Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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In The Republic, written by Plato, Plato uses the Allegory of the Cave as a metaphor to explain his Theory of Forms. The Theory of Forms maintains that two distinct levels of reality exist. These two levels are the visible world of sounds and sights and the intelligible world of Forms that stands above the visible world. The Theory of Forms differentiates the abstract world of thought from the world of the senses. Plato’s hope was to gain a greater knowledge by investigating the world of Forms. The Allegory of the Cave is a scenario where prisoners are chained to a wall, unable to look any place but forward and the wall. On this wall are shadows casted by the fire behind the prisoners. The shadows are of people walking back and forth holding

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