The shadows in Plato’s allegory reflect a distorted view of reality, a delusion about truth. For instance, Socrates invites Glaucon to envision a cave in the discussion. Prisoners are chained up within the cave; they are forced to face a wall. Because the captives have never seen the genuine items that exist in the world, the objects that produce those shadows, they assume the shadows are all that exist. Plato uses his classic allegory of the cave of shadows to contrast the universal truth of the Forms, symbolized by the Sun, with the transitory illusion of the daily world, portrayed by the dancing shadows on the cave wall. Snooks states that the cave metaphor depicts humans’ effort to comprehend the Forms by simply seeing the shadow play in front of them (2). Only when certain people throw off their chains, exit the cave, and are exposed to the Sun’s illuminating rays are they able to see the light, to comprehend the truth of reality (Snooks 2). Plato felt that the only way to know what is beneath the appearances of everything in the everyday world is to utilize logical reasoning.
Plato claims in this debate that the physical objects we encounter every day are only fleeting shadows, or imitations, of the universal Forms that are absolute, flawless, eternal, and everlasting. Moreover, absolute truth and comprehension of the universe are only possible via insight into the Forms, which reside outside the world and the consciousness (Snooks 2). Hence, knowledge received through our senses is subjective and insufficiently valuable.
When captives are liberated, they will realize that what they witnessed was only a sliver of the truth. Consequently, their entire existence was a shadow of genuine reality, which is partially represented by the items throwing the shadow. The prisoner eventually exits the cave and discovers the real world for the first time. Everything is illuminated by the Sun, just as reasoning reveals the fundamental essence of reality. The prisoner’s reality is represented by the shadows, while the free prisoner is the individual who may observe genuine knowledge, the shape of reality, owing to the Sun, which perfectly represents truth (Agrati 1091). Essentially, I can call myself a prisoner before I started studying and understanding philosophy. Thanks to the thoughts of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, I began to look at the world in a different way, which previously seemed to be shadows of reality.
Thanks to my critical thinking, I began to see objects in the light in which they are presented. For instance, I started to understand more about the meaning of life, friendship, love, and education. The works of philosophy help people, including myself, find the truth in this world full of shadows and delusions. Plato argues that what lies outside the caves are actual realities, everlasting and unchanging concepts. Humans gain access to these Forms when they reflect and apply logical reasoning. Our perceptions may deceive us, just as they misled the inmates who only saw shadows; logical reasoning is the only way to reach the truth. Prisoners mistake the shadows for reality and cannot comprehend the truth. To conclude, the prisoner’s release exemplifies the function of philosophy and rationality. I believe that people can learn about the true nature of the universe by studying philosophy and participating in logical argumentation.
Works Cited
Agrati, Laura Sara. “Plato’s Myth of the Cave Images. A Didactic Analysis of the Mediation Function.” Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Proceedings, vol. 1. no. 9, 2018, pp. 1091-1099. doi.org/10.3390/proceedings1091091.
Snooks, Graeme Donald. “Plato’s Cave of Shadows and the Chinese Political System.” Institute of Global Dynamic Systems, Working Papers 26 (2020). Research Gate.