The Republic - the Allegory of the Cave
The Republic Notes
Dialogue between Socrates (protagonist) and Glaucon (interlocutor)
Stage 1. Bound inside cave * Been there since childhood, legs and necks fettered * Fire burning behind and above them * See artifacts carried by people along wall of path * Honours, praises, prizes for those sharpest at identifying shadows & order of shadows honored and held power; rewards are desired / envied * Truth is nothing other than the shadows of those artifacts
Stage 2. Freed of bonds, look towards light * Cured of “ignorance” * Pained and dazzled, unable to see things whose shadows he’s seen before * Be at a loss; believe that the things he saw earlier were truer than ones he was being shown now * Look at light: eyes hurt, turn around and flee towards (shadows) * They’re clearer than the ones he’s being shown
Stage 3. Leaving the cave * Pained and irritated at being dragged up path into sunlight * Unable to see a single one of the things now said to be true (at first)
Stage 4. Getting adjusted * See shadows most easily reflections of things in water things themselves * Study things in sky & sky itself easily at night than looking at sun & light of sun
THEN see sun itself and able to study it * Sun provides seasons and the years, governs everything in visible world, cause of all things he used to see * No longer envy prizes, prefer to “work the earth as a serf to another, one without possessions” go through sufferings rather than live as he used to.
Stage 5. Going back to cave & same place * Eyes be filled with darkness, vision dim * Bad at competing in recognizing shadows invite ridicule, said to have eyesight ruined, isn’t worthwhile to try travel outside * Others: kill whoever try to free them and lead them upward
Metaphors:
Prison Dwelling | Visible Realm | Light of Fire | Power of Sun | Upward journey & study of things above | Upward journey of soul to intelligible realm
Dialogue between Socrates (protagonist) and Glaucon (interlocutor)
Stage 1. Bound inside cave * Been there since childhood, legs and necks fettered * Fire burning behind and above them * See artifacts carried by people along wall of path * Honours, praises, prizes for those sharpest at identifying shadows & order of shadows honored and held power; rewards are desired / envied * Truth is nothing other than the shadows of those artifacts
Stage 2. Freed of bonds, look towards light * Cured of “ignorance” * Pained and dazzled, unable to see things whose shadows he’s seen before * Be at a loss; believe that the things he saw earlier were truer than ones he was being shown now * Look at light: eyes hurt, turn around and flee towards (shadows) * They’re clearer than the ones he’s being shown
Stage 3. Leaving the cave * Pained and irritated at being dragged up path into sunlight * Unable to see a single one of the things now said to be true (at first)
Stage 4. Getting adjusted * See shadows most easily reflections of things in water things themselves * Study things in sky & sky itself easily at night than looking at sun & light of sun
THEN see sun itself and able to study it * Sun provides seasons and the years, governs everything in visible world, cause of all things he used to see * No longer envy prizes, prefer to “work the earth as a serf to another, one without possessions” go through sufferings rather than live as he used to.
Stage 5. Going back to cave & same place * Eyes be filled with darkness, vision dim * Bad at competing in recognizing shadows invite ridicule, said to have eyesight ruined, isn’t worthwhile to try travel outside * Others: kill whoever try to free them and lead them upward
Metaphors:
Prison Dwelling | Visible Realm | Light of Fire | Power of Sun | Upward journey & study of things above | Upward journey of soul to intelligible realm