(p.4 par. 8) depicting his own lack of understanding. As Socrates describes the cave and its prisoners, he states that the prisoners would inherently be ignorant as to what is truely reality. As the readers, we all are aware that the people behind the prisoners are creating the shadows to represent reality
“The Allegory of the Cave.” This complex summary of ideas is composed by Greek Philosopher, Plato. The Allegory consists of a fictional, yet effective sociological experiment, where men live underground, in a cave (imprisoned since childhood), tied and unable to move. Plato describes the caves inner workings; “Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.”(6) This cave and his depiction of the strange environment is evidently representative of a society turned placid, where reality is determined by the continuation of fixed ideas. Plato asserts the idea that reality is determined by social order and physical location and the enlightenment of any human will occur only within a structured educational system. Corrective action is needed to repair the minds of humanity, who have long-lived in a world where continuity equals comfort.
Plato’s text explains the progress of mankind becoming educated, from total darkness, and Malcolm X also explains how he himself was imprisoned; and used that time to become educated. I have read two very interesting texts about freedom, resistance, and oppression. “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X and “the Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, both have a person trying to learn what is outside their prison cell or cave. As explained in the passage “Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads.
“The Cathedral” and “The Allegory of the Cave” are two short stories that resemble each other in the need to break free from negative illusions. In the “Allegory of the Cave,” Plato describes a man named Socrates who describes an illusion. This illusion included prisoners in a cave who have been chained by their arms and legs. These prisoners are bound to the floor and unable to turn their heads to see what goes on behind them. The prisoners are only able to see what the puppeteers are casting on the wall, which they perceive as reality.
Religion versus the Truth In Plato’s book The Republic, he explains an allegory. He names it the “Allegory of the cave”. Inside of this cave he talks about, are prisoners. The prisoners represent people who have never stepped out of their comfort zone and gained knowledge of new things. For all of the prisoner’s lives they have known of a wall and a small fire.
The philosopher then goes back into the cave to try and share his ideas with the other prisoners. The sun in the outside world illuminates the truth. When the philosopher first goes out into the light he is blinded by it. This could show that it’s painful to accept reality
We know what beauty and justice is without having experienced it in perfect Form so to Plato knowledge was a recollection of what our souls already knew while in the perfect external realm In the allegory of the cave is this. In the cave there a humans who have been chained at the head and the legs so as to only see the wall in which they are placed. The fire behind these figures creates shadows or illusions which the prisoners see as their reality. The objects cast on the wall are projected by people walking past with certain objects such as puppets. They have been in this state since they were born so they have grown into their ignorance.
This philosophy contradicts with that of other philosophers, whose beliefs rest on the pursuit and building of knowledge. It can be concluded that other philosophers aspire to obtain as much knowledge as possible, while Socrates is in search of only the underlying truth. Knowledge is the common idea of The Apology and The Allegory of the Cave. The Allegory serves as a metaphor that illustrates the effects of knowledge on the human spirit. It begins with a group of people, trapped in a dark cave since birth.
AP Literature and Composition 15 June 2012 “The allegory of the cave” Few people are able to realize the truth before them or the lie that makes them who they are. In the passage “The Allegory of the Cave” Plato starts off telling a story to Glaucon through Socrates, in this passage it contains pure metaphorical meaning about what people know about the truth. Socrates speaks about a cave, this cave contains prisoners these prisoners have benn held captive since childhood and there limbs have been set in place to look at a wall, behind them fire. This fire is used so other men can cast shadows of the walls. Automatically the prisoners start to see little images and start to give it names, but there is a smart prisoners among them and he is the taken out of the cave; he then realizes that everything he thought was real was now nothing.
Socrates and Inductive Reasoning Inductive reasoning is attributed to Socrates through the writings of his followers, as he himself did not record his own philosophies. In Aristotle’s book Metaphysics the theory of inductive reasoning is presented. Inductive reasoning follows a simple flow chart: Observations → Pattern → Tentative Hypothesis → Theory. Socrates, known as the gadfly, often used inductive reasoning when he questioned the people, this annoying factor eventually led to the death of Socrates. Inductive reasoning is a principle of reasoning which begins with specific measures and observations then patterns and regularities can be detected to form a basic hypothesis and end with the development of a general conclusion or theory.