The prisoner reached the real world outside of the cave and, blinded by the sun, saw the real world in its glory and realised the illusion of the shadows. The prisoner returned to the cave with his enlightenment and tried to explain to the others of the reality. The other prisoners did not believe him, he was over-excited, blinded, confused and clumsy. The prisoners became frustrated with the man and wanted rid of the man disturbing their reality. In some versions of the story the released prisoner is even killed by the others.
Explain how the analogy of the cave was used by Plato to explain the world of the forms (25 marks) The analogy of the cave is a fictional story that Plato uses to explain to people his theory of the world of the forms. In the cave, prisoners are forced to look only in one direction at the shadows on the walls. Behind them and outside of the cave is a burning fire. In between the prisoners and the fire is a road along which men are carrying carved wooden figures of people and animals. Silhouettes or shadows of these figures are reflected on the cave wall from the light of a fire.
They see different surroundings and actual objects, not just shadows and of course they are stunned. All that they believed to be real and true was a lie and they have now seen reality. The prisoner then returns to the cave to tell the others of his findings but upon returning he is put down by the others and they dislike what he is telling him. Plato then says that upon his return the prisoner could supposedly be killed. The prisoners represent the citizens of the world within the analogy of the cave and the people who carry the objects are the politicians of the world.
Allegory of the Cave-Plato “Allegory of the Cave” presents a vision of a group of prisoners chained in front of a fire observing the shadows of artificial objects carried by persons walking in the trek behind them and what would happen if a prisoner is set free. Through a serious of metaphors, Plato argues that a hero is man of wisdom, prowess, and endurance. First of all, the cave, chains and shadows show a full-scale condition of US citizens-they are confined by the ideal democratic and peaceful images pictured by the government such as those promising speeches given by candidates for presidency. The prisoners--Citizens in the US are only exposed to those appealing words of the government—“Mission accomplished:)”-- that they are unable to make a positive change because they cannot see the relatively cruel reality until someone is set free to “walk with eyes lifted to the light” and come back down there to inform them. As this free man sees the light, an “eye ache” is inevitable because he’s been in the dark for too long.
Plato’s Analogy Of The Cave The prisoners represent the ignorant, narrow minded society. They have no understanding of anything other than what they see. Their chains hold them back from the truth and they can only understand when they are released. The shadows fool the prisoners in to not seeing things in their true form, making them misinterpret what they see. The fire represents the truth to the narrow minded.
Unit 2 Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Assignment Kaplan University HU250 The Allegory of the Cave is a deep theoretical philosophical scenario that is being described by Plato in the form of a progressive conversation which begins with Socrates having a fictitious conversation with his brother Glaucon. The conversation between both brothers deals with the lack of knowledge of humanity and the ethics that society has created. This story envelops the reality that comes forth through knowledge and the willingness for man to seek the truth. Once man has been made aware of this, all he desires is to share this with his fellow man and free them from their oppression of ignorance. In this scenario Socrates asks Glaucon to imagine a cave that is occupied by prisoners who have been in the cave since childhood with their legs and necks shackled by chains where there movement is restricted and their visibility is limited to one side of the cave.
Summary: Book VII, 514a- 521d In Book VII, Socrates presents the most beautiful and famous metaphor in Western philosophy: the allegory of the cave. This metaphor is meant to illustrate the effects of education on the human soul. Education moves the philosopher through the stages on the divided line, and ultimately brings him to the Form of the Good. Socrates describes a dark scene. A group of people have lived in a deep cave since birth, never seeing the light of day.
Explain the Allegory of the Cave The allegory of the Cave was made by Plato when he tried to explain human ignorance and how almost all humans don’t see our true reality. It refers to the Cave as what we perceive reality to be and how we are chained to a wall to only see this perceived reality. Plato tries to make us a see a world in which the prison was to be released from his chains. Where he would feel intense pain by the light outside and dazed but the new world he begins to see, where he would also struggle to adjust at all to truth of reality and his new surroundings. After he realises that what he previously thought to be reality was in fact a lie, he tries to forget about his past life.
When the prisoners see these shadows, they name the object, as if they were real, and not just a mere shadow. This resembles us, trapped in a society where we know nothing beyond what is shown before us. Plate continues on, explaining that a single prisoner was to be liberated from his shackles, allowing him to see behind him. This resembled the beginning of the process in which strong leaders emerge from. As the prisoner is exposed to the real objects casting shadows on the wall, he is confused, realizing that the shadows are not reality.
The memory of the World of Forms is lost in the trauma of birth and the physical demands of the body. Plato uses the cave to represent the world of sense experience and the area outside of the cave is the World of Forms and transcendental ideals. He shackles his prisoners in the same way the soul is shackled by the body and the trauma of birth. Therefore Plato believed that after transmigration the soul forgets everything that it learnt in the World of Forms, thus learning is remembering. The prisoner who escapes is a philosopher, a seeker of Truth, whose journey out of the cave is a