The Allegory of the Cave | Plato

One of the most famous passages from the Dialogues of Plato is the allegory of the cave. Why has this story been so intriguing for more than 2,000 years? Hear the passage of Socrates and Glaucon speaking, with illustrations to aid visualisation.

Imagine prisoners in an underground cave, chained by their necks and legs since childhood. They can only look at what is in front of them - shadows and echoes of objects being carried behind them. For them, truth is nothing more than the shadows of the objects being carried. They are just like us, says Socrates.

But then suppose one of them is released from his bonds and is compelled to stand up, walk and turn around. He would be pained, and unable to see the objects of which he previously saw the shadows - due to the brighter light. Now he sees more truly and is turned towards things that partake more of being. But he would believe what he saw before was truer than what he sees now.

If he is now dragged out of the cave and into the sunlight - wouldn't he be blinded at first? He would need to become accustomed to this upper realm. First he would behold shadows, images in water etc. then he might see the actual objects. From these he would proceed to view heavenly bodies, looking to the light of the stars and moon. Then finally, he would behold the sun, by itself, in its own place. He could make deductions about it.

Socrates is read by Patti Wray, Glaucon by William Wray. Illustrations are by Jacqueline Sinclair.

The School of Philosophy and Economic Science offers courses in practical philosophy and economics with justice as well as other subjects. It aims to approach philosophy in a practical way, encouraging students to apply philosophy in their lives. The School also introduces a mindfulness-type exercise leading eventually to mantra meditation.

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You may find this video relates also to ancient Greece, ancient Greek philosophy, Platonic philosophy, western wisdom, spirituality, spiritual practice, enlightenment, truth, form of the Good.

[Philosophycourse]

What does the cave allegory mean to you? Leave us a comment. Thanks for watching.

[elainekearney]

Simple but profound....a new insight on a 'well known' allegory. Thank you.

[dawnhallier]

A beautiful description of the prison house and it's opposite. May I ask which translation the reading comes from?
Thank you for this.

[alanmunro]

Liked the part where one would be happy to play any lowly part after waking up to reality of how things really are.

[MsDomminus]

The body has no life of itself. Thought has no life of itself. By themselves, they are inert. They are activated by life. Life is the only Being. What is life? What is consciousness? When activated by life, thought creates the idea "I", a simulacrum of Being.

Because thought is limited, the simulacrum, the representation, is limited, insufficient. Consciousness, which is life, cannot be measured - it is infinite, unknowable. Because life is infinite, the simulacrum, by reflection, wants to be complete too. So, it goes after power, position, fortune, and all the rest of it, never reaching completeness. In this ambition, it creates division, competition, wars and destruction. In this movement of becoming, the simulacrum has continuity, with all its miseries.

Do I depend on thought to be alive and conscious? Who or what am I? Can I measure who or what I am? With which instrument?

Am I not the unknowable, the infinite, the timeless?