the allegory of the cave analysis essay

A Summary and Analysis of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Perhaps the most famous idea in all of Plato’s work is the Allegory of the Cave. This much-discussed (and much-misunderstood) story is a key part of Plato’s Republic , a work which has the claim to be the first ever literary utopia.

In The Republic , Plato and a number of other philosophers discuss the ideal society, focusing on education, political leadership, and the role and responsibility of the individual within society.

The Allegory of the Cave represents a number of the core ideas of Plato’s thinking in one short, accessible parable. But what is the meaning of this allegory? Before we offer an analysis of Plato’s idea, here’s a summary of what he says about it in The Republic .

One of the key ideas on Plato’s Republic is his theory of forms, where ‘forms’ means much the same as ‘ideas’. And the Allegory of the Cave represents Plato’s approach to ideas.

We are invited to imagine a group of people sitting in an underground cave, facing the walls. They are chained up and they cannot move their heads. Behind them, a fire is forever burning, and its flames cast shadows onto the cave walls.

Between the fire and the cave walls, there is a road, and people walk along this road, carrying various objects: models of animals made of stone and wood, human statuettes, and other things. The people who walk along the road, and the objects they carry, cast shadows on the cave walls.

The people who are chained in the cave and facing the wall can only see the shadows of the people (and the objects they carry): never the actual people and objects walking past behind them. To the people chained up in the cave, these shadows appear to be reality, because they don’t know any better.

Reality, to these people chained in the cave, is only ever a copy of a copy: the shadows of the original forms which themselves remain beyond our view.

But someone comes and unchains the people in the cave. Now they’re free. Let’s say that one of them is set free and encouraged to look towards the fire behind him and his fellow cave-dwellers. He can now see that the things he took for reality until now were merely shadows on the wall.

But this knowledge isn’t, at first, a good thing. The revelation is almost overwhelming. The light of the fire hurts his eyes, and when he is dragged up the slope that leads out of the cave, and he sees the sun outside, and is overwhelmed by its light.

In time, however, he comes to accept that the sun is the true source of light in the world, the cause of the seasons and the annual cycle of things. And he would come to feel sorry for those who remain behind in the cave and are content to believe that the shadows on the cave wall are reality. Indeed, the people who remain behind in the cave believe he wasted his time in going outside and simply ruined his eyes for nothing.

But the man who has been outside knows there is no going back to his old beliefs: his perception of the world has changed forever. He cannot rejoin those prisoners who sit and watch the shadows on the wall. They, for their part, would resist his attempts to free them, and would sooner killer him than be led out of the cave, as he was.

And so if the man who has seen the sun returns to the cave, his eyes will take time to adjust back to the darkness of the cave and to the shadows on the wall. He will now be at a disadvantage to his fellow cave-dwellers, who have never left the cave and seen the light.

An allegory is a story that has a double meaning : as The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory puts it, an allegory has a primary or surface meaning, but it also has a secondary or under-the-surface meaning. This is certainly true of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. But what is its secondary meaning?

Although The Republic is classified as a work of philosophy, it is structured more like a dialogue or even a play (though not a dramatic one), in that it takes the form of a conversation between several philosophers: Socrates, Glaucon, Plato himself, and a number of other figures are all ‘characters’ in the Republic .

The Allegory of the Cave, as Plato’s comments indicate, is about the philosopher seeing beyond the material world and into the ‘intelligible’ one. The symbolism of the cave being underground is significant, for the philosopher’s journey is upwards towards higher things, including the sun: a symbol for the divine, but also for truth (those two things are often conflated in religions: Jesus, for example, referred to himself as ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ in John 14:6).

Plato insists, however, that the philosopher has a duty to return to the material world, to the world of the cave and its inhabitants (or prisoners ), and to try to open their eyes to the truth. It is no good leaving the cave behind. The philosopher must return down into the cave and face ridicule or even persecution for what he has to say: he has to be prepared for the unpleasant fact that most people, contented with their mental ‘chains’ and their limited view of the world, will actively turn on anyone who challenges their beliefs, no matter how wrong those beliefs are.

People come to love their chains, and being shown that everything you’ve believed is a lie will prove too much (as Plato acknowledges) for many people, and even, initially, for the philosopher. (It is curious how prophetic Plato was: his teacher and friend Socrates would indeed be ridiculed by Aristophanes in his play The Clouds , and later he would be put on trial, and sentenced to death, for his teachings.)

In other words, those people who have seen the ideal world, have a responsibility to educate those in the material world rather than keep their knowledge to themselves. So we can see how Plato’s Allegory of the Cave relates not only to the core ideas of The Republic , but also to Plato’s philosophy more broadly.

There are several further details to note about the symbolism present in the allegory. One detail which is often overlooked, but which is important to note, is the significance of those objects which the people on the road are carrying: they are, Plato tells us, human statuettes or animal models carved from wood or stone.

Why is this significant? These objects cast their shadows on the walls of the cave, and the people chained in the cave mistake the shadows for the real objects, because they don’t know anything different. But the objects themselves are copies of things rather than the original things themselves: statues of humans rather than real humans, and models of animals rather than the real thing.

So, as Robin Waterfield notes in his excellent notes to his translation of Plato’s Republic , the objects are ‘effigies’ of real things, or reflections of types . This means that the shadows on the wall are reflections of reflections of types, therefore. So (as Waterfield puts it) the shadows on the wall might represent, say, a kind of moral action, while the objects/statues/effigies themselves are a person’s thoughts on morality.

When these thoughts are observed in the material world (i.e., on the cave wall), we are observing a moral action somebody has taken, which is a reflection of some moral code or belief (the effigy that cast the shadow).

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Analysis of Plato's The Allegory of The Cave

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

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‘The Allegory of The Cave’ by Plato: Summary and Meaning

The ‘Allegory Of The Cave’ is a theory put forward by Plato , concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.

‘The Allegory of the Cave’ by Plato

 In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato distinguishes between people who mistake sensory knowledge for the truth and people who really do see the truth. It goes like this:

 The Cave

• Imagine a cave, in which there are three prisoners. The prisoners are tied to some rocks, their arms and legs are bound and their head is tied so that they cannot look at anything but the stonewall in front of them.
• These prisoners have been here since birth and have never seen outside of the cave.
• Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between them is a raised walkway.
• People outside the cave walk along this walkway carrying things on their head including; animals, plants, wood and stone.

 The Shadows

• So, imagine that you are one of the prisoners. You cannot look at anything behind or to the side of you – you must look at the wall in front of you.
• When people walk along the walkway, you can see shadows of the objects they are carrying cast on to the wall.
•  If you had never seen the real objects ever before, you would believe that the shadows of objects were ‘real.

 The Game

• Plato suggests that the prisoners would begin a ‘game’ of guessing which shadow would appear next.
• If one of the prisoners were to correctly guess, the others would praise him as clever and say that he were a master of nature.

 The Escape

• One of the prisoners then escapes from their bindings and leaves the cave.
• He is shocked at the world he discovers outside the cave and does not believe it can be real.
• As he becomes used to his new surroundings, he realizes that his former view of reality was wrong.
• He begins to understand his new world, and sees that the Sun is the source of life and goes on an intellectual journey where he discovers beauty and meaning
• He see’s that his former life, and the guessing game they played is useless.

 The Return

• The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners of his findings.
• They do not believe him and threaten to kill him if he tries to set them free.

‘ The Allegory of The Cave’ by Plato – The Meaning

The Allegory of the cave by Plato should not be taken at face value. In essays and exams, whoever is marking it expects you to have a deeper understanding of the meaning of the theory. You can then use these to think about criticisms and then to form your own opinion.

• In Plato’s theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world – empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding.

The Shadows

• The Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Plato’s opinion you are a ‘pleb’ if you believe this (their insult for those who are not Philosophers)!
• The Game represents how people believe that one person can be a ‘master’ when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this.
• The escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses.
• The Sun represents philosophical truth and knowledge
• His intellectual journey represents a philosophers journey when finding truth and wisdom
• The other prisoners reaction to the escapee returning represents that people are scared of knowing philosophical truths and do not trust philosophers.

It is always recommended that you read the original text by Plato to reach the top grades. If you would like to purchase ‘The Republic’ by Plato, click here !

You might also like to read about Plato’s Theory of Forms .

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123 thoughts on “‘The Allegory of The Cave’ by Plato: Summary and Meaning”

i beleive the idea of plato… the philosphers should be given the chance to manage the affirs of the state.

you put beleive its believe

I before E except after C. It is weird.

“i before e, except after c and, sometimes, y or w” i beleive (sic) is how we learned it. 🙂

a, e, i,m o, u and sometimes y and w

Close. We learned for the vowels. a, e, i, o,u, and sometimes y and w. As in ‘by’ and ‘bow’ for the long o sound

Eight, just saying.

But is it really believe, or is that just what you percieve it to be? Is that just the shadow you have seen cast on the wall? Or have you seen it in a mirror, reversing the i and the e from thier correct position? Have you ever truly seen believe in its true form to know that it is believe, instead of beleive??? Lol

Seriously LMAO!

My mind is blown

you put thier its their

You put “its”, it’s “it’s”

Hilarious!!! You’ve got jokes, but you misspelled ‘perceive’!! Lol!!

Are you sure they misspelled it or is that just how it’s perceived? Lol!

I like that! Lol

Came here for a research to Alice in Wonderland & Alice through the looking glass. In the beginning of the second book she tries to read a poem about the Jabberwocky, but it’s mirrored because she is already on the other side of the “looking glass”, so she has to read it in front of it. And now here is also a comment of an Alice. Nice! Furthermore I think the dialogues here are somehow as confusing as the ones in the books – “You put “its”, it’s “it’s” – could be right out of the books!!

Could it be possible the cave is a metaphor for our daily lives some caves are nicer than others

but what distinguishes one cave from being nicer than the last

The cave is the metaphor of our life’s. It’s the life society tries to force down our minds making us believe that these things that hardly anybody understands is what the truth is and simply it’s not. I’ve been through so much in my life and wanted to give up and my prison of watching the world on the wall wasn’t working for me so I went out and lived my life recklessly and caused people harm if they caused it to me. I stole, I sinned, cheated, hurt , haven’t killed but just pretty much everything u can think of I did. I lived my life and I mean my Grammer is not of the best but it’s enough for being able to drop out of school and just watch the world as my day went by. I’m interested in people watching I like to call it. So crazy what everyone does including myself when the fire is put underneath them or when something food happens in their life. U get to understand the true beauty in life when u take the time to acknowledge it. When I was younger two males had sex with me and it confused me of why me I was a kid and did nothing wrong. Did I deserve that. Did I do something wrong. It scared me because I always heard that when something like this happens to someone they turn into that person. Well stelruggled with it my entire life and I’ve been addicted to drugs cuz of it. I have so many scars on my body from cutting myself I’ve tried hanging myself suicide by cop sitting out in the mountains with a gun to my head putting myself in situations where I should have been killed or not survived but still here. I see the world for how it truly is and I see the beauty in people where someone would just see o he is a loser. He is a drugy. She is a prostitute. Ya I cuss and ya I sin but I feel like I am more knowledgeable than most cuz of the stuff I’ve been thru that I’ve put people thru and that I just simply watched from people in my everyday life. I feel like people who claim to know this and that just because they read a book on how they think people might act or look when they wouldn’t know because they haven’t lived thru it or seen people live thru it. Idk they say o u can tell when someone is lying to you because they look away or they look in a certain direction if they are lying cuz the heart is on this side and bla bla bla. Na Maybe they look away cuz it’s uncomfortable to talk about it and they don’t know if they can trust u not to use things against them so their eyes wander. Idk everybody asks what’s wrong with the world now a days and blaming them or him or her when we should like into ourselfs and really think like is this the person I want to be when Jesus comes. I know I want to be better and I struggle with many things but I know my love is pure and I have such a heart that God himself filled with love and even tho it’s been broken so much it still loves feels compassion and forgives. I forgave the guys that did that cuz it was making me bitter I forgive the people breaking my heart or lying to me doing me wrong by cheating I still go out and search for love. I can’t give up because I know I’m here to save someone with my knowledge of trials and tribulations if I can just save one my life and purpose would bring glory to Jesus name. I’m ok with that but I’m scared of trying things in my life have been weird I definitely need some guidance but I feel my calling and just ready to dig in and move forward. Sorry I know I didn’t properly use my grammar because it’s just easier and faster to write the way I do but for someone dropping out of school his first year in high-school I feel like I ain’t doing to bad and have a greater understanding of life’s meaning and of others. I like to say I’m an old soul. Anyways sorry just wanted to say that.

It’s Television now,not the shadows.Fake News, politicians and world leaders we follow, and don’t listen if your not on Tv. Your just a crazy person who can read between the lines and know not be on a platform created by the media.

i really like the idea of Plato… we should trust philosophers!!!

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The Gininus Plato!!

that is true we should not relie on our senses perception instead we should goes beyond these senses perception where we can attain the true knowledge

So true, we can only trust the one beyond our senses. Outside of time and space.

Do you mean GOD

The principle behind the thought is one I believe we all know, or at least can relate to but few ever have the courage to pursue. Oh we may begin to but when it gets too difficult to ponder, we retreat back to the safety of empirical reality.

your reality is a perception based on what you think you know, what do you really know. I now I can or I can not, I know I have a choice, I know that I am conscious. I can, I have, I am.

I still don’t understand this concept. Is this you only believe what you see or hear rather to go out and seek the truth?

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the prisoners are scared of knowing the truth..funny innit?hehhe lmao

The shadows are religious beliefs. The other prisoners, the one who guessed what was next, and revered for his wisdom, is a symbol of religious “leaders.”. The prisoner who escapes is a free thinker. The prisoners who attack his message when he returns are bible thumping no-nothing’s who stick to the shadows as reality.

This isn’t about religion, it’s about seeking knowledge and being rejected for it. It’s basically a huge metaphor for what Socrates went through in the Apology when he was sentenced to death for asking questions that challenged the accepted believes of that time.

Plato’s allegory of the cave, is his epistemology nd view about reality. to him, dis world that is susceptible to sight nd sense experience is but an imperfect reflection of the perfect world of really real. The world of the cave nd the world of eventual reality can be akin to painting which imperfect ly copies the real one. standing on this projected fact, I think plato is right in his metaphysics.

Rather, it is the opposite. It is about how materialism, or modern atheism, is based on using observations of the shadows and not seeking the truth that has always been outside their realm of “knowledge.” I believe you are missing the entire point of the allegory.

Sorry, Dan, it is you who missed Plato’s point. Plato is not writing in his Cave Allegory about any divinity, per se. Instead, Plato uses symbolic reasoning and metaphor to demonstrate that, in order to be properly informed about the world around them, and to achieve true wisdom, human beings must look beyond the physical world to obtain “true” knowledge. The physical world for Plato is a pale imitation of the metaphysical world. We then, as wise human beings, should carefully examine the metaphysical world that Plato clearly delineates is a different one, from which it presupposes (the physical realm). We do this through careful and unceasing introspection and philosophical debate with others, employing The Socratic Method of Reasoning. We question reality, by not taking it at face value. Since Plato feels that the immaterial world is immune from the laws of nature and time, those things that then exist in it, are, hence, more real than their counterparts in the tangible (concrete) world of reality. You missed the point Dan. Plato’s Cave Allegory is much more concerned about generic epistemology and it has very little to do with theology.

This story can be interpreted in many ways. Whether you view it from a religious, philosophical, or other perspective, it can mean different things. Some people may relate this story to religious beliefs, while others may think of an entirely different circumstance, such as social problems. In the end, no matter how you perceive it or what you may relate it to, this story is representing enlightenment from the simplicity that was previously known and the ignorance and distrust of those who are still oblivious.

Yes this is the way I see it, it represents many different things, but ultimately knowledge.

Anonymous, It’s an allegory, so, yes, it is to be interpreted on a variety of levels. But Plato’s allusions to theology (in his Cave Allegory) are very subtle, if they do exist at all. This means that any such religious allusions are not impossible, but, rather, just not very likely.

You are exactly right! Everyone should read Any Rand then you will truly know what a great philosopher is! She believed that you must use only your senses (otherwise we are getting into otherworldly) aka (metaphysical) to rule your life.

Wow its clear describes

The bottom line is that the prisoners should never have committed a crime to begin with or else they would already have had a real normal reality instead of the demented one they have created for themselves by violating the law. Prisoners belong in prison (usually).

Ur an idiot, it says they were born there and never knew anything else

They were held captive because they were tied up, they just used prisoners to describe them because it’s more convenient.

The definition of prisoner is a person deprived of liberty and kept under involuntary restraint, confinement, or custody. They’re called that because it’s what they are, not because it’s more convenient. If they were guilty of a crime they would’ve either been called criminals or felons.

Ouch George! Is this your personal experience? Anything or anyone can be guilty of that. It could even be people who are told all their lives that they are their own masters and to look after their own selves/needs – suddenly they are exposed to something other than their own selfishness and bam … they are enlightened. Lots of things that keep people in the dark – I think.

George shut up ! You sound just like the prisoners .

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The reason why dumb people do not trust philosophers is that they are too lazy to keep their minds working.

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FYI, IMHO, “A Course in Miracles” has a much darker, more complex, and psychologically sophisticated version of this allegory.

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Very insightful.

The contrast that Plato refers to is between empirical knowledge that has to be filtered through our subjective perception and philosophical argument that does not. For example; how can we be sure that your perception of the colour green is the same as mine? We cannot. However the philosophical observation that this is the case is a pure, ultimate piece of knowledge.

Socrates made it simple, our senses deceive and broke us from perceiving reality as it is. Thus, it is only logic and rational that is reliable. Thanks

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THE THEORY IS UTMOSTLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERING THAT AT TIMES INDIVIDUALS LIVE IN SELF ENDORSED BONDAGE. UNTIL ONE COMES OUT OF THE CAVE THEN THEY MAY PICK REALITY AND HAVE SUBSTANTIATED PERCEPTIONS REGARDING MYSTERIES OF THE WORLD, AND THUS ATTAIN MENTAL LIBERATION WHICH WITH TIME UNFOLDS TO PHYSICAL AND TOTALLIBERATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL….

Mental liberation is a catchy phrase. What is the self that witnesses thought and emotion? Where is the self that witnesses seas of human time? It is more than mental.

The self the witnesses the seas of human time,,,what does that mean

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Can you say ignorance is bliss no matter what stage you’re at the ones who are tied up the shadow guys and the guys on top of the fire all three stages are ignorant

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I dont get what this book is suppposed to be about

Philosophy is life, to ignore the journey to search for the truth is equally to choose darkness or death. Senses deceives, its only logic/rational reasoning that yield knowledge. The truth will set you free …

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that is a great idea from our father.it is my wish that all people will accept his theory and goes by it to the benefit of all ,thanks.

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I remember a saying by a blind man, he extolled, “now I see the light,” hum! he still blind . . . .

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Great post! Have nice day ! 🙂 gtogs

Perhaps it simply means that our minds are imprisioned by our life experiences, represented by the prisoners in the cave. The escaped prisoner represents an ‘epiphany ‘, or ‘enlightenment’. The prisoners who wouldn’t listen, represents the difficulty people have in opening their closed minds

How would you know that something is real if you are rationalist or empiricist ?

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The persons in the cave are in their comfort zone. This is true of every group or community. They do not accept of believe in an other possibility.

Yeah this is true

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The allegory can be a wake-up call to those already imprisoned by the parochialism of their own thinking; you can’t have an idea of the whole house, for example, if you just stay in a single room within that house; somebody that has being to all the rooms and veranda, living room, has more education about the house than you have. So for me the myth is also the effect of education, and the lack of it. Thanks

Everything is made up. The reality of our lives is that we should be all just animals looking for food and shelter and ultimately survive (just like Apes) Unfortunately (or fortunately) we figured out how to communicate verbally with one another and tried to put logic to our new world. So we made up the fact that words,god,money,governments,banks,schools,Royals etc etc actually exist. In realty none of our world has to exist. We only need to look for food and find shelter.

Of course our senses can deceive us. But if we were all born without senses, we would not be able to make logical statements either

What Plato proved with his cave allegory is that as soon as you deprive people from correctly perceiving the world, from as many different angles as possible, and with all the senses they have, they will make false statements about the world by using “logocal (philosophical) reasoning”. So , more or less the opposite of what he was claiming.

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one would hope that the prisoner who escaped( the “philosopher”)was open minded enough to admit that his views were subjective just like those of the chained prisoners. What if what he was describing to them were holograms? Point is: Even from the “ignorant” there may be experience-derived “philosophy”.

maybe we can never leave our caves, and reality doesn’t exist in images – light after all is only a secondary reflection from an object – our dreams are the only truth

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These comments were surprisingly fun to read. Now everyone back to guessing the next shadow- shape!…lol

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I remember hearing that one would need a sense of absolute beauty , a sense of justice, an education, and go through a period of isolation in order to be freed and see the truth.

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Look around you.. people in fear.. wearing masks, placing them in their children’s faces.. suffocating.. forgetting to smile, to laugh, to live.. Sitting compliantly on the front of their media, taking in it’s poison gulp by gulp.. worshipping censorship deep in the ignorance of their comfort.. when you bring the truth to them, they’ll cover you with all they’ve clogged inside. They’ll fact-check you for their own safety and for the “greater good”.. Turning into shadows.. in fear..

Thats ridiculous. There is a pandemic, of course the world is living in fear. It is clear you haven’t lost anyone to Covid yet.

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I completely agree with you. People have been conditioned and indoctrinated to accept this false reality of the Scamdemic.

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None are masters, and none can discern the truth. The one who leaves the cave sees only greater shadows. _____

As for any pleb who thinks the pandemic is a conspiracy, or somehow fake- you are merely that prisoner chained to a rock in a cave, staring at a wall in the flickering light, and claiming you can see shapes in it (but the puppeteers left days ago because they cannot stand you).

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“I” before “e”, except after “c” Or when sounding like “a” as in neighbor or weigh. And it is weird lol

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Doesn’t necessarily always make sense though…. It is not the fault of those who believe what they see because it’s really all they know and they have not been given a chance. Not everyone in society has the chance to escape and learn the truths of things to become the Philosopher. Plato’s views are sort of corrupt in the sense where he believes that in the Just Polis the children not showing signs of being the “good children” or the Guardians simply deserve to die while the good children are catered to and prepared to be the leaders/philosophers. It’s like giving someone a handicap at birth and then expecting them to run a marathon. Just doesn’t make sense that people are ridiculed for something they don’t have the capacity to do…. Give everyone a chance to escape the cave and then society as a collective will be educated and know the truth of things. This is my perspective at least.

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This summary of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave really helped clarify the core concepts for me! It’s fascinating to think about how the shadows on the wall represent our perceptions of reality. I’d love to hear more about how this allegory applies to our modern society and the way we consume information today!

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“Allegory of the Cave”

This essay will analyze Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” from “The Republic.” It will discuss the philosophical themes of perception, reality, and enlightenment presented in the allegory. The piece will explore how the allegory metaphorically represents Plato’s theory of the forms and his views on knowledge, ignorance, and the philosopher’s role in society. PapersOwl offers a variety of free essay examples on the topic of Allegory.

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Explain, analyze, and interpret Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” from Book VII of Republic (p.193-198; 514a-519b). Plato was an ancient Athenian Philosopher who studied under fellow philosopher Socrates. He would later become one of the most influential philosophers of all time. One of Plato’s most notable works and most famous allegory was the “Allegory of the Cave”. Plato uses the “Allegory of the Cave” as a tool to show us, readers, his views on society and true knowledge. Need a custom essay on the same topic? Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and we’ll deliver the highest-quality essay! Order now

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” could be a critique to Athenian Society and or society in general. Many elements in the “Allegory of the Cave” are metaphors for elements in society. The main protagonist of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is Socrates, and he speaks to a person named Glaucon throughout the allegory. The allegory begins with Socrates telling Glaucon to see human beings as though they were imprisoned in an underground cave. These humans are in this cave for their entire childhood with their legs and necks in bonds. This means that they can only see what is in front of them. Their light is from a fire burning far above and behind them. Between the fire and the prisoners, there is a road above, along which we see a wall.

There are puppet-handlers set in front of the human beings and over which they show the puppets (Republic 514a-514b). These prisoners represent the members of society who are not enlightened and or people in general. Throughout the allegory, the prisoners, in the cave were constantly being deceived and manipulated. Plato is using the prisoners to show us, readers, that as members of society, we are also constantly being manipulated and deceived. The shadows may represent the general beliefs that people gain from society. During the “Allegory of the Cave” the shadows that the prisoners are seeing are being manipulated to show different images. Plato may be using the shadows to tell us that the things that we believe in are being manipulated and controlled by society.

The cave and bonds both represent the aspects of society that hold people back from seeing how things really are. Tradition is an example of an aspect of society that holds people back from seeing how things truly are is. Tradition holds people back from seeing the truth because it encourages people to not think critically. Instead of using logic and reason many people tend to rely on tradition and past events because it is easier to do so. Relying on tradition can lead to deception because society changes over time. Tradition also holds people back from seeing the truth because the truth can sometimes be found in new and improved ideas. A lot of the time new and improved ideas that don’t go along with tradition are automatically discredited.

The puppet-handlers represent the people in society who have the power to influence the general public. Examples of the people in society who have the power to influence the general public are politicians and teachers. The main reason why politicians and teacher have the power to influence the general public is that they have very important positions. Teachers can instill values and morals into their students from a very young age. Politicians can create and enforce laws that can dictate our actions and thinking. In the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato is painting the puppet-handlers as deceivers.

The puppet-handlers are deceivers because they are making the prisoners believe that the shadows, they are seeing are real. Plato uses the puppet-handlers to show us, readers, that the people in society who have the power to influence the general public, politicians, and teachers, are deceitful. Plato would say that the main reason why teachers and politicians are deceitful is that they lack true knowledge. Plato would consider teachers and politicians Sophists. In this day in age Sophists would be any person who uses clever but false arguments.

In the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato uses metaphors to show us, readers, that people are conditioned to believe in things that are false from a very young age. In the “Allegory of the Cave” Socrates asks Glaucon a variety of different questions concerning the prisoners in the cave. Socrates asks, “Do you think that the prisoners would have able to see anything other than the shadows cast by the fire on the side of the cave facing them?” (Republic 515a-515b). Glaucon responds by saying “How could they? If their bonds forced them to keep their heads still for their entire lives?” (Republic 515a-515b). Socrates then asks “And what about the things that are carried by? Isn’t this the same with them? “(Republic 515b).

Glaucon responds by saying of course (Republic 515b). Socrates then asks Glaucon “If they were to discuss things with one another, don’t you believe they would think that they are naming these things going by them that they see?” (Republic 515b). Glaucon responds by saying necessarily (Republic 515b). Socrates then asks Glaucon “And what if the prison also had an echo from one side facing them? Whenever one of the men passing by happens to utter a sound, do you suppose they would believe that anything other than the passing shadow was uttering the sound? (Republic 515b). Glaucon responded by saying no by Zeus, I don’t (Republic 515b). This exchange between Socrates and Glaucon shows that the prisoners must believe that the shadows they are seeing are real. The shadows are real to them because they have been exposed to them for virtually their entire lives. The prisoners have not had the ability to see how the real world is.

The prisoners also have no choice but to believe that the inaccurate and confused opinions of their fellow prisoners are true. The prisoners being essentially forced to believe in deceptive illusions because of their surroundings and their upbringing is very comparable to how society currently is and was during Plato’s time. From the beginning of time children have been conditioned to believe in certain things at a young age. The things people are taught at a young age are also reinforced as they get older. The things that people are taught at a young age are not always correct. Plato is trying to tell us readers as a society we are blindly believing inaccurate things because we are conditioned to do so from a very young age. This means people need to use their own critical thinking skills to find the truth.

In the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato also uses metaphors to show us, readers, that seeing the truth for the first time can be difficult. During the allegory Socrates asks Glaucon to consider what would happen if a prisoner was able to free themselves (Republic 515c). In this hypothetical situation Socrates says that if the prisoner turned around, they would not be able to clearly see the objects that were casting the shadows that they have been watching (Republic 515c). Socrates also said that the prisoner’s eyes would be hurting them because their eyes would be overpowered by the light from the fire (Republic 515c). The prisoner having difficulty seeing the true objects that were casting the shadows is a metaphor.

The objects that were casting the shadows represent reality. The prisoner had trouble seeing the true objects that were casting the shadows because they were so accustomed to seeing their shadows. Plato is trying to tell us, readers, that when you are accustomed to believing things that are inaccurate it is hard to see reality. The prisoner’s eyes being overwhelmed by the light is also a metaphor. The light from the fire represents the truth. Plato is trying to tell us, readers, that seeing the truth could be overwhelming and uncomfortable if you are not used to it. Socrates then asks Glaucon what would happen if someone told the prisoner that the shadows they saw before were just allusions, and the objects they were now seeing are the truth (Republic 515d). Glaucon comes to the determination that the prisoner would believe that the illusions were the truth and the true objects were the illusions (Republic 515d). Plato does this to show us readers that people would have difficulties seeing the truth if it did not align with what they have been taught to believe throughout their entire lives.

In the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato also uses a metaphor to show us, readers, that being forced to see the truth could be troublesome for people. Socrates asks Glaucon what would happen if a prisoner was pulled out of the cave (Republic 516a). Socrates also asks wouldn’t the prisoner be annoyed being pulled out of the cave by force (Republic 516a). Plato has Socrates ask these questions to Glaucon because he wants us readers to conclude that the prisoner would not enjoy being pulled out of the cave by force. The prisoner not enjoying being pulled out of the cave by force is a metaphor. The cave represents the aspects of society that hold people back from seeing how things really are.

The outside of the cave represents the truth and reality. A prisoner being pulled out of the cave allows them to see the outside world. Plato is trying to tell us readers that people don’t like being forced to see the truth. People are normally not willing to escape the aspects of society that are holding them back from seeing the truth. This is because they have been so accustomed to them. Plato also uses metaphors to show us, readers, that seeing the truth could be difficult at first, but overtime you will get accustomed to seeing it. Socrates asks Glaucon would the prisoners be able to see the sun when they left the cave for the first time (Republic 516a). Glaucon responded by saying that the prisoner wouldn’t be able to see the sun immediately. Socrates then says the prisoner would eventually get used to seeing the sun (Republic 516a).

This exchange shows that the prisoner would eventually be able to see the sun clearly after being initially blinded by it. This is a metaphor. The sun represents the truth and the real world. Seeing the sun for the first time is just like seeing the truth for the first time. When people see the truth for the first time, they get overwhelmed and want to turn away from it. When you see the truth for the first-time people rather go back to what they are accustomed to. However, the more you are exposed to the truth the easier it is to grasp. After you obtain the truth you have to ability to see that you have been deceived for your entire life. Plato also uses a metaphor to show us, readers, that a person finds true happiness after they become enlightened. Socrates asks Glaucon would the prisoner be happy and have pity for his fellow prisoners after clearly seeing the sun for the first time (Republic 516c). Glaucon responded by saying yes (Republic 516c).

The prisoner that is happy after seeing the sun for the first time represents an enlightened person after they see the truth for the first time. The prisoners left behind in the cave represent the members of society who are not enlightened. Plato is using this exchange between Socrates and Glaucon to show us that he believes that the key to happiness is being enlightened. Plato is also using this exchange between Socrates and Glaucon to show us that enlightened people should pity the people who are not. Enlightened people should not feel like they are superior to unenlightened people. In the “Allegory of the Cave” Plato also uses metaphors to show the danger of being a philosopher and being enlightened. Socrates asks Glaucon

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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: the Journey Out of Ignorance

Author: Spencer Case Categories: Historical Philosophy , Philosophy of Education , Metaphysics , Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge Word count: 998

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Plato (428/427–348/347 B.C.E.) was an ancient Greek philosopher who wrote play-like dialogues, often using his late teacher, Socrates, as his mouthpiece.

Plato’s book The Republic is a dialogue about justice. It contains the “Allegory of the Cave”, a fanciful story that illustrates some of Plato’s ideas about education and the distinction between appearance and reality.

This essay introduces the Allegory and explains its meaning.

1. The Story

In Republic Book VII, Socrates is talking with Plato’s brother, Glaucon. Socrates asks Glaucon to imagine a group of people held captive in a cave since childhood, chained so that they can’t move their heads and can only see the cave wall in front of them. A fire blazes behind them, and puppeteers on a platform cast shadows on the cave wall. The prisoners spend their time discussing these shadows and the echoes they hear, which they assume are noises made by the shadows. This is the only “reality” they know.

One day, a prisoner is released and made to walk out of the cave. The ascent is arduous. The light from the fire, and then from the mouth of the cave, hurts his eyes. It intensifies until he steps outside into the blinding sunlight. As his eyes adjust, the freed prisoner is gradually able to see the things around him—only shadows at first, then ordinary objects such as trees and rocks. The last thing he’s able to see clearly is the sun because it’s the brightest.

Now that the freed prisoner is outside, he wouldn’t return to captivity in the cave for anything. But he pities those still trapped there. So he decides to help them escape. Unfortunately, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. When he returns to the cave, the prisoners find his testimony unbelievable. Worse, his eyes aren’t used to the darkness, so he can’t see the shadows as well as he could before.

In time, his eyes would adjust and he’d understand the shadows better than any of the prisoners, since he’d seen the real things that cause the shadows. Still, in the prisoners’ eyes, he’s a fool. If he tried to release them, they’d kill him for his effort.

2. Interpretation

Socrates tells Glaucon that the prisoners are like us: most of us are ignorant. The journey out of the cave represents our journey from ignorance toward knowledge of what’s most real . The words “most real” might sound strange. We usually think that things are either real or unreal. But, for Plato, some things are more “real” than others.

Plato thinks that two kinds of things exist: changing things we perceive with our senses, i.e., physical objects, and unchanging forms we only “see” intellectually. Physical objects are imperfect imitations of the forms, like shadows. They derive their existence from the forms, and so the forms, for Plato, are more real than the objects.

To take a concrete example: horses are real, but the form of the horse , which we can think of as an ideal horse, is more real than any individual horse can be, since all horses derive their being from “participation” in it.

There’s also a hierarchy among the forms. The greatest form, the “Form of the Good”—the sun in the Allegory—is the ultimate source of all that exists. We can almost think of the Form of the Good as God except that it isn’t a person. [1] Philosophical knowledge, the highest form of knowledge, is knowledge of the forms, and above all, knowledge of the Form of the Good.

The Allegory tells us that education of the most noble sort— philosophical education—is a painful process for the few who can achieve it, at least in its early stages. For most people, philosophical knowledge will be out of reach. The masses don’t know their own ignorance and resent those who try to enlighten them. Undoubtedly, when Plato made Socrates say that some prisoners would even want to kill the freed companion trying to liberate them, he had in mind Socrates himself.

Socrates was famous in the Greek city-state of Athens for asking supposedly knowledgeable citizens hard questions about things like “knowledge” and “holiness.” These interrogations often exposed his interlocutors as being less knowledgeable than they claimed to be and made Socates some enemies. In 399 B.C.E., Athens executed Socrates by forcing him to drink hemlock, a poison, after a jury convicted him of “corrupting the youth” and failing to respect the gods. [2] Socrates insisted on his innocence but accepted his fate. 

Athens was a democracy at the time of Socrates’ execution, and Plato thought that this tragic episode highlights the problem with democracy: the majority can’t be entrusted with power. Plato thought political power should instead be concentrated in the hands of an elite like Socrates—and, of course, himself—who were capable of philosophical knowledge. But this would only work in a city prepared for that kind of leadership.

3. Conclusion

The Allegory of the Cave encapsulates many important and distinctive ideas in Plato’s philosophy. However, elsewhere in his writings, Plato expresses ideas about education that don’t neatly square with the symbolism of the Allegory.

According to the Allegory, even the students who are capable of philosophy, whom the freed prisoner represents, are placed in a passive role, struggling against the teacher at every step. At least that’s true until they breach the surface, at which point they have philosophical knowledge. The contrast between teacher and student is very stark. The teacher knows what’s outside of the cave and the student doesn’t have an inkling, and can contribute little to the journey.

Elsewhere, Plato paints a different picture. [3] In some of his dialogues, Socrates claims not to know the answers to the questions he’s asking, and he views philosophical investigation as a cooperative exercise with his students. He’s open to the idea that his students might provide objections to his ideas, or raise ideas he hasn’t considered. Maybe this cooperative model is a better way to think about education.

[1] See Plato’s Form of the Good by Ryan Jenkins.

[2] See Plato’s Apology and Plato’s Crito: When Should We Break the Law? by Spencer Case.

[3] See Plato’s Meno 79d–80e. Socrates claims he is just as much in a state of aporia—meaning doubt or perplexity—as those he is trying to enlighten through philosophical conversation.

Plato. Apology . Translated by Benjamin Jowett. The Internet Classics Archive .

Plato. Meno. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. The Internet Classics Archive .   

Plato . The Republic. T ranslated by Benjamin Jowett. Online. The Internet Classics Archive .  

Related Essays

Plato’s Crito: When Should We Break the Law? by Spencer Case

Plato’s Form of the Good by Ryan Jenkins

Form and Matter: Hylomorphism  by Jeremy W. Skrzypek

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Spencer Case has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he is currently a lecturer. He hosts Micro-Digressions: A Philosophy Podcast and does a lot of writing, academic and otherwise. SpencerCasePhilosophy.com

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Allegory Of The Cave

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Analysis: “the allegory of the cave”.

“The Allegory of the Cave” is an essay in the form of a dramatic dialogue, in whicheverything contained in the essay is spoken by one of its two speakers or characters. This gives the lofty ideas being presented a more conversational tone that allows readers to approach them in an easier-to-understand manner. Plato begins with the allegory itself, an in-depth description of the cave in which people are held captive. Using the symbols of light and darkness , he leads Glaucon (and thereby also the reader), through an exploration of vision, and how it relates to reality, anchoring this first part of the essay in the concrete world of sensation, especially the sense of sight. By starting first with experiences that are rooted in the physical body, Plato is allowing his audience to anchor themselves in the familiar. Anyone with vision has had experiences with light and darkness and so can easily relate to the material, even if the scenario of being trapped, immobilized, in a cave since birth is necessarily foreign. It is only after an in-depth discussion of these physical sensations and what they might mean to the hypothetical prisoner that Plato then turns the essay toward the true subject already given in the opening line: enlightenment .

Structurally, then, this essay follows the form the character of Socrates advocates. About halfway through the first section of the essay, Socrates says, “[The prisoner] would need, then, to grow accustomed before he could see things in that upper world. At first it would be easiest to make out shadows, and then the images of men and things reflected in water, and later on the things themselves” (paragraph 21, line 1). This gradual acclimation to stimuli in order to go from darkness and shadows to light and knowledge is what Plato himself enacts through the essay, beginning with an easier-to-understand anecdote rooted in physical experiences and then gradually moving into the more abstract realm of what those elements might symbolize:

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The prison dwelling corresponds to the region revealed to us through the sense of sight, and the fire-light within it to the power of the Sun. The ascent to see the things in the upper world you may take as standing for the upward journey of the soul into the region of the intelligible (paragraph 31, line 2).

By giving us this explanation, Plato is beginning the process of leading us from the concrete and into the realm of philosophy, and this explanation could be seen as the “images […] reflected in water” stage of the essay. Finally, Plato gets into the abstract notions of what makes for a good leader: wisdom and sacrifice and lack of ambition toward leadership .

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Throughout the essay, Plato makes use of rhetorical questions (although here they are not purely rhetorical, since Glaucon often answers them with an affirmation; nonetheless, because Glaucon’s responses do not really add much, these become functionally-rhetorical questions). This is another means of making the ideas more accessible to his audience. By having Socrates present his ideas in question form, they come across more as invitations, rather than decrees passed by a person of knowledge to an ignorant audience. Part of Socrates’ and Plato’s goals by presenting these ideas in the form of a dialogue is to engage the reader, prompting them to think more deeply about the subject, to agree or disagree, but at least to not simply passively receive information. Ultimately, this approach is meant to make the audience more receptive to the ideas and thus to be more persuasive in convincing them.

Finally, while much is explained in detail in this essay, Plato also leaves room for the audience to further their own thinking on the subject by presenting some ideas cursorily without going into exhaustive explanations or details. One such place is when discussing the negative side of knowledge, bringing up “dishonest men with a reputation for sagacity” but not really expounding on this beyond saying that left to their own devices, people can wander astray. Within the context of The Republic as a whole, this serves to pique the reader’s curiosity so that they will want to read on, but also within the context of this single essay, it allows the reader to perform their own deeper thinking on the matter in order to come to their own conclusions, thus further leading them, like the prisoner of the allegory, into a higher plane of wisdom.

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Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis Essay

Plato is deservedly known as one of the greatest and most influential Ancient Greek philosophers – in no small measure due to his “theory of forms.” In The Republic , which is probably Plato’s best-known work, the author uses his mentor Socrates as a mouthpiece to outline the essence of this theory for the audience. Perhaps one of the most famous and often quoted passages in the text is the so-called “allegory of the cave” in Book 7. It would not be an exaggeration to state that Plato’s allegory of the cave only makes perfect sense if one views it in the light of the theory of forms. After examining the allegory itself, the theory, and how the former illustrates the latter, one can clearly see that the two are interlinked and essential for each other’s understanding.

For the purpose of this essay, it is still necessary to briefly retell the allegory. Book 7 of The Republic offers the audience to imagine a group of people living in an underground cave. These people have never left the cave and seen the surface, as they are chained “so that they cannot move” or even turn their heads (Plato). Behind them, there is a small wall and a fire, and others people move between the two, carrying all sorts of images just above the wall’s edge. The prisoners cannot see the objects themselves, as the chains prevent them from turning their heads, but they can see “the shadows that fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave” (Plato). According to Plato, the prisoners would be convinced that the shadows they see are the world’s contents as they are. Should they be released and allowed to move upward to see not the shadows and not even images, but the actual objects that inspired the images in the light if the sun rather than a fire, they would likely be confused and even angered.

Allegory relates directly to the central part of Plato’s philosophical teachings – the theory of forms. According to Plato, every object in the world has a true form – a collection of essential qualities that define it. Forms – or ideas, as they are also called – transcend individual objects, as any given thing is merely a manifestation of the corresponding idea. As the philosopher himself notes in Book 10, there are untold multitudes of tables or beds in the world, “but there are only two ideas or forms of them” (Plato). These are, correspondingly, an idea of a table and an idea of a bed, and it is their existence that allows people to recognize all beds as beds and all tables as tables. As far as Plato was concerned, forms that defined the nature of all objects were the actual reality, and the physical manifestations of these forms were only a reflection of the actual state of things. Therefore, the main task for an aspiring philosopher was to train him- or herself to see the reality of the world – the actual forms that permeate everything in existence – rather than their manifestations.

In this light, it should be clear why the theory of forms is essential to understand Plato’s allegory of the cave. In this case, the underground prison house represents the world of material things, which people perceive with their basic senses and nothing else. They can interact with physical objects, but these are nothing more than crude manifestations of the true form – the mere shadows on the wall. Plato also states that developing one’s intellect and philosophical understanding of actual forms is a long and tedious process. Philosophical education to see forms is not easy, and one will likely be frustrated in the process, just like a prisoner seeing the sun for the first time will feel pain, confusion, and even anger. Finally, Plato also reflects on how people cling to their usual perceptions and can distrust and even ridicule the philosophers who can see the true forms of things. He likens such people to the underground prisoners who praise those most skilled in observing shadows and mock the one who came back from the surface to tell them about the real world.

As demonstrated above, the allegory of the cave is an important thought experiment in Plato’s The Republic , imagining a community of underground prisoners who can only see shadows of things rather than the actual objects. It relates directly to Plato’s central philosophical concept – the theory of forms that states that all kinds of objects have intangible actual forms behind them, and all things were mere reflections of the corresponding ideas. The allegory of the cave is, therefore, an illustration of Plato’s theory of forms, where shadows on the cave’s wall represent physical objects that only bear some similarity to the actual forms behind them. Hence, after examining the allegory, the theory, and the interrelation between them, one may safely conclude that the theory of forms inextricably linked to the allegory of the cave and vice versa.

Plato. “The Republic.” Project Gutenberg , 2016, Web.

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"Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis." IvyPanda , 8 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/platos-allegory-of-the-cave-analysis/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis'. 8 September.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis." September 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/platos-allegory-of-the-cave-analysis/.

1. IvyPanda . "Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis." September 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/platos-allegory-of-the-cave-analysis/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” Analysis." September 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/platos-allegory-of-the-cave-analysis/.

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