The Analogy Of The Cave

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Analogy:

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The act of comparing one thing with another that shares similar characteristics to help a person learn about the first thing

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The Cave:

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Plato's famous analogy written to explain some parts of his Theory of the Forms

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The Analogy of The Cave is one of the most famous passages in Plato's 'Republic'

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imagine people chained up in a cave underground, in such a way that they can only face the wall in front. The only light in the cave comes from a small fire behind them.

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There is a wall behind the prisoners, behind which the fire is located. Behind this wall are people walking up and down carrying statues on their heads. The chained prisoners can see the shadows cast by the statues on the wall in front of them.

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The prisoners believe the shadows are reality because that is all they can see. If they hear the people speaking they assume the voice is coming from the shadows.

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Suppose one of the prisoners is freed. When he is able to look around him he will be confused and won't understand what he is seeing. As the prisoner becomes more accustomed to the light of the fire he can see the statues and the people who carry them.

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The freed prisoner then makes the gradual uphill climb out of the cave towards sunlight.
Gradually, as he becomes accustomed to the brightness he will be able to see the world around him .

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Finally he will be able to look up and see the sun and realise it's role in illuminating the world and being the source and sustenance of life. Now he no longer wishes to return to the dark cave.

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However, it is the duty of the freed man to return to the prisoners and free them so that they can see the real world too. However, he cannot see in the darkness and so the prisoners believe that the outside world either does not exist (they believe he is lying) or it has made him blind and so is not a good place

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The prisoners then threaten to kill the freed man if he attempts to free any of them again

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(end of the analogy)

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The prisoners symbolise:

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Humanity trapped in the physical world, unable to see the Forms clearly - only the illusory physical world

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The statues people carry:

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The statues are images of the Forms and the people who carry them are prisoner-like themselves. Plato criticised philosophers and politicians of the time who led the people but who did not know the truth (the forms) the people carrying the statues are like these politicians and philosophers.

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The freed prisoner:

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The philosopher who, once they are forced to, begins their journey towards enlightenment. Gradually learning to distinguish between the Forms and copies of the Forms.

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The Sun:

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The sun represents the Form of the Good- sustainer and source of all other forms

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Returning to the cave:

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It is Plato's view that those who can see the Forms have a duty to educate those who are still imprisoned by being unable to see the forms.
For Plato, knowledge of the Forms is essential for any leader so that they rule wisely for societies good.

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The threats from the remaining prisoners:

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Illustrates the difficulty of seeing the Forms within the world
also a reference to the death of Socrates