"The Allegory of the Cave" excerpted from Book VII of Plato's Republic is on the one hand, a discussion of politics-the Republic is a treatise on justice and the ideal government. On the other hand, it is a demonstration of the fact that if our perceptions are what we must rely upon to know the truth about the world then we actually know very little about it.
We know what we perceive, but we have no way of knowing anything beyond that. The contrast between knowledge and ignorance has important, moral and political implications: they who do not understand what is truly good for people, cannot live a good life: likewise, the political ruler who does not understand what is god for society will bring misery to his people.
About Plato
Plato was
born into an aristocratic Athenian family and educated according to the best
precepts available. He eventually became a student of Socrates and later
involved himself closely with Socrates' work and teaching. Most of Plato's
works are philosophical essays, with Socrates as a character speaking in a
dialogue with one or more students or listeners.
Summary of "The Allegory of the Cave" by Plato
The Allegory
of the Cave is a philosophical dialogue between Socrates and his disciple,
Glaucon.
Plato writes
about Socrates describing a scene where there are chained people in a dark
cave. They (prisoners) have been there since their childhood and they can
barely move their heads. Behind them, at the distance, there is a blazing fire
and between the fire and the prisoners, there is a wall that has been kept for
objects to pass. Because of their limited vision (lack of movement), they can
only see their own shadow and the shadow of different sculptures that pass over
the wall which are carried by other men.
If one of
those prisoners goes out of the cave, his eyes dazzle at first seeing the light
of the Sun but later, his eyes begin to adjust to the sunlight. Light of the
Sun is used to represent the ultimate truth. Now, habituated to the Sunlight,
he begins to see other objects like trees, flowers, and houses, and then, he
realizes the world of the cave is unreal.
Finally, the
prisoner comes back to the cave to convince others about outer world reality
and existence of the things. The prisoner had accustomed to sunlight, so he did
not like the shadow of the cave. According to Socrates, if he tries to free
prisoners from the chains, they would catch him and put him to death. Then,
they themselves would chain again.
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Frequently asked questions from the essay The Allegory of the Cave
1. What does the situation seem to be
in this dialogue? What would you say is the relationship between Socrates and
Glaucon?
Ans: The situation seems to be in this dialogue to be
philosophical in which Glaucon asks and Socrates replies. The relationship
between Socrates and Glaucon is guru and disciple.
2. Describe how the people in the
cave are situated. Why can't they move their legs or necks to take a look
around? What is the only thing they are capable of seeing? What is their only
source of light?
Ans: The cave is very dark because there is little light
inside it and hardly be seen the objects. There are some chained people on
their necks as well as feet. These chained people cannot move easily.
Similarly, there is also another world out of the cave, but between these two
worlds, a wall is raised. As many other people move with different things in
their hands, their shadows fall on the cave wall. Their source of light is fire
due to the cause of the Sun.
3. What does the sun represent for
Plato?
Ans: The sun represents the ultimate truth for Plato.
4. What do these prisoners trapped in
the cavern believe is real?
Ans: The people inside the cave cannot raise their heads
completely so that they can only see their shadows which they believe as real
but it is just their illusion.
5. How do the prisoners react when
they first see sunlight?
Ans: If one of the chained people is freed from the cave
world and goes outside, his eyes dazzle seeing the Sun. In other words, if he
is taken to the outer world to see sunlight, he cannot see anything at first
because his eyes dazzle in the light.
6. Why will the prisoner need time to
adjust to the world outside the cave?
Ans: The prisoner will need time to adjust to the world
outside of the cave because he is accustomed to staying in the cave since
childhood.
7. What is the allegory of the cave
meant to represent?
Ans: The allegory of the Cave is a representation,
concerning human perception that can be altered by what is seen and hidden.
Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is not real and to have
real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning. In the
allegory of the Cave', Plato distinguishes between people who make mistake
sensory knowledge for the truth and compare them to people who actually see.
Plato's allegory revolves around truth and the reflection of truth. The cave
and sun stand for the world of ignorant and reality respectively.
8. How does Plato use the two
rhetorical techniques of allegory and dialogue in the passage?
Ans: Plato uses the two rhetorical techniques of allegory
and dialogue in the passage by linking symbolic suggestions of the real world
and using argumentative dialogue.
9. What is the advantage of using the
question-and-answer or the Socratic method?
Ans: The advantage of using the question-and-answer or
the Socratic method helps to clarify his philosophical thought and ideas to the
readers.
10. Why does Socrates use so many
rhetorical questions? How do they serve to lead the listener in the direction
that Socrates wants to take?
Ans: Socrates uses so many rhetorical questions in order
to express his desire and clarify his thought. In fact, Socrates' rhetorical
questions help us to understand the world of reality, i.e. the intellectual
world. Rhetorical questions are used to ask a question in order to create a
dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer.
11. What are the advantages and
limitations of using an analogy to make appoint?
Ans: In the essay, as an analogy, Socrates has used the
world of the cave to show the world of the ignorant. An analogy is a figure of
speech that creates a comparison by showing how two seemingly different
entities are alike, along with illustrating a larger point due to their
commonalities. As a literary device, the purpose of analogy is not just to make
a comparison, but to provide an explanation as well with additional information
or context.
In brief, an
analogy is an effective device in terms of providing a new or deeper meaning to
concepts through the artistic use of language.
12. Consider the extent to which
people are like or unlike the figures in the cave.
Ans: The prisoners of the cave are like ignorant people
who live in remote areas. They are also similar to cage birds and animals
because while staying there for many years, such birds and animals think that
the caged world is real besides the cage, there is no world. Like cave
prisoners, If a caged bird is freed, initially he feels tense to fly because he
has forgotten the way of flying as he spent many years in the cage. The same
case happens to animals if they are freed and sent to the jungle, they feel at the
beginning uneasy to run or walk freely.
13. Why does Socrates explain the
entire allegory at the end? Is such an explanation really necessary?
Ans: It is really necessary to say to the reader what he
actually intends to explain. Socrates explains the entire allegory at the end
because he wants to clarify why he has used the world of caves and the concept
of chained people.
14. Summarize in about 50 words the
main theme of the "Allegory of the Cave."
Ans: The main theme of Plato's, Allegory of the Cave, is
that human sensory perception cannot provide us with true knowledge. So we
should not only trust our sense organs. In order to gain real knowledge, we
should make philosophical reasoning. For example, in the passage, prisoners
live their entire lives in a cave, so trusting in their sensory perception,
they thought that their own shadow on the wall is real but it was their just an
illusion.
15. Discuss the allegory of the cave
for its strengths and weaknesses.
Ans: Strengths:
- Helps
us to understand that there are imperfections in the world.
- Encourages
us not to accept things at face value
- · Analogy
of the cave is quite interesting to compare the people from the world of
ignorant.
Weaknesses
- Scientifically,
it is impossible to prove Socrates' theory of the ideal world.
- Socrates
thinks that visible object is unreal. So, he does not allow us to believe in
sensory perception.
- How
can the intellectual world be more real than the physical world? I think that
there is no intellectual world in the lack of a physical world. So why he only
focuses on the intellectual and debase physical world.
16. Consider what it is meant to
imply for people living in a world of the senses and what Plato implies lies
behind that world.
Ans: In Allegory of the cave, Plato has also described our perception. He says that there are two types of perception: sensory perception and spiritual perception. Sensory perception is the world of appearance, which we perceive, with the help of our sensory organs. For this, the world is the world of Illusion. It is the world of shadows so in Plato's view it is the world of falsehood.
The reality or truth is impossible to
perceive with our senses, it is possible through spiritual perception, which is
divine enlightenment. Spiritual perception is possible when we reject the world
of sensory perception so until and unless we break all the material chains, we
do not get spiritual perception. It is the ideal philosophy of Plato and his
spiritual perception as an ideal concept.
17. Respond to Socrates' contention
that the intellectual world is more real than the physical world around us.
Would Plato subscribe to this view?
Ans: Plato subscribes to this view and believes that the
physical world around us is not real; it is constantly changing and thus you
can never say what it really is. There is a world of ideas i.e., the
intellectual world which is a world of unchanging and absolute truth. This is
the reality for Plato. Plato thought it did, and whenever we grasp an idea or see
something with our mind's eye, we are using our mind to conceive of something
in the ideal world. There are a number of proofs of this ideal world. All
physical things are not perfectly round. Yet our mind has the concept of
perfect things. Since this concept could not come from the physical world, it
must come from an ideal world.