Term Paper
on
"Allegory of the Cave" by Plato
The allegory begins with a striking depiction of the dismal condition of the
majority of mankind. We are like chained slaves living in an underground cave,
which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave. Here
we have been from our childhood, incapable to move or to see afar, being
prevented by the chains from turning round our heads.
We are like the odd prisoners in this cave who see only their own shadows or the
shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave.
To them the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images, and
they cannot differentiate the voices of one another from the echoes emanating
from the surrounding obscurity. The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's account of
the education of the soul toward enlightenment. He sees it as what happens when
somebody is knowledgeable to the rank of philosopher. He argues that they must
"go back into the cave" or return to the daily world of politics, greed and
power tussle. The Allegory also criticizes people who rely upon or are slaves to
their senses. The chains that truss the prisoners are the senses.
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Given this allegory, we might think that if only the prisoners were freed from
their chains by some outer force, they would stop to mistake shadows for realism
and would remain unharmed of their past mistakes. The allegory points out that
no such easy escape from illusions is possible. At first, when any of the
prisoners is liberated and required abruptly to stand up and turn his neck round
and walk and look towards the light, he will undergo sharp pains. Further, the
glare will disturb him and he will be unable to see the truth he previously
identified with their mere shadows. If he at that moment was told that what he
saw before was an illusion and that now he is approaching actual existence and
has a clearer vision, he will be puzzled. He will persist to believe that the
shadows he saw for so long were truer than the objects, which are now shown to
him.
The first test that the liberated prisoner has to face is to get adapted to his
new state and to abandon his beloved illusions. The second test is to see the
unity of all things. The third is to show kindness towards his fellow prisoners
and not simply revel in his own pleasure. The fourth is to separate himself
totally from the false judgments and hierarchical difference made by the men in
the cave. His fifth and much more hard test comes if he is then made to re-enter
the cave of darkness, for he would appear silly to the prisoners who still
adhere to their previous illusions centered on the shadows. They would say that
he had become blind to realities since leaving the cave, that it is better not
even to think of ascending, that they would be at liberty to put to death anyone
who tried to free another and guide him up to the light.
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