Platos Allegory of the Cave Who is Plato

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Who is Plato? Plato was a Greek Philosopher in the 5 th century BC. He is thought of as the founder of philosophy. The Allegory of the Cave appears in his book The Republic, Book VII.

What is an Allegory? An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that has two levels of meaning. One is face value, and one is symbolic.

What is an example of a famous Allegory? The Tortoise and the Hare. Face value: It is the story of a boastful rabbit who is beaten by a tortoise in a race. Symbolic: The story gives the moral that the one who perseveres will win.

The Cave Imagine a world where people have lived from birth imprisoned in a cave. They are chained down so they cannot leave, or even turn their heads to see what is behind them. Behind them, objects are passed in front of a fire. This projects shadows on a wall for the prisoners to watch.

The Cave pt. 2 These prisoners live their entire life watching the shadows of objects projected on the wall in front of them. The prisoners name the shadows as they see them. For example, ‘dog’ and ‘cat’, but they have never physically seen either a dog or a cat. The prisoners don’t need to think or feel, the shadows are the only truth they know.

Leaving the Cave One day a prisoner is chosen to be set free. The freed prisoner leaves the cave but the journey out is painful, as the freed prisoner is blinded by sunlight. The freed prisoner discovers the outside world for the first time.

Outside the Cave Outside the cave, the freed prisoner discovers hills, trees, and the sunlight. The freed prisoner also discovers familiar things, like real dogs and cats. And the freed prisoner decides that life outside is better than life in the cave.

Returning to the Cave The freed prisoner having decided that life was better outside, returns to the cave to show this new world to the other prisoners. The freed prisoner tells the others that the shadows are only the projection of real objects.

Returning to the Cave The prisoners think that the outside world has made the freed prisoner crazy. And the prisoners resist any attempt to make them leave the cave.

The Steps in the Journey of the Freed Man 1) Life from birth in the cave. 2) The prisoner is chosen to be set free. 3) The freed prisoner discover the world outside the cave. 4) The freed prisoner returns to the cave to share knowledge of the outside world. 5) The prisoners rejected the freed prisoner because they cannot accept the new knowledge.

Symbolic Meaning The symbolic meaning of the Allegory of the Cave is: The Value of Education

Picture References Slide 2: Photo taken from Britannica. com (https: //www. britannica. com/biography/Plato) 06/11/16. Slide 4: Photo taken from (https: //appliedsentience. com/2014/02/28/3 -reasonswhy-god-is-a-nihilist-or-showing-sympathy-for-god/) 06/11/16. Slide 6: Photo taken from buzzle. com (http: //www. buzzle. com/articles/platosallegory-of-the-cave-meaning-and-interpretation. html) 06/11/16 Slide 9: Photo taken from (https: //civilizationsthemesandsymbols. wordpress. com/kevin-mcgrady/) 06/11/16. Slide 13: Photo taken from Spiritvine. net (http: //www. spiritvine. net/resources/newsletter/august-2014/institutionalthinking/on-the-walls-of-the-cave-only-the-shadows-are-the-truth-plato-s-theallergory-of-the-cave/) 06/11/16.