Plato's Cave: Escaping The Shadows

6 Pages 1393 Words

The allegory of Plato’s cave is a dialogue between Plato and Glaucon. The conversation depicts a prison that is a cave. The condition in the cave seems dark and dismal, like a place no one would ever want to go. The people that are in Plato’s cave, the prisoners, have been there since childhood. Their legs and necks are chained so they cannot move. It is impossible for them to turn their necks or bodies to look around them. There is a fire in the distance. In front of the prisoners is a wall where men are frequently carrying tools and vessels and various shaped objects with them. This creates various shaped shadows for the prisoners to view. All that they have seen or ever known is what is in front of them, shadows; a two-dimensional world. In many respects, many of us as human beings are dwelling in this cave, and we must realize that the true truth is outside, and the answers for many of today’s problems can be found in the great philosophers of years ago.
Plato said: “To them I said the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” One could only imagine, never seeing or having any previous knowledge of people or objects, only shadows on a wall. Like some people today, all the prisoners know is what is in front of them, a warped perception of reality. If one merely accepts what is in front of them, they too are living in a two-dimensional world. The shadows, to the prisoners are reality because it is all that they have ever known.
One example that Plato would use if he were alive today would be television. For the average American, hours upon hours out of each day are spent in front of a television set. The broadcast waves would be the fire. The program being aired would be the shadows reflected on the wall. The viewers are the prisoners. A parallel can be drawn between the shadows on the wall in the cave, and the programs being watched by viewers. They are not reality: but they are actually a w...