Allegory of the Cave project
Unit 2 Plato’s “Allegory” Assignment
HU250 – Humanities and Culture
When discussing “Allegory of the Cave” it is important to know what it is all about and it why it took place. Prisoners are chained and can only see darkness. They are facing a black wall and are projected to figure out what is real in life and what is not. They are not able to turn their heads. Plato wanted the people be aware of what is going on around them. There are puppets that are behind the walls that are showing shadows. The prisoners can only see the shadows and not the real objects. The can also hear the echoes, but nothing else. The prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. What this really means is no matter what was really behind the wall and was showing shadows the prisoners would still try to figure out what they perceive is casting the shadow. Plato was trying to make the point that it is not the names of the things we see, but what we grasp with our minds and perceive it to be. We watched their responses and reactions to the illusions and again when they were freed to experience real life again. When the prisoners are released they can see what the real objects were. This is wear reflective understanding is interpreted. Concepts that we grasp are not the real objects that we perceive.
In this theory, Plato argues that “forms’’, and not the world that we perceive it through our senses, are the purist kind of reality. When the prisoners were released they could see for themselves what was real and what wasn’t. They were forced to accept things the way they truly are rather than what they thought. He wanted to change their behaviors, desires, and tendencies to perceive what is incorrect, and show true happiness.
When I went to apply this to my own life the only example I could personally think of is one that has to do with my family. At one point and time, my family was made up of my boyfriend, my daughter, and myself. My boyfriend was very abusive and would not
HU250 – Humanities and Culture
When discussing “Allegory of the Cave” it is important to know what it is all about and it why it took place. Prisoners are chained and can only see darkness. They are facing a black wall and are projected to figure out what is real in life and what is not. They are not able to turn their heads. Plato wanted the people be aware of what is going on around them. There are puppets that are behind the walls that are showing shadows. The prisoners can only see the shadows and not the real objects. The can also hear the echoes, but nothing else. The prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. What this really means is no matter what was really behind the wall and was showing shadows the prisoners would still try to figure out what they perceive is casting the shadow. Plato was trying to make the point that it is not the names of the things we see, but what we grasp with our minds and perceive it to be. We watched their responses and reactions to the illusions and again when they were freed to experience real life again. When the prisoners are released they can see what the real objects were. This is wear reflective understanding is interpreted. Concepts that we grasp are not the real objects that we perceive.
In this theory, Plato argues that “forms’’, and not the world that we perceive it through our senses, are the purist kind of reality. When the prisoners were released they could see for themselves what was real and what wasn’t. They were forced to accept things the way they truly are rather than what they thought. He wanted to change their behaviors, desires, and tendencies to perceive what is incorrect, and show true happiness.
When I went to apply this to my own life the only example I could personally think of is one that has to do with my family. At one point and time, my family was made up of my boyfriend, my daughter, and myself. My boyfriend was very abusive and would not
References: Sayre, H. M. (2013). Discovering the humanities (2nd ed.). New York: Pearson Education. webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/platoscave.html