Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

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Why does Plato compare ordinary human existence to that of chained prisoners in a cave? In Plato’s Allegory of the cave he compares ordinary human existence to a chained prisoner in a cave. Plato does this to show the reader that all people are trapped in their own realities where they cannot see the truth as the prisoner is trapped in the cave unable to see what is going on outside the cave. Plato tries to make a point that people will not leave the cave as it is all they know and they feel safe in the cave. Plato's story shows us the different stages of human life and the ultimate goal all wish to achieve knowledge. When the prisoner is chained up and can only see shadows this is what the prisoner assumes to be reality but when shown the light the prisoner achieves knowledge. “as he was exposed to light for the first time , he felt the pain in his eyes” this quote shows that Plato thinks that when human beings understand reality it is difficult for them to…show more content…
Plato has a different view for enlightenment, he perceives enlightenment as knowing reality. Some comparisons can be made with the cave in which Plato writes about and todays modern world. The shadows Plato refers to can be compared to technology, media and government. They can be compared because these things all bring us one version of information as the shadows brought some information but not all of it. Plato shows us that the shadows may bring us temporary joy, which means that people would not be able to see past its deception and so never feel like they are imprisoned. Plato states that the prisoners can only see their own shadows in the cave this can relate to todays world, because the world due to the media and political goals has forced us to stereotype individuals according to their race, gender, age

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