- Write a PostĀ that does the following (approximately 200-250 words):
- Write a summary of Platoās text. Whatās going on here? Where are we? Whoās there? What do they look like? Whatās happening?
- Write a paragraph answering this question: Would you rather be a prisoner from the cave or would you want to be released from the cave? CHOOSE ONE. You cannot choose both! Explain the choice you made and why you made it.
Charlotte Deaver | Fall 2021 | M/W 2pm-3:40
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Summary:
From the beginning of the text, we are introduced to the speaker who is telling this allegory, Socrates, and his audience, which consists of Glaucon and several others. We are told both are very well versed in the matters in this conversation. In the allegory itself we are presented with the imagery of prisoners, the amount unknown, confined to only be able to face a wall for their entire lives. These prisoners are within a cave with an opening at the top and a fire behind them. Whenever something or someone would pass by the fire the prisoners could only see their shadows. Any and all information they have about their world would come from these shadows and any sounds they can hear. We are then introduced to the possibility that one of these prisoners is spontaneously freed and then forced out of the cave. The freed prisoner is then forced to adapt to all the new sights and information that they are exposed to, forced to realize that everything they thought as the truth was nothing more than the inconsequential product of something greater than they could ever imagine. After adjusting and understanding what they see, the freed prisoner then goes back into the cave and tries to share his newfound knowledge and understanding, only to be ridiculed for what they say as it is beyond anything that the other prisoners could possibly understand.
My Choice:
Being confined to watching a single wall, or to be stuck believing that there is nothing more than the meaningless āshadowsā of the truth, personally strikes me as a miserable and unfulfilling existence. This is of course only because I know that such limitations on my world are there. If I were to have been in the cave since childhood, as the allegory describes, I would not want to leave the cave. I would fear the unknown and want to stay with the familiarity of my confines. Ultimately, I would pray that in this situation someone would release this ignorant me from the cave and expose them to the reality that exists outside of the cave. The fact remains that I would most likely have this knowledge to myself but in having it I can return to the cave and as Socrates says āgrow accustomed to seeing in the dark. When you are used to it, youāll see vastly better than the people there. And because youāve seen the truth about fine, just, and good things, youāll know each image for what it is and also that of which it is the imageā. I can reach meaningful conclusions about the mysteries and knowledge that I was once used to, and build something that can benefit others, even if the others cannot understand as of yet.
I like that even though the idea of being confined in the cave seems like a miserable life, you try to see from the prisoners’ perspective, how they would want to stay within “the familiarities of” their confines.
As far as I can tell,The allegory states that there are inmates chained together in a cave. A fire is behind the inmates, while individuals carrying puppets or other objects stand between the fire and the prisoners. On the other side of the wall, this creates a shadow. The inmates keep an eye on the shadows, thinking them to be real. One of the detainees areĀ released later. Finally, he notices the fire and knows that the shadows aren’t real. This prisoner may be able to break free from the cave and discover a whole new world outside of which they were previously ignorant.
If I were to find myself in such a situation, Iād want to be the person who escapes. Yes, I agree that itāll be painful and itāll take some getting used to, but Iād rather that–then stay in the dark all my life. Coming back to tell the prisoners of what Iāve discovered and found might be impossible, and itās no secret that Iād get made fun of for it, But I feel like itās inevitable. In all the discoveries we have in this world, I know that there had to be some people who laughed or deemed it impossible..but does that mean that it wasnāt. Iād rather be enlightened and take the pain that comes with it.
Plato is writing about the lessons his professor Socrate taught him. Both men were philosophers. Plato was discussing the lesson about the impact of education. The speaker(Socrate) is telling an unknown crowd of people a scenario about people being trapped in a cave. He is trying to describe a society where three menās mindset is only fixed to see what is in front of them in the cave. They are not allowed to turn their heads. They are only allowed to speak and see what is in front of them. They were able to see the shadows on the walls and the voices from the people outside the cave. It was not until one of the prisoners were free and able to see the real world. He was confused because what he knew all his life were shadows. When he saw real objects, people, and heard their voices he had to adapt to the reality. He went back to the cave to tell the other prisoners what he found but they were unable to believe him because all their life they were used to seeing shadows and hearing echoes of voices. Socrate created this scenario to have us analyze if everything we believe is true or is it an illusion. He wants us to be confused about what is true and what we know. The prisoners were an example of people with a fixed mindset and the released prisoner who received knowledge was able to go out to a world full of possibilities/reality.
I would rather be a prisoner in the cave because if I was a prisoner that was used to shadows and voices all my life I would be adjusted and see no wrongs in my life. If the cave is all I knew and I was comfortable I would probably want to stay there instead of going out to the outside world that can be very confusing. Instead of adapting to something new I would rather stay in the environment I have been in.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is a transcript of what Socrates told his students about the aspect and perspective of education/knowledge. He starts with describing the cave with 3 prisoners chained with their arms and hands tied having no way of escaping, having their heads fixed to face a wall. They do not know that they are prisoners, nor do they know why they are here in the first place. On that wall that they face are shadows illuminated by the outside sunlight coming in through the cave entrance, that casts shadows from a walkway above the prisoners, they canāt see this walkway however they can see the shadows of the many things/people that past by. They try to make out shapes and muffled sounds and they take this as the absolute truth, because to them this is all that they know about. However, one of the prisoners gets released from their confines and dragged out of the cave, forcefully; they of course struggle, yell, etc. When he is outside of the cave he is blinded by the sun, however after adjusting his eyes he sees the things that resemble the shadows he saw on the wall. But now they see the things directly that were reflected by the shadows, he sees all the new sights around him, and that shadows they he had regarded as the truth before was just a small part of the world around him. With this newfound knowledge and wonder, he goes back into the cave he was in before, his eyes now having to adjusting back to the darkness. With this he tells the other prisoners that was with him what he saw outside the cave. Of course, they donāt believe him and start to make fun of him for believing such an unbelievable thing as the cave to them was all that they knew. Thinking that he has gone crazy they beat him to death when he tried to free them. In which, the story ends here.
I would rather be a prisoner, because as in the story the prisoners only knew the cave as their own world around them. They donāt have the same perspective as me as I know the world outside of the cave. It is human nature that we donāt like change, it becomes hard to adapt to things if they always change. We become confused, angry or even ignorant when we donāt understand something. If the cave was the only thing I knew from the start, then it is only human nature for me to stay in the cave because it is something that I have known my entire life so far.