Plato's Allegory of the Cave

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

An allegory used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate "our nature in its education and want of education" (514a).

Sample Sentences

• The Allegory may be related to Plato's Theory of Forms, according to which the "Forms" (or "Ideas"), and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality.
• In addition, the Allegory of the Cave is an attempt to explain the philosopher's place in society: to attempt to enlighten the "prisoners".

Usage
Allegory of the Cave
Plato


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Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a major work and is used in many books today as a reference to enlightenment. The first listed article explains the cave but in a short summary: there is a cave where prisoners are facing a wall and chained together. All they see is the wall and nothing more other than the shadows cast upon the wall by the people and the fire in the background (these people are the owners of the prisoners). Because of this all they know is the wall, so when one of the owners lets one prisoner out of the cave, he becomes enlightened with the outside world and sees first hand what it really is. However, when the prisoner is returned to the cave and attempts to tell his experience he is now considered an outcast and will more than likely be killed because of his difference. In the second article, there is a biography on Plato himself and a few key points: he lived from 427-347 BC and began his philosophical career as a student of Socrates.


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