PHILOSOPHY

Mavy Tiu July 2, 2019

THOUGHT PIECE

The Allegory of the Cave is written by Plato, it was so deep that I have to read it again and
again. In the text, Plato is talking about the reality and wisdom. There were prisoners in a cave who
were shackled since their childhood, pitiful, ignorant and believe only in the reality they made up. The
prisoners were facing a wall, unable to move their head around so they only see the shadows of the
objects behind them.

The prisoners or basically we, humans, think that the shadow they see is a certain object. They
could be mistaken since it is only the shadow they see and not the actual object, that's how the
prisoners create their reality or that, is how we, humans, think upon the knowledge of objects. They
believe that the shadows or things they see are real when in fact they haven't seen the real thing.

The shadow of objects upon the wall is made up by the puppeteers and the fire behind them.
In a blog by Swayne-Michael Merchant, it says that the fire symbolizes the person’s limitation to
knowledge and that the fire blinds them from the truth outside. The cave is filled with darkness and
the sun, outside, is the light, the truth. The cave represents the world we think, the reality the
prisoners thought. When one escapes the cave, he/she sees the sun and realizes that everything
outside the cave is real and what he/she have seen inside the cave were not true.

After the realization, the escapee tried to go back inside the cave and convince the prisoners
to go with him to the outside. However, the prisoners were ignorant; they don’t want to go and warned
the returning prisoner that if he ever unchains them, they would kill him.

Now, Plato relates this to education. In Anam Lodhi's blog entitled Education and Plato's Allegory of
the Cave, he stated that education for Plato is a personal journey. He said that everyone is capable of
learning but it is up to the person if he/she desires to learn or not.

To be educated means you have to turn yourself around from the shadows. We may refer the
shadows as things or laws made by our society. Not because many believe on something, it is
labeled right and true. Think differently just like Plato said, step out of your comfort zone and do not
be afraid to question things especially when you’re a student.

The way professors educate students is passive, just like a phrase in the text says, 'but they
put it in, as if they were putting sight into blind eyes'. It means that students cannot question what the
professor says and they would just accept it as it is. We see this happening to the prisoners. Plato
doesn't agree with that, teachers would only serve as guide to students and students must learn the
truth themselves.

In conclusion, the reality Plato is talking about is the outside of the cave, inside the cave was
only a made-up one by the society. Going outside the cave, the prisoner who realizes the truth will
have the wisdom. In our world, people like that prisoner will try to go back to the cave and help the
other prisoners, the people driven by the society, to be enlightened as well.
What is the subject matter that Plato deals with in the story?

-Plato is talking about the wisdom and reality

How does Plato describe the life of the prisoners?

-According to Plato, the prisoners were shackled since their childhood, pitiful, ignorant and believe
only in the reality they made up.

What does the cave represent? What does the fire symbolizes?

-The cave represents the world we think. In a blog by Swayne-Michael Merchant, it says that the fire
symbolizes the person’s limitation to knowledge and that the fire blinds them from the truth outside.

How do the shadows come to be the representation of our knowledge of objects? Why is the sun the
symbol for the light being?

-The prisoners or basically, we, humans, think the shadow we see is a certain object. They could be
mistaken since it is only the shadow they see and not the actual object, that's how the prisoners
create their reality or that, is how we, humans, think upon the knowledge of objects. We believe that
the shadows or things we see are real when in fact we haven't seen the real thing.

-The cave is filled with darkness and the sun is the light, the truth. When one escapes the cave,
he/she sees the sun and realizes that everything outside the cave is real and what he/she have seen
inside the cave were not true.

What is education for Plato?

-In Anam Lodhi's blog entitled Education and Plato's Allegory of the Cave, he stated that education
for Plato is a personal journey. He said that everyone is capable of learning but it is up to the person if
he/she desires to learn or not.

-The way professors educate students is passive, just like a phrase in the text says, 'but they put it in,
as if they were putting sight into blind eyes'. It means that students cannot question what the
professor says and they would just accept it as it is. Plato doesn't agree with that, teachers would only
serve as guide to students and students must learn the truth themselves.
 The Allegory of the Cave is written by Plato, it was so deep that I have to read it again and
again. In the text, Plato is talking about the reality and wisdom. There were prisoners in a cave who
were shackled since their childhood, pitiful, ignorant and believe only in the reality they made up. The
prisoners were facing a wall, unable to move their head around so they only see the shadows of the
objects behind them.

The prisoners or basically we, humans, think that the shadow they see is a certain object. They
could be mistaken since it is only the shadow they see and not the actual object, that's how the
prisoners create their reality or that, is how we, humans, think upon the knowledge of objects. They
believe that the shadows or things they see are real when in fact they haven't seen the real thing.

The shadow of objects upon the wall is made up by the puppeteers and the fire behind them.
In a blog by Swayne-Michael Merchant, it says that the fire symbolizes the person’s limitation to
knowledge and that the fire blinds them from the truth outside. The cave is filled with darkness and
the sun, outside, is the light, the truth. The cave represents the world we think, the reality the
prisoners thought. When one escapes the cave, he/she sees the sun and realizes that everything
outside the cave is real and what he/she have seen inside the cave were not true.

After the realization, the escapee tried to go back inside the cave and convince the prisoners
to go with him to the outside. However, the prisoners were ignorant; they don’t want to go and warned
the returning prisoner that if he ever unchains them, they would kill him.

Now, Plato relates this to education. In Anam Lodhi's blog entitled Education and Plato's
Allegory of the Cave, he stated that education for Plato is a personal journey. He said that everyone
is capable of learning but it is up to the person if he/she desires to learn or not.

To be educated means you have to turn yourself around from the shadows. We may refer the
shadows as things or laws made by our society. Not because many believe on something, it is
labeled right and true. Think differently just like Plato said, step out of your comfort zone and do not
be afraid to question things especially when you’re a student.

The way professors educate students is passive, just like a phrase in the text says, 'but they
put it in, as if they were putting sight into blind eyes'. It means that students cannot question what the
professor says and they would just accept it as it is. We see this happening to the prisoners. Plato
doesn't agree with that, teachers would only serve as guide to students and students must learn the
truth themselves.

In conclusion, the reality Plato is talking about is the outside of the cave, inside the cave was
only a made-up one by the society. Going outside the cave, the prisoner who realizes the truth will
have the wisdom. In our world, people like that prisoner will try to go back to the cave and help the
other prisoners, the people driven by the society, to be enlightened as well.