Plato's Allegory of the Cave
Leaving the Realm of Becoming to Enter the Realm of Being
The Allegory of the Cave appears in Republic, perhaps Plato’s greatest work, where he analyses the form of the ideal state and its ideal ruler, the philosopher king. Plato’s reasoning behind giving the reins of power to philosophers is founded on his study of truth and knowledge and it is this context that he uses the Allegory of the Cave.
The Parable of the Cave
Plato asks the reader to image a captive who has spent their entire life imprisoned in a dark cave. Their feet and hands have been bound and their head restrained so that they can only look at the wall straight in front of them. There is a fire blazing away behind the captive. The captive is separated from the fire by a walkway on which his capturers carry a variety of objects. The shadows cast on the wall of the cave by these objects are all that the captive and his fellow prisoners have seen and talked about.
Plato goes on to ask the reader to image that they have been untied so that they are now free to walk about the cave. Although they are initially dazzled by the fire, they gradually come to see the cave properly and to understand that the shadows they saw are not real. Finally, they are released from the cave and enter the outside world where they see the fullness of reality illuminated by the sun.
Interpreting the Cave
Plato used the cave to represent the realm of becoming, the visible world of people’s everyday experiences where everything is imperfect and changing. The captives represent ordinary people who live in a world of conjecture and illusion, while the freed captive is able to attain the most accurate view of reality possible within the constantly changing world of perception and experience.
The world outside the cave represents the realm of being, the intelligible world of truth that is populated by perfect, unchanging knowledge.
Plato’s Theory of Forms
Plato believed that what is known must not only be true, but also perfect and unchanging. Since nothing in the empirical world (represented by life within the cave) fits this description, Plato proposed that there must be another realm (the world outside the cave) of perfect and unchanging entities that he called ‘Forms’. It is further suggested in the Allegory of the Cave that there is a hierarchy to the Forms with the Form of the Good (represented by the Sun) at the top giving all other Forms their ultimate meaning.
A Tribute to Socrates
The Allegory of the Cave does actually go on beyond Plato’s view on reality and out knowledge of it. After the released prisoner has come to understand the nature of truth and reality, he wishes to re-enter the cave and share his knowledge with the other captives. His eyes having grown accustomed to the natural light of the outside world, at first the former prisoner stumbles around in the darkness of the cave and the remaining prisoners believe that he has lost his mind and refuse to listen to him.
With this final section of the Allegory of the Cave, Plato alludes to the difficulties that face the philosopher, difficulties such as ridicule and rejection, when they attempt to enlighten the ordinary people. This final aspect is a tribute to Socrates, Plato’s teacher, who refused to temper his philosophical teachings and was eventually executed by the state.
Sources:
Warburton, Nigel (2004) Philosophy: The Basics (Routledge)
Blackburn, Simon (2001) Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford Paperbacks)
Dupre, Ben (2007) 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know (Quercus)
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