Plato; The Allegory of the Cave

This was the first time I had been exposed to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. While the reading was rich I felt that my time spent on this piece of literature was well worth it. The greatest thing I took form this article was the idea that the blessed individuals, already aware of reality, had a duty and a responsibility to expose the less fortunate to this reality. As the article said, every person has the capabilities within them to understand, they just need to be turned on. Turning this switch on is the responsibility of those already aware of reality. This process won't be easy either. "At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him." This sentence exemplifies the struggle to free a fellow oppressed human and transform them over into reality. At first it's going to seem ridiculous but, step by step one can start to comprehend the bigger picture. "He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world."

While everyone has their own version of reality, many people today don''t want to take the time to understand each other's stance. It is hard work, as said in this allegory. It is much easier to stick to your own way of thinking rather than take time to wrap your mind around an idea that may seem so far out there. This allegory provides a solution to some greater misunderstandings of life but it is one of those concepts that is much easier said than done.

Stephanie S.

Plato

I have read “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato many times now, but it is one piece of literature that I never get tired of reading. I love the set up being in dialogue it almost makes it easier to follow then it would if it were in a continues one speaker set up. The dialogue also allows the things being disgusted to be questions and analyzed further which really helps with grasping this complex concept. I love the scene that Plato lays out for us, the men chained up never seeing the real would only those that are being played in front of them by the players, and they're only see shadows. That whole concept of never seeing anything real and with substance just sounds terrible and not a way to live a life, the enlightenment that one man receives, the real world, just seems like what everyone should have. I understand what Plato is getting at the being enlightened part, but I don't think that others shouldn't get to experience the world and the truth. Plato said himself “the upper world where they desire to dwell; which desire of theirs is very natural”, it is natural we're supposed to be exposed to all that there is to offer outside “holes” and “caves”.
Kylee w.

plato

I was thinking about the Plato reading later after we had talked about it in class and thought of an explanation for whats going on. It is a metaphor for growing up in a culture (the cave) and being blinded by it. Then about leaving the cave (or your neighborhood/culture) and seeing the world as a whole.
One man leaves and sees an overwhelming amount of the world and then he feels truly enlightened, like he has seen all there is to see. He feels he knows the meaning of life, people, the world. He then starts to teach others, he is "all knowing" so in his mind, he is fit to teach others. Then he goes back to the cave/neighborhood and he knows nothing, he has forgotten what it is to look at the world from different perspectives.
Another man leaves the cave and studies all sorts of worldly things but also he just observes and takes in what he sees. But he soon realizes that the more he sees the less he knows and he is humbled, and he is wise. He should be the teacher as he will teach them that there is always more to learn.

PLATO

Reading this allegory enabled me to reflect. Of course, while reading all of our texts, there has been some critical thinking involved in each. I enjoyed reading it. Plato causes you to think critically because of being interested and not because of being asked too. I enjoyed his views on how being enlightened can have pros and cons. I liked the picture I got to mind when he portrayed would it would be like to be enlightened and to go back to where one came from and from being in darkness and experiencing light.

It seems that when you have been naive, whether it be in certain areas of your life or because of being sheltered, and you are introduced to the light of knowledge and truth, that things would become better and clearer. Sometimes, I believe Plato was inferring, that you can lose sight of the value of being enlightened and mistake it for being better than someone else or rather, the people that are in the position you were once in.

He brings up politics , as he was very involved in this area during his time, and he goes off on the limb with the bold statement to say that the enlightened are the leaders. That statement holds a lot of truth. But even those politicians lose sight to the problems that once hindered them.

While it seems confusing, Plato made a lot of points that have to do with today's society.

Plato

Plato
To reflect upon this reading, it has a lot to do with today’s society. Whether it’s through media or religions, we now today strive to live better. As an example such as Christians, they are wanted to be accepted to heaven. They want to live in a good environment after death. Christians fear the fact that they will be sent to hell rather than the peaceful heaven. Everyday people live with sin, sin sometime just come their way.
It is interesting to me how it explains in the story how if a man tried to struggle to get free it would just suffer more and it was a sin. It also explains how these drawing or paintings on the walls spoke to them and how you can see the shadow. The beliefs from these people through their religion allow them to suffer. In so many different aspects, if the prisoners were to look at the light they would become blind and not able to see they would look away. Therefore, to comfort themselves in the suffering pain in the cave, they imagine their own story with closed eyes. Here it quotes “I think that he would suffer than anything than entertain the false notions and live in this miserable manner.” These prisoners were actually never to see or experience the realities of the real world.

John Her