Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”

The nature and accuracy of knowledge that people get using their perceptive apparatus are among the most discussed questions in philosophy. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato provides his perspective on the issue by using a dark cave and prisoners in chains as the symbols of limitations related to human perception (1). The things are presented in the following way: Socrates encourages Glaucon to imagine people in a “cavelike dwelling” who have never been outside and seen anything apart from the wall with shadows (Plato 1). Behind them is the fire, but the imprisoned people cannot move their heads and look at it. Other people and objects move near the fire, but the prisoners can only see their distorted shadows on the wall and hear some echoes.

The allegory conveys multiple ideas related to the accuracy of perception, education, and the painful process of getting objective information instead of illusory knowledge. The prisoners are the symbol that represents common people who have to perceive the world using their imperfect sense organs but think that what they see is the reality. The allegory sheds light on Plato’s ideas concerning the sources of what we call knowledge. Following his model, before being delivered to people, information gets distorted many times, and this is why relying on perception and denying the need for critical reflection is a losing strategy.

As for Plato’s notion of the good, it is related to the presence of actual knowledge or having enough information about some ideas, not material objects. The existence of the good is the same for everyone and everywhere, but a limited number of people can approach real knowledge. The philosopher compares the process of getting objective information with staring at bright light after years spent in darkness, thus showing that getting to the essence of things is always painful and effortful.

Work Cited

Plato. The Allegory of the Cave. Translated by Thomas Sheehan. Web.

Cite this paper

Select style

Reference

StudyCorgi. (2021, September 14). Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”. https://studycorgi.com/plato-and-absolutism-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave/

Work Cited

"Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”." StudyCorgi, 14 Sept. 2021, studycorgi.com/plato-and-absolutism-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave/.

* Hyperlink the URL after pasting it to your document

References

StudyCorgi. (2021) 'Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”'. 14 September.

1. StudyCorgi. "Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”." September 14, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/plato-and-absolutism-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave/.


Bibliography


StudyCorgi. "Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”." September 14, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/plato-and-absolutism-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave/.

References

StudyCorgi. 2021. "Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave”." September 14, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/plato-and-absolutism-in-the-allegory-of-the-cave/.

This paper, “Plato and Absolutism in “The Allegory of the Cave””, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal. Please use the “Donate your paper” form to submit an essay.