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The Allegory Of The Cave - Online Term Paper

The Allegory Of The Cave

Plato was a student of the famous philosopher known as Socrates. During his studies, Plato wrote many dialogues. One famous dialogue is “.” This is an allegory because the whole essay symbolizes many different things rather than a few symbols of certain things. The story behind the hidden meanings takes place in a dark cave. The cave is a sort of chamber underground, with an entrance open to the light and a long passage which led down to the cave. Men are chained by the leg and also by the neck, so they can’t move their heads, and they can only see what is right in front of them. Behind them somewhere there is a fire burning. Between the prisoners and the fire is a track with a ...

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to the lucid or invisible realm of reasoning and understanding. "" symbolizes this journey and how it would look to those still in a lower place. Plato is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we accumulate knowledge and ascend into the light of true reality, which symbolizes ideas in the mind. Yet, if someone goes into the light of the sun and beholds true reality and then proceeds to tell the other prisoners still in the cave, they laugh at the one who has been enlightened, for the only reality they have ever known is a fuzzy shadow on a wall. They could not possibly comprehend another dimension without beholding it themselves; therefore, they label the enlightened man mad.
Even if other prisoners were convinced and allowed to leave the cave, they might not enjoy the experience. The prisoners would not be ...

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The Allegory Of The Cave. (2007, May 15). Retrieved June 15, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Allegory-Of-The-Cave/64923

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 5/15/2007 09:33:23 PM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 687
Pages: 3

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