FREE ESSAY ON PLATO'S ALLEGORY OF CAVES

PLATO'S ALLEGORY OF CAVES

1. Plato's Allegory of the Caves.
2. In Book VII of The Republic, Plato tells a story entitled The Allegory of the Caves.
In this story he describes a dark underground cave where a group of people are sitting in
one long row with their backs to the cave's entrance. Bound to their chairs since
childhood, all the humans can see is the distant cave wall in front of them with shadows
being displayed. Their view of reality is solely based upon this rather limited view of
moving shadows. This is what is real to them. It is important to note that the prisoners
do not realize that they are being held captive, since that existence is all they have
ever known.
3. I think this is a great explanation for the truth being only mere images that are
subject to be classified by our perception and intellect. I find Plato's allegory to be
very easy to follow and to understand. It is a great example of the world being how we
perceive it and how our view of reality can be bound and limited, and sometimes altered.

We perceive things everyday, no matter where we are going or what we are doing, there's
no way we can avoid it. Every thing we experience in life as a person is subjected to our
own personal understanding of what those things are. Whether it be a human, plant, or
animal, a concept or abstract thought-we categorize and identify with these things by
associating them with what we know, what we've learned, and what and how we discern them
to be. 
Now whether we limit ourselves personally on what we know as real is somewhat of an
individual matter. We choose what we want to learn and what we don't want to learn. We
do, and refuse to do, all sorts of things that could expand the knowledge of our
environment and the rest of the world around us, and this, in turn, sets our own
standards and limitations; creates our own personal cave so to speak. We create our own
beliefs or follow others'-sometimes blindly, I might add. Our own distinguished
personalities and upbringing would give way to structure and develop our individual 
They are oblivious to the truths of the outside world, save for the shadows dancing on
the cave wall in front of them.
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