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The allegory of the cave critical analysis by paragraph
The allegory of the cave critical analysis by paragraph
The “allegory of the cave” essay
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As one reads Plato’s timeless classic, “The Allegory of the Cave,” from his best known work, The Republic, one begins an experience of self reflection. As one follows the path of the freed prisoner, one begins to see their own image embodied in the prisoner, triggered by all sorts life experiences and mindsets. As I read and analyzed the philosophical message of the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato spoke to my developing teenage mind. He showed me how my current transition to adulthood is more of a “light” of passage, than a rite of passage.
From my birth until just recently, I was blanketed by the darkness of an unavoidable false reality; childhood. While it was admittingly care-free, blissful, and were the happiest moments of my life, it fed me false information about the world. The experiences and adult figures in my life were the, “puppeteers,” (para. 1), showing me mere, “shadows, [and the] shadows of one another.” (Para. 5) And I could only see these shadows of reality because I was, “prevented by the chains,” (Para. 1) of ignorance and lack of experience that comes standard with being a child.
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For both elementary and middle school, I was enrolled into a private preparatory school, primarily governed by Episcopalian traditions. Here, my young mind experienced perhaps the best, most sheltered school imaginable. I was surrounded by the upper demographic of my town, having laptops and lush school grounds surrounding me. Everything was controlled and my work was minimal. Like the prisoners of the cave, I, “have been [here] from [my] childhood,” (para. 1) only being able to experience that circumstance. For those few years, I was convinced that these images were the sole images of every
Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” explains his beliefs on education of one’s soul and the core of the way they shape themselves. The rhetorical devices that Plato represents inside of his story explains how much freedom is worth in this world. The deeper meaning inside of what Plato describes can further be found out once a reader realizes the type of rhetorical devices are being used. For example, Plato portrays prisoners being locked inside of a cave without a way out. These prisoners never got to see the outside world, yet he mentions they “see shadows” which explains they are only able to catch a glimpse of reality from the outside. Plato’s use of imagery gives us a mental picture on the tease we may feel to notice reality but not be able to experience it. In reality, we do not value freedom as much as we are supposed to. We seem to not see the world as he sees it. With the help of personification, Plato uses human like characteristics to describe non-living things to give
“In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave” it represents an allegory that signifies real life meaning.Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is about questioning the fundamental reality of experience.The information In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” is interpreted with real life. I would say the genre of the allegory is nonfiction. It focuses on prisoners who are being held captive. They are being held inside of a cave.The prisoners cave freedom, however hopes being at an all time low due to the fact that the prisoners are bound and chained by the neck. The only thing to observe, a wall with shadows coming in from the fire light that blazes before them.The fire that blazed inside the cave would display shadows of other people walking throughout the cave holding
The Plato’s Allegory of the Cave written by Plato is a dialogue between Plato’s brother Glaucon and Plato’s mentor Socrates. In the story, Plato presents a prisoner chained to the ground within a cave, and is facing a wall with animated puppets, which are the shadows cast by a light source from behind. The prisoner knows that other people are in the cave as well. For the prisoner, this is the reality of the world. Then one day, people come to the cave, and the prisoner is taking out from the cave with his chains removed. When the prisoner returns to the cave to inform the other prisoners of his discovery of the real world, the other prisoners do not believe him and decide to kill him if he tries to set them
Childhood is described as the early stage of existence of something. Bertha Kaye Batt Gibbons was born on May 5, 1960, she lived in an old broken down home that lacked heat and electricity (Snodgrass p35). Kaye was born in Nash County in North Carolina. She was the youngest child of her family; however, she was mainly raised by her grandmother, Martha. Kaye was raised by her grandmother because in March 1970, her mother committed suicide by an overdose of pulse suppressing drug digitals (Snodgrass.p35). Her father was not much better than her mother, because he was a self-beating alcoholic. Kaye’s mother killed herself soon after she found out she was suffering from cyclical bipolarity, which is a manic depression (Snodgrass p35). When Kaye was eight she got put into a foster home because her grandmother was extremely ill and the doctors did not think she was going to make it. A woman named Mary Lee, became Kaye’s selected mother (Snodgrass p35). At the age of twelve Kaye was working in tobacco fields and attending the Childrens Bible Mission Camp at Falls of the Neuse River (Snodgrass p35). Kaye was never one to put herself out ther...
In today’s age, adolescents have been pressured to accept the stereotypes and labels caused by society. These views were meant to classify those of different races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. In a similar juxtaposition to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the philosopher illustrates a cave, fire, and sunlight. This symbolism lines itself up within society and the expectation youths are forced to face. The cave represents the sheltered who choose ignorance as a way to avoid the sunlight, or truth. Ignorance lies with those who succumb to the darkness of the cave where they repudiate the opposition for equality and justice. The fire is society; the flame emanates a light casted into the cave in which it expresses false perceptions. In
Freedom in mind, freedom in nature, and freedom in subjectivity of individual are three kinds of freedoms. However, freedom should be expressed within 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 it is found in the world of intellect, Thoreau thinks freedom is found in nature, and Sartre thinks freedom is found in subjectivity of individual.
Garnick, Vivian. "Into the Dark Heart of Childhood." Village Voice 29 August, 1977: p. 41. Print.
The Allegory of the Cave has many applications to both Plato’s writing and life in general. It describes the education of a philosopher, as well as how others look on the philosopher after he has gained the knowledge of the Forms. It also describes what it is like to see the forms. After understanding the forms, what once were objects, real things, become merely shadows. One sees everything as it truly exists, as it’s form.
In the essay “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato addresses how humans generally do not pursue knowledge. Most humans are satisfied with what they already know and do not want to expand their knowledge. Plato uses simple examples to help the reader understand his logic on why humans do not expand their knowledge.
Do we really understand the world we live in and see everyday? Is our everyday perception of reality a misinterpretation, which somehow we can’t break free from? A famous Greek philosopher by the name of Plato sought out to explain this in an experiment he called the Cave Allegory. I will discuss what the Cave Allegory is as well as talk about the movie Interstellar, which is a great example of Plato’s Cave Allegory and how it relates to Plato’s ideas. The question we have to answer first is, what is Plato’s Cave Allegory?
Humanity as a whole is complex. Every experience and action that has happened creates and forms a person’s identity. People’s childhood memories and the environment they are born and raised into are the building blocks in creating the character of an individual. The environment that shapes youth will have a lifelong impact. This is shown in Under the Ribs of Death by John Marlyn in Sandors life, living on Henry Avenue in Winnipeg’s North End, through the restriction of ones upbringing, emotions associated with, and the memories attached to an environment.
"The Allegory of the Cave" and "The Apology" by Plato explore the methods in which people for themselves, usually through the cultivation of the soul. "The Allegory of the Cave" employs an allegory to highlight the importance of the soul, while "The Apology" focuses on Plato 's beloved mentor, Socrates, and his views on tur value of the soul. Both allegory and dialogue seek to stress the importance of the truth to caring for one 's self. The pursuit of the truth and the care of the self are intricately intertwined; one cannot do without the other. Additionally, both pieces challenge the reader from their complacency and forces them to re-evaluate their lives, calling for lives that better cultivate the soul and take care of the self. From
Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" presents a vision of humans as slaves chained in front of a fire observing the shadows of things on the cave wall in front of them. The shadows are the only "reality" the slaves know. Plato argues that there is a basic flaw in how we humans mistake our limited perceptions as reality, truth and goodness. The allegory reveals how that flaw affects our education, our spirituality and our politics.
The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. He sees it as what happens when someone is educated to the level of philosopher. He contends that they must "go back into the cave" or return to the everyday world of politics, greed and power struggles. The Allegory also attacks people who rely upon or are slaves to their senses. The chains that bind the prisoners are the senses. The fun of the allegory is to try to put all the details of the cave into your interpretation. In other words, what are the models the guards carry? the fire? the struggle out of the cave? the sunlight? the shadows on the cave wall? Socrates, in Book VII of The Republic, just after the allegory told us that the cave was our world and the fire was our sun. He said the path of the prisoner was our soul's ascent to knowledge or enlightenment. He equated our world of sight with the intellect's world of opinion. Both were at the bottom of the ladder of knowledge. Our world of sight allows us to "see" things that are not real, such as parallel lines and perfect circles. He calls this higher understanding the world "abstract Reality" or the Intelligeble world. He equates this abstract reality with the knowledge that comes from reasoning and finally understanding. On the physical side, our world of sight, the stages of growth are first recognition of images (the shadows on the cave wall) then the recognition of objects (the models the guards carry) To understand abstract reality requires the understanding of mathematics and finally the forms or the Ideals of all things (the world outside the cave). But our understanding of the physical world is mirrored in our minds by our ways of thinking. First comes imagination (Socrates thought little of creativity), then our unfounded but real beliefs. Opinion gives way to knowledge through reasoning (learned though mathematics). Finally, the realization of the forms is mirrored by the level of Understanding in the Ways of Thinking. The key to the struggle for knowledge is the reasoning skills acquired through mathematics as they are applied to understanding ourselves. The shadows on the cave wall change continually and are of little worth, but the reality out side the cave never changes and that makes it important.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a representation of the normal human behavior as well as the circumstances we presently encounter on a day-to-day basis. The Allegory of the Cave symbolically describes our circumstances as human beings in today’s world. Plato uses a number of key elements to depict the image of the human condition. Plato's images contain relatable ideas in regards to society that are related to my everyday life. By reading Plato I have personally begun to expand my though process and have learned not to rely solely on my senses. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave brings philosophy’s teachings to the forefront and makes it easy for us readers to understand what philosophy is trying to teach us.