Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
*Note: This post is part of an introductory assignment for my AP US History students. You are welcome to comment even if you are not a student.
The Allegory of the Cave appears in The Republic, Plato’s famous dialogue on justice. You were given a translation of this excerpt in class. When you have finished reading the excerpt and reviewing the video interpretation (included below), explain the significance of the allegory in one well-constructed sentence.
What is the message or thought Plato is trying to convey?
I believe Plato is trying to convey that many people live in the shadows of the world and are not aware of the reality around them.
by Kelsey Clark
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe Plato is trying to illistrate the way people see life and phylosophy, and what they choose to percieve it as whether that be reality or not.
by Chrissy Chandler
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe Plato is trying to convey the idea of self-identity versus the majority of the State.
by Jordan Driskill
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe Plato is trying to convey the mysteries of the world that humans choose not to discover because the comfort of their own made-up reality.
by Drew Nasholds
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe plato is trying to convey that people dont see the big picture about the realities of of life.
by Kelvin Washington
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that Plato is using this allegory to convey the idea of a person being transformed into a being who truely thinks with all their mind instead of remaining in the dark, unknowledgable world.
by Kate Garber
on Aug 19, 2009
I think Plato’s message is that the only capable leaders are those who see deeper meaning in things that average people do not notice.
by Seth Austin
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe Plato is stating that people are caught in the darkness and need to be exposed to deeper, more critical thinking.
by Alison Zook
on Aug 19, 2009
To me, Plato is proposing that by familiarizing only with the things in front of our faces, we trust that what is ordinary to us is reality, when we could open our minds to something much bigger.
by Katie Fitzgerald
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that what Plato is trying to say is that you have to look beyond what is right in front of you, whether it is difficult to see or not.
by Bethany Spencer
on Aug 19, 2009
I feel that Plato is stating that people tend to only believe that their close surroundings are reality, when truly there is so much else out in the world for us to learn about.
by Callie Owens
on Aug 19, 2009
I think Plato is trying to convey that people are caught up in their own little world and don’t realize the reality of what is going on around them.
by Taylor DeWitt
on Aug 19, 2009
People of ignorance can sometimes choose what they believe; enlightenment can not be taught, but experienced.
****Mr. Waldron, this site is quite beastly.
by Logan Hamlyn
on Aug 19, 2009
The ones who are wisest have gotten their hands dirty, have seen the darkness; these are the ones who appreciate life the most.
by Sam Eldredge
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that Plato is trying to convey that the world is stuck in their own made-up reality when the actual awareness of one’s self starts with nonconformity.
by Lauren Brumfield
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that Plato is trying to convey that if people want to be the best they can be and experience life, they need to truly analyze all the depths and aspects of life.
by Logan Jones
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that Plato is trying to say life is what you make of it.
by Jon Isaacs
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that the message Plato is trying to convey is to always be clear on “both sides of the story”, not to rely on one view or opinion, be open to all possibilities.
by Kylie Roberts
on Aug 19, 2009
I think that Plato is trying to tell us that most people don’t try to look into things deeper, into what things really mean, and only pay attention to the physical appearance of objects.
by Ben Brooks
on Aug 19, 2009
I think that Plato is trying to say that the people with the most logical outlook in life are those who have seen the dark and bright side of life.
by Travis Sims
on Aug 19, 2009
Plato’s message is that an ideal leader must have had to experience the life of his/her followers in order to please them.
by Joe Yuhasz
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe that Plato is trying to say that we are prisoners to the familar and that we have becomes so accustom to these things that we no longer clearly see or hear what is around us until we are taken out of our comfort zone where we are forced to truly examine the world around us with hightened senses.
by Amanda Campbell
on Aug 19, 2009
In my opinion, Plato is alluding to the fact that people don’t take the beauty of the outside world, and don’t truly recognize its splendor until exposed to internally-captivating conditions.
by DeMoss
on Aug 19, 2009
I’ve concluded that Plato is simply saying if people get stuck focusing on the outer edge of life, then they will never contemplate looking deeper into life, therefore they will never truly grasp complete reality.
by Kalee Robinson
on Aug 19, 2009
I believe this was a representation of how each person has their own comfort zone and sense of reality different from common preception.
by Ben Teachey
on Aug 20, 2009
The Allegory of the Cave describes the pursuit of philosophical enlightenment, represented by the free man, the acceptance of ignorance, represented by the men who remained in the cave, and the unsuccessful attempts by the first man to bring the others out of the “cave.”
by Tim Bihl
on Aug 20, 2009
Plato uses his story of the cave to symbolize mans innate fear of the unknown, and how those who can overcome that fear cross great intellectual boundaries, and should be the rightful rulers of society.
by Nick Rodammer
on Aug 23, 2009
There are some people don’t know what the reality is and they believe whatever they hear or see.
The things that we realize by our senses are changing in contrast the things that we are realize by our thinking and our brain.
The people who see the cover of the things and don’t search inside these things to discover the reality are like a chained people in a dark cave watching the shadows of things and because they live their whole life like this, so they think that the shadows are the truth and they don’t know that they know nothing.
Plato wrote the allegory of the cave for a purpose which is that we have to free ourselves from the chains and to move on in our life searching for the reality and escaping from the cave to discover what has been hiding.
Now a day , we could say that the escaping from the cave might be similar to the entering to the age of globalization which is one of the most important phenomena in 21th century . Before this age we didn’t know much things like we do in these days. We discovered many things and the world become like one country.
Furthermore, When we enter to the internet we see many things that we didn’t know about it before, also the satellite, the telephone, these are the same to the idea of Plato’s allegory of the cave which all of them are devices show us the shadows of the reality so we have to look for the truth by existing in the real place.
by Hiba
on Sep 14, 2009
I think Plato is talking about people who watch Fox News.
by Katie
on Oct 15, 2009
hilba i copied your entire answer for my us greek history class term paper so thanks so much!
by Bobaloo
on Oct 19, 2009