Cultural Differences In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Due to globalization, contact between different nations increases exponentially. It gives enormous opportunities for people in many different areas; people can easily purchase goods from other parts of the world. Furthermore, we have an unprecedented accessibility to travel, or even move to a new location. We can easily encounter foreign cultures and people in society, far more so than in the 20th century. The 20th century was plagued by wars between competing nations and cultures. With the increased cultural understanding brought about by globalization, could new conflicts potentially be prevented and understanding promoted? Cultural differences gives rise to conflicts about morality, but once an outsider is properly initiated in a given culture …show more content…
Furthermore, after outsiders meet the cultural gap, they reject any potential understanding of it. Even if an outsider tries to understand and accept the culture difference, they will have a hard time doing this, since it is so different from their own, and never experienced before. We can make a relationship with
Plato’s “allegory of the cave”. In “Allegory of the Cave” which was written by Plato in his work
“The Republic” Plato speaks of this rejection of broadening once horizon. Plato portrays “some people lived chained in the cave from their childhood by facing the wall, and they forced to see the projection on the wall which are shadows of statue and figures by the fire. And let one prisoner come out of the cave, he see the fire and statue. However, the prisoner refuses to believe the reality, but thinks the shadows on the wall are real” (Plato 514b-516b). According to Plato’s cave, people do not want to understand that which they are not comfortable with, but rather believe in their illusion. Facing cultural differences, people also reject new understanding in order to preserve their sense of moral