Plato wrote the Allegory of the Cave about the sophists and it explains the reasoning why they are stuck under the lower line of the divided line. The cave represents the world of nature and Socrates’ life. The purpose of the allegory was so that Plato can “illuminate the world through the rational light of his/her knowledge of the good (something that, like sunshine, he believed that we all desire” (Turnbull 66), however, the cave was not lite by sunlight but Plato wanted the sophist or an individual to ascent to the sunlight. Although the allegory is talking about how the bodies have to move from out the cave, Plato is really talking about how the mind has to ascent out the cave in order to see all things, the sun and the idea of the …show more content…
All the prisoners can see are shadows that are being “casted on the wall by mysterious unseen things moving [inside] of the cave” (Turnbull 66), they believe that these shadows are real things in the world which proves that the sophists are on the lower level of the divided line were all they have to work with mentally is images, imagination and illusion. The shadows represented the experiences that are taught to us in education, hoi poloi (common people) are stuck on this level of knowledge, this helps shows how education has a hold on the soul. Plato believed that it was the philosopher’s job to “liberate [the sophists] of these shadowy existence and escort them into the bright uplands of philosophical knowledge” (Turnbull 66). On the second level of the cave, the slaves are not chained anymore. They can see the fire which to them represented the sun and it warms them. The unchained slaves are the ones that are making the shadows and they have a glimpse of the true nature of reality. The lose slaves were trying to show the sophist (the chained slaves) that they did not know what they thought they knew. After a while the lose slaves realize that they are seeing things more real than the shadows that they thought were reality. They also realized that the shadows were made from the fire and statue. At this stage the