condition in the city as a whole, harmonizing and adapting the citizens to one another by persuasion and compulsion, and requiring them to impart to one another any benefit which they are severally able to bestow upon the community, and that it itself creates such men in the state, not that it may allow each to take what course pleases him, but with a view to using them for the binding together of the commonwealth.” People don’t question their reality or the physicality of things because it would be inconvenient. Based on the way Plato explained the state of Socrates, if everyone was enlightened, there would be no structure and people would have to think for themselves. Laws and codes keep society in check and keep people one-track-minded but once [people educate themselves and really question ideologies on their own, people won’t follow the rules which are detrimental to a functioning society–which is the biggest fear of people who govern these societies. Relating back to the prisoners of the cave, they didn’t want to believe the man that claimed there was life beyond the cave because that would require them to question everything they have ever known. People are often scared to learn because the more knowledge you gain, the more the truth is exposed–according to Plato and Socrates. 

 When the prisoners were finally able to see the world that the man raved about, they were overwhelmed with emotions. They initially felt awful because they doubted the man but then they felt a sense of individuality because they finally were able to think for themselves–even see for themselves. The shadows and the reflections the man claimed he saw were all true because they were able to witness the same things. They too were now enlightened now that they have stepped outside of the box and let their mind wander which is natural. In the Allegory of the cave, Plato depicts the image of people being the cause of their own demand when they don’t want to educate themselves. “Observe, then, Glaucon, said i, that we shall not be wronging, either, the philosophers who rise among us, but that we can justify our action when we constrain them to take charge of the other citizens and be their guardians. For we will say to them that it is natural that men of similar quality who spring up in other cities should not share in the labors there”. Education doesn’t always come in the form of school, according to Socrates, education is questioning what’s around you and the ideas imposed onto you. Many philosophical thinkers have martyred themselves in order for the following generations to be able to think outside the box without persecution so the least people can do is educate themselves. Overall, Plato made very great points that would lead the way for other enlightened people to do research and positively influence others around them to do the same.