Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? What am I supposed to do? Almost everyone has questioned themselves, at some point in their lives, the meaning and purpose of life. Plato is one of the most prominent philosophers of all time who was greatly influenced by his teacher, Socrates, and he tried to answer a few of these philosophical questions. According to Plato’s Socrates, philosophy is the awareness of the distinction between truth and falsehood which must be attained through the act of self-determination. It is also about understanding the purpose of the various beings in the world. The “Allegory of the Cave” in Book VII of The Republic, written by Plato, consists of the assertions by Socrates to Glaucon and analyzes the need of education to understand the nature of reality. Through the use of symbolism and metaphors, Socrates argues that the world we live in is the false reality and the ultimate purpose of education is to guide us toward the “Truth” and the “Good”.
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Socrates tells Glaucon: “See human beings as they were in an underground cave‐like dwelling with its entrance, a long one, open to the light across the whole width of the cave. They are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them…. They’re like us… For in the first place, do you suppose such men [the prisoners] would have seen anything of themselves and one another other than the shadows cast by the fire on the side of the cave facing them?” (Bloom 193). Socrates compares human beings in the “free world” to the prisoners in the cave. We, human beings, tend to believe what we are told and what we observe in front of our eyes. We are unable to comprehend things other than those. We are like prisoners behind the wall which blocks the fire, as in the reality. Very few of us question what lies in
Socrates tells Glaucon: “See human beings as they were in an underground cave‐like dwelling with its entrance, a long one, open to the light across the whole width of the cave. They are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them…. They’re like us… For in the first place, do you suppose such men [the prisoners] would have seen anything of themselves and one another other than the shadows cast by the fire on the side of the cave facing them?” (Bloom 193). Socrates compares human beings in the “free world” to the prisoners in the cave. We, human beings, tend to believe what we are told and what we observe in front of our eyes. We are unable to comprehend things other than those. We are like prisoners behind the wall which blocks the fire, as in the reality. Very few of us question what lies in