Allegory of the Cave Essay

What does it mean to be enlightened? Plato's “The Allegory of the Cave,” is about one realizing what they think they know to be reality, actually isn’t the truth. He explains in the story, to be enlightened is to be more observant of the world and to be open for self improvement. Not only does that person gain true knowledge, but they share their knowledge with everyone. Based on Plato’s short story, some may argue that Kaspar had not gained enlightenment. Similarly, In “Kaspar Hauser Speaks,”…

presented with the allegory of the cave in which Socrates extensively describes the human element of education and the lack there of it. Socrates using metaphors and analogies explains how someone can be transformed from a realm of undetected ignorance to a domain of greater knowledge. The cave allegory is constructed to represent the plight all men face in the search for the truth and justice among lands full of unwise and unjust people. The very components described in the cave itself help…

being. Without education people have no reason to question what they read or hear and do not have the ability to assess critically what they hear even if they do desire to question it. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” from Book 7 of “The Republic” theorizes on what would occur if a prisoner chained in a cave, exposed only to shadows on a wall were to break free of his chains. Plato theorized that when the prisoner was exposed to what we consider the “real world” he would not believe what he sees;…

living in denial and accepting the truth. In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, there are three prisoners that have been imprisoned in a cave for their whole life. They’ve only seen the same wall this whole time and their only source of light would is a fire which is behind them which creates shadows. At one point a prisoner is able to free himself from the chains, when he goes out he realizes that everything he’s been seeing on the walls of the cave are different once outside. He learns what is real…

In the text “the Cave Allegory” by Plato is about people who are confined Plato states, “ their legs and neck chained” in a cave facing one direction of a wall, with a fire as the only light and a roadway behind them. The confined people are only able to see the shadows of the objects which people are holding as they pass by on the roadway. Plato talks about the tiresome and challenging journey of how one achieves real truth not second hand truth, which the prisoners perceive is real. In this…

Many people have never really been in the cave, but even more people have never been outside of it. The cave represents ignorance and in this world and generation, with every tiny information being a click Plato’s Allegory of the Cave has two meanings, one of which is literal ; there are prisoners in a cave, behind them is a fire and in between them and that fire is a passage. On the whole length of that passage way there is a wall high enough to hide the people who walk there but not high…

Whilst comparing The Matrix, The Allegory of the Cave by Plato and Meditations I by Descartes there are several things to note. The most prevalent similarity between these three is the idea of reality versus illusion. The same metaphysical question continues to arise whilst reading the three works: “What is real?” There is a fine line between what is actually occurring versus what is actually deception of the mind. In The Matrix, Neo, the main character, accidently stumbles upon finding out that…

“The Allegory of a Cave” is a dialogue between Socrates and Plato’s brother Glaucon, which the latter narrates, where Plato crafts a theory regarding the human perception. Plato strongly believed the fact that knowledge that is gained through the senses can be termed as an opinion only. He understood the school of thought that it was only possible to get real knowledge through the assistance of philosophical reasoning. This theory on human perception closely embodies the experience that…

places in the universe. However, some people manage to see the light through a life changing event. Gandhi’s life changing event is similar to both the protagonist Siddhartha, in Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and the released prisoners in The Allegory of the Cave by Plato. Therefore Mahatma Gandhi’s life parallels with that of Siddhartha and the prisoners: he was born in a life of luxury and “darkness” yet realized the true pain and, in the process, becomes one with the world. At the beginning,…

True Happiness Happiness is finding one true self by stepping away from the caves in which one find themselves and seek knowledge of the truth. Escaping the cave Plato’s allegory of the cave proposes the idea that happiness is found when one leaves the cave of preconceiving false notions taught to them by their puppeteers in order to seek their own truth. Happiness is the prize that one gains when they become knowledgeable of what is real. It’s the light that the prisoner found once he was…