Yegor “Gosha” Bryzhan
Gaining Knowledge: Plato's allegory of the cave
1. What do you think these elements of the allegory symbolize? The cave – The fire – The prisoners – The shadows – The shackles – The light
In my opinion, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what they see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding. The fire symbolizes the illusion which blind ourselves. Prisoners illustrate humans and their souls. The shadows represent photocopy, the things which we believe to be true. The chains symbolize our limitation in this material world so that we cannot know the reality to know reality. The outer world of …show more content…
People in the cave do not realize that the world of shadows is fake. They had been seeing shadows since they were born, so their minds unconsciously take the world of shadows as real. As in the Allegory of the Cave after one imprisoned man was released, he saw the different, unfamiliar for him world. For the first time in his life he realized that what he considered as real, wasn’t reality but merely poorly cast shadows. Later he came back to the cave. However, on his return he finds it difficult to adjust to the darkness. He tells other’s what he have seen, but they don’t hear him, they thought that it was just another echo and shadow which they see every day. This means that majority of us are convinced what they take as true is true, and are not able to listen minority who are not tighten up with chains. This is reality of human …show more content…
In this parable, how is the human soul described?
In The Allegory of the Cave human soul is described as ascetic, mystical and theological. The man who is guided only by feelings - lives exclusively in a cave, and those who live in spirit - guided by the pure light of truth. The movement from the sensory world to the ideal world through the philosophy is described as the "liberation from the shackles". The problem of interaction between soul and body is also relevant here – indeed, if the soul is immortal and non-physical, body is superficial and can’t exist forever. Finally, the Sun- is the highest level of knowledge and means of divine contemplation.
5. What is an example from today’s world of a person “imprisoned in a cave” or somehow brainwashed?
For example during the Second World War, people were brainwashed and thought that Hitler was the leader and he was capable to improve the situation in Germany economically and socially. This is good example how people inspired by one idea are ready to do terrible things. Another example, can be different terrorist organization which are based on the strong faith into one idea and principles. Those people are imprisoned in the “cave” as the prisoners were, and only see shadows on the wall instead of true essences of
Gaining Knowledge: Plato's allegory of the cave
1. What do you think these elements of the allegory symbolize? The cave – The fire – The prisoners – The shadows – The shackles – The light
In my opinion, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what they see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding. The fire symbolizes the illusion which blind ourselves. Prisoners illustrate humans and their souls. The shadows represent photocopy, the things which we believe to be true. The chains symbolize our limitation in this material world so that we cannot know the reality to know reality. The outer world of …show more content…
People in the cave do not realize that the world of shadows is fake. They had been seeing shadows since they were born, so their minds unconsciously take the world of shadows as real. As in the Allegory of the Cave after one imprisoned man was released, he saw the different, unfamiliar for him world. For the first time in his life he realized that what he considered as real, wasn’t reality but merely poorly cast shadows. Later he came back to the cave. However, on his return he finds it difficult to adjust to the darkness. He tells other’s what he have seen, but they don’t hear him, they thought that it was just another echo and shadow which they see every day. This means that majority of us are convinced what they take as true is true, and are not able to listen minority who are not tighten up with chains. This is reality of human …show more content…
In this parable, how is the human soul described?
In The Allegory of the Cave human soul is described as ascetic, mystical and theological. The man who is guided only by feelings - lives exclusively in a cave, and those who live in spirit - guided by the pure light of truth. The movement from the sensory world to the ideal world through the philosophy is described as the "liberation from the shackles". The problem of interaction between soul and body is also relevant here – indeed, if the soul is immortal and non-physical, body is superficial and can’t exist forever. Finally, the Sun- is the highest level of knowledge and means of divine contemplation.
5. What is an example from today’s world of a person “imprisoned in a cave” or somehow brainwashed?
For example during the Second World War, people were brainwashed and thought that Hitler was the leader and he was capable to improve the situation in Germany economically and socially. This is good example how people inspired by one idea are ready to do terrible things. Another example, can be different terrorist organization which are based on the strong faith into one idea and principles. Those people are imprisoned in the “cave” as the prisoners were, and only see shadows on the wall instead of true essences of