Related Questions
§ State the allegory of the cave and its importance.
Introduction
§ State the allegory of the cave and its importance.
Introduction
There is a certain type of hummingbird, which is
hatched and nurtured in the crater of an extinct volcano. These hummingbirds
never fly up and get a view of the vast surrounding countryside, even when
fully grown, but always stay in their own barren world. Since they never view
the countryside, but only see the inside of the volcano, they live in what some
have called the hummingbird horizon. In other words, these birds only see and
experience life on the inside of the volcano, and without realizing it; they
miss the openness, light, and freedom outside in the real world. This analysis
is similar to that of Plato’s allegory. The allegory of the cave is the
epistemological analysis of reality according to the philosopher Plato. The
allegory holds several implications for the basis of our knowledge. What is the
allegory all about? What are the implications it entails. These would be
discussed in this write-up.
Plato
was the most intimate friend and disciple of Socrates. He was born around
427B.C. of a wealthy aristocratic family in Athens. He admired Socrates and
became his pupil at the age of twenty. His life ambition was to become a
politician, but due to the fact that he was disappointed at the way his master
‘Socrates’ was treated by the Athenian politicians, he gave up his political
ambition. Socrates had such a strong influence on Plato that it would be very
difficult to talk of one without mentioning the other. Also, their philosophies
are very much alike.
The allegory of the cave: Plato’s epistemological philosophy
Plato’s
theory of knowledge can be seen as a projection from his metaphysics. The theme
of his epistemology is popularly known as “the
allegory of the cave”. Plato paints a picture of some prisoners whom are
chained in a cave on hands, legs and neck in order to look only straight
forward. In front of them is a screen like wall, behind them is a fire and in
between them is a raised platform stretching across the cave. Some men are
passing along the raised platform carrying objects in various appearances. The
light of the fire casts the shadows of these objects on the wall and these
prisoners think that they are seeing the real thing. But, supposing one of the
prisoners spontaneously gets freed and thus goes outside the cave and sees the
light of the sun; the real things as opposed to the mere shadows inside the
dark cave, as well the fact that he was a prisoner, he would then be free from
the ignorance and illusory shadows of the dark cave. Even if he tries to set other
people free, they would not let him and be hostile to him. This is so because
they cannot just seem to understand what the free man is saying to them, as
they have been in the dark cave for a very long time (probably since
childhood).
Importance of Plato’s allegory of the cave
Plato’s
allegory had a meaning. Accordingly, the interpretation of the allegory goes
thus;
§ The
cave
The cave is this material, physical world
where a lot of things happen. Man finds himself in this world subjected to
various realities, some harsh and some pleasant. Man is determined by his
environment, culture, values and the likes.
§ The wall shadows
These are the particular things of the
world. These are the various things which man comes in contact with everyday.
He sees them as part and parcel of his existence and they form the basis of his
experience and worldviews.
§ The fire in the cave
The fire in the cave represents the sun,
which is the form of the good. The sun is an allegoric entity which stands as
the source and light that illuminates the other various virtues.
This is the world of forms and ideas. It is
an immaterial world which is accessed via dialectical reasoning. It is an
enlightened sphere which only a few opportune people have the ability to
access.
§ The prisoners
These are the non-philosophers whom parade
opinion which is highly subjective and inconsistently prone to error. They lack
foresight as they have been in the cave (a place of faulty knowledge) all their
life.
§ The freeman
This is the philosopher whom has knowledge.
He is the individual whom possesses the opportunity to transcend to the world
of forms. He is the enlightened one whom understands the true dynamics of
reality.
§ The chains
These are the worldly passions, prejudices
and deceits that engulf man’s mind everyday. They hinder man’s quest for true
knowledge by making him a mediocre. They are deterrents to his ability to
access true knowledge in the world of forms.
(Your conclusion)
