Plato's Allegory Of The Cave Essay
A Personal Explanation and Analysis of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
“Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul already;” (Plato 4). Spoken by Socrates in reference to the philosophy of life, this quote depicts the meaning of broadening our horizons in order to gain knowledge and escape the shackles that confine us in the form of deceit. This quote is portrayed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as the prisoners detained in the cave are deluded by their perception of reality, and the prisoner that escapes loses that distorted world and becomes enlightened. The cave is a representation of the hidden lies in which the prisoners are provided at the premises of their knowledge and are restrained from the truth to remain ignorant. Ultimately, one of the prisoners discovers that the world in …show more content…
My cave is defined as the foundation of my character, which is shaped by every moral and standard that has been inherited in my family through the centuries. Similarly to my circumstance, the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” have been trapped in the cave since the start of their lives. This means that their lives have been constructed for them, as their perspectives on their surroundings, specifically the world as it exists outside of the cave, are rooted entirely from what they have been presented since birth. Since birth, they are forced to watch shadows on the walls, the product of fire illuminating images of objects from the outside. When they are not provided with any other source of information on the world and how it operates, they are forced to infer from what they are able to witness and thus accept assumptions from the shadows as the truth. This is synonymous to blindness, as what they cannot
“Whereas, our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exist in the soul already;” (Plato 4). Spoken by Socrates in reference to the philosophy of life, this quote depicts the meaning of broadening our horizons in order to gain knowledge and escape the shackles that confine us in the form of deceit. This quote is portrayed in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” as the prisoners detained in the cave are deluded by their perception of reality, and the prisoner that escapes loses that distorted world and becomes enlightened. The cave is a representation of the hidden lies in which the prisoners are provided at the premises of their knowledge and are restrained from the truth to remain ignorant. Ultimately, one of the prisoners discovers that the world in …show more content…
My cave is defined as the foundation of my character, which is shaped by every moral and standard that has been inherited in my family through the centuries. Similarly to my circumstance, the prisoners in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” have been trapped in the cave since the start of their lives. This means that their lives have been constructed for them, as their perspectives on their surroundings, specifically the world as it exists outside of the cave, are rooted entirely from what they have been presented since birth. Since birth, they are forced to watch shadows on the walls, the product of fire illuminating images of objects from the outside. When they are not provided with any other source of information on the world and how it operates, they are forced to infer from what they are able to witness and thus accept assumptions from the shadows as the truth. This is synonymous to blindness, as what they cannot