Plato’s Cave Allegory: Reality, Knowledge, and Society
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Plato presents the Allegory of the Cave, undoubtedly his most important and popular myth. Plato expressly states that the allegory serves as a metaphor for human nature, illustrating our education and lack thereof, particularly concerning epistemology. It also has clear implications for other philosophical domains such as ontology, anthropology, politics, and ethics; some interpreters have even seen religious implications.
The description of the allegory, as recounted by Plato in The Republic, is divided into several parts:
I. Description of the Prisoners’ State
Plato asks us to imagine that we are like prisoners living in an underground cavern. These prisoners are chained since childhood, fixed so that they can only look at the back wall of the cave. Behind them, at a higher level, there is a fire that illuminates the cave. Between the fire and the prisoners, there is a raised road along which stands a low wall or partition, similar to the screen puppeteers use to display their puppets above it to the audience. Along this road, individuals pass, some speaking, carrying sculptures representing various items: figures of animals, trees, and other artificial objects. Because of the wall between these individuals and the prisoners, only the shadows of the objects they carry are cast onto the back wall of the cave. In this situation, the prisoners believe that the shadows they see and the echoes of the voices they hear constitute reality.
II. The Process of Prisoner Release
A. Accessing the Outside World: The Real World
1. Initial Release in the Cave
Suppose, says Plato, that one of the prisoners is freed and compelled to stand up, turn around, and look towards the light. The prisoner would be unable to perceive clearly the objects whose shadows he had seen before. He would be confused and believe that the shadows he previously perceived are more true or real than the objects he now sees. If forced to look directly at the light, it would hurt his eyes, and he would try to turn his gaze back to the objects he perceived before.
2. Journey to the Outside World
If he is forcibly dragged to the outside and feels pain, being accustomed to the darkness, he would initially be unable to perceive anything clearly. In the outside world, it would be easier to look first at shadows, then at reflections of men and objects in water, and then at the men and objects themselves. Next, he would contemplate what is in the sky, the light of the stars and the moon. Finally, he would perceive the sun, not in images, but in and of itself. After that, he would conclude, with respect to the sun, that it is what causes the seasons and years, governs everything in the visible realm, and in some way causes the things he had seen.
Recalling his old home, the ‘wisdom’ there, and his fellow captives, he would feel happy for his liberation and pity for them. In the cave, the prisoners give recognition and praise to each other, and rewards to those who perceive the shadows most acutely, who best remember the order of their succession, and who are most able to guess which shadows will pass next. Such a life would seem unbearable to the freed prisoner.
B. Return to the Cave: Moral Obligation to Help Peers
1. Confusion in the Cave’s Darkness
If he were to descend and occupy his former seat, his eyes would again be dazzled by the darkness. He would be unable to discriminate the shadows, and others would do better than him. They would laugh at him and say that having gone up so high, he has ruined his eyes and that it is not worth going up.
2. Ridicule and Persecution
If he tried to untie them and bring them to the light, they would make fun of him, pursue him, and kill him.
III. Interpretation of the Allegory
A. Comparison of Realities
We compare the visible realm with the prison-house, and the light of the fire within it with the power of the sun.
B. Comparison of Processes
The ascent and contemplation of things above is similar to the soul’s journey to the intelligible realm.
C. The Value of the Idea of Good
The Idea of Good Defined
The Idea of Good is the cause of all things right and beautiful. In the visible world, it has created light and the sun; in the intelligible realm, it produces truth and intelligence. It is the ultimate reality that we must perceive to act with wisdom in both private and public life.
This allegory illustrates the varied and important consequences of Plato’s philosophy.