Question

What is the Allegory of the Cave? What is Plato trying to describe about human existence using this allegory? Have you ever had a time when you have “left the cave” only to return with a new understanding of your former world? If you are unclear on any of the elements of Plato’s philosophy use the discussion board to ask questions to gain a better understanding of the philosophy from your peers. (answer should be at least 200 words)

Answer 1

The allegory of the Cave is a theory put together by Plato whereby he has spoken of human perception. He made a strong stance discounting the value of senses by saying that knowledge made on the basis of senses is nothing but opinion. In order to have real knowledge it is essential that one engages in philosophical reasoning.  In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato distinguishes between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the truth and people who really do see the truth. He has related this concept by considering an example. The example comprises of a cave in which there are three prisoners. These prisoners have been forever caged here and are tied down to rocks along with their arms and legs being bounded. If I were to be one of the prisoners, I would eventually believe that the shadows of passerbies that I witness are 'real' and not just shadows. My perception of reality would then be different. If the other prisoners were to guess who would appear next and one ends up with the right answer, that person would be considered as the master of all, including nature. If one prisoner escapes and sees the world for real, he realises that perception of the world so far was wrong and away from reality. Truth is thereby changed for this person and he makes fresh perceptions and worldviews. However, when this prisoner returns to the cave in order to free his other mates, they don't believe him and kill him for showing them a 'false picture'. Therefore, the point that Plato makes here is that people make sense of the world around them through empirical evidence. It also hints at the fact that at times, the mystery of the unknown is intimidating and one fears the truth and intentionally chooses ignorance instead.