blog 5: The Allegory of the Cave (response to comment)

               Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a hypothetical scenario portrayed by a conversation between Socrates and his brother Glaucon. Socrates asks Glaucon to visualized a cave inhabited by people. These people are the prisoners of the cave. Their hands and legs are band by chains. They are also restricted in the movement of their head. All they see is the wall in front of them. Because of this restriction, their visibility is also limited. Behind the prisoners burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners, there are puppeteers who are casting shadows on the wall for the prisoners to see. These shadows that they see and the echoes that they hear are treated by the prisoners as part of their real world.  Socrates pointed out that the prisoners view these shadows as real objects which should not be the case.  He noted that prisoners would mistake appearance for reality.  They don't know any better.  With their limitations inside the cave, they are also limited in what they grasp as the real thing.
               The conversation between Socrates and his brother continued on with the description of a prisoner climbing out of his dwelling place.  As soon as he emerges out to the outside world, he was mesmerize in what he saw.  It was a totally different environment.  He was enlightened with everything that surrounds him.  The prisoner now know what real objects are like.  He now understand the difference between what he was accustom inside the cave and what is out there.  The discovery of true reality hits him.  He now have a clearer vision and knowledge of what is real having experienced a new found world.
               Socrates further described how the prisoner was ridiculed and condemned by the others upon returning to the cave.  They do not understand what he has experienced outside.  The other prisoners are confined to the fact as to say that any beliefs outside the boundaries of the cave are considered unethical.  No matter how hard the other prisoner tried lead them into thinking otherwise, they resist of knowing what is the truth.  They refused to believe that they are indeed living in an imaginary world - a world full of illusions.
               In my opinion, the " The Allegory of the Cave" represents the road one travels through his/her experiences and changes to accept the world around us and to better understand reality and how it plays an important part in our existence.