Virtue In Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

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,” Kaspar comes from living in a dungeon, alone and ignorant of the world, to gradually gaining knowledge and understanding his surroundings. At that stage of Hauser's life, he had certainly reached an enlightened state, because he learned to understand the …show more content…
After sharing his personal experiences of not knowing much, he said “Nevertheless, despite these flaws in my progress, I think I may say that I have come a remarkably long way (127).” For one to be enlightened, they must be aware of what they do and don't know(make topic sentence). Another piece of “Kaspar Hauser Speaks,” where he acknowledges the fact that he was unenlightened is when he spoke out about being around the age of sixteen and didnt have any knowledge of what simple objects or landscapes were (127). For Kaspar to be able to recognize that people pitied him for being “less than a toad,” shows a sign of awareness and enlightenment. He ,later, was able to speak well, write, distinguish pears from apples,and was able to understand what living and nonliving things were (129). This shows he had a better outlook on his life than before and realized why people looked at him with amusement. Kaspar specifically had said, “I felt bursts of power and curiosity, followed always by fall into melancholy, as I became more deeply aware of the big hole in my life (129).) (MAYBE