Prompt: Define Plato ’s “Allegory of the Cave”. What is the central message? Is he describing education alone? Where does politics come in? Plato is known to many as one of the most influential and greatest philosophers to have lived. Plato represents his idea of reality and the truth about what we perceive through one of his famous writings‚ “The Allegory of the Cave”. The philosophical writing is in the form of an allegory‚ which is “a story in which the characters and situations actually represent
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In his allegory‚ the cave is a representation of the world humans live in and the sun a representation of the true world‚ the world of the forms. Plato‚ through this‚ shows that man will not be able to rush into understanding truth‚ but will first start with what is familiar‚ then move to seeing things in a different way‚ but not an uncomfortable way; then looking at a closer version of the truth‚ and finally having the ability to look directly at the truth and see the beauty in it. Plato claims
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THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE By Plato The well-known myth of the cavern‚ is used by Plato as an allegorical explanation of the situation in which the man is in regard to the knowledge that surrounds him. Plato divided this allegory in three parts: 1. Description of the situation of the prisoners in the cavern. 2. Description of the process of liberation of one of them and of his access to the top or real world. 3. Brief interpretation of the myth. Plato asks us to imagine that we are like a few prisoners
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The cave in the allegory basically represents believers of empirical knowledge. As a child‚ I was easily susceptible to this form of knowledge. I was known as “the quiet one” or the girl that always keeps to herself. The biggest cause of this is the way I have been brought up. Growing up as an only child and a female in a Guyanese household to immigrant parents‚ I have been taught ways of life that are very contrasting to the ways of life that are taught in Canada. The society where my parents came
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Obtaining the Truth Plato is a historical Greek philosopher and one of Socrate’s pupils. After Socrate died in 399 B.C.‚ Plato left his home in Athens and returned approximately twenty years later. “The Allegory of the Cave” is a short story filled with symbolism and metaphors that Plato had written before he died. In the story‚ Plato wrote about Socrate and his brother‚ Glaucon‚ discussing the steps to obtain the truth and why one should obtain it. In the story‚ Plato uses the prisoners as representative
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The Allegory of the cave says that there is quite a different between appearances and reality‚ and I think that this statement could not be truer. When I hear this I think of the “perfect” family. A stay at home mom‚ a working dad‚ a daughter on the honor roll‚ and a son on the football team. They all go to church on Sunday morning and are well involved in their community. Their family appears to be so perfect to everyone around them‚ but that’s just because no one knows their realities. See the
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¡§The Allegory of the Cave¡¨ in Different Perspectives ¡§The Allegory of the Cave‚¡¨ written by Plato‚ is an interpretation of a conversation between Socrates‚ Plato¡¦s mentor‚ and Glaucon‚ one of Socrates students. ¡§The Allegory of the Cave¡¨ can be interpreted several different ways. Imagine men in a cave chained up by their necks and legs‚ forcing them to only look forward at a wall. An opening behind them lets the light in. Above the burning fire and chains‚ there is a road. Have
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the limits of reason and morality. Having freedom equals having the power to think‚ to speak‚ and to act without externally imposed restrains. As a matter of fact‚ finding freedom in order to live free is the common idea in Plato with "The Allegory of the Cave"; Henry David Thoreau with " Where I lived and What I lived for"; and Jean Paul Sartre with " Existentialism". Generally‚ Plato‚ Thoreau‚ and Sartre suggested that human life should be free. They differ in what that freedom is. Plato thinks
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Reflection on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave The “Allegory of the Cave” starts off as a story told by Socrates to Glaucon. In this story‚ a group of people live in a cave underground. They are bound and unable to move or turn their heads‚ and so can only look straight in front of them. Before them is a wall and behind them a fire burns. Others in the cave pass before the
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Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” refer to the illusionary aspect of the human senses and how easily a fake reality can arise from those tricked senses. Plato would have seen the famous melting clocks representing time’s dynamic nature in dreams and understood their importance to false realities because dreams are a form of false realities. He would conclude that the melting clocks represent the upper world looking down at the lower world; therefore‚ the painting must represent those in the cave who have
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