Platos' Allegory of Caves in Popular Culture

PLATO CAVE Knowledge versus sense In one of his most famous texts, The Republic, Plato aimed to show how human perception exists without being aware of the existence of being, and how true knowledge is only obtained through philosophy. Any knowledge acquired by the senses is not knowledge at all, but only opinion. THE ALLEGORY The cave allegory is read as a conversation between Socrates and Sodara of Plato, namely, Glaucon. In that dialogue, Socrates asked Glaucon to imagine a world in which illusions were considered reality. To understand what he means, he created the following example: There is a cave where a group of prisoners have been locked since birth. These prisoners could not move. Their necks and legs were cut off so they couldn't shift or turn and they could only see what was in front of them a stone wall. Behind and above the prisoners there was a fire, and between the first and the prisoners there was a low wall where people danced, carrying objects on their heads. The light of the flames cast shadows of objects onto the wall in front of the prisoners. This shadow is what the prisoners can see. The only sound heard was an echo from the cave. Now, because these prisoners have never been exposed to real objects and all their lives, they have only witnessed shadows, they mistakenly take these shadows as reality. The echoes of the cave, for them, are the sounds created by shadows. If the shadow of a book appeared, for example, these prisoners would claim that they had seen a book. They don't say this is a shadow of a book, because the reality they don't know the shadow. Eventually, one of the prisoners will understand the nature of this world and will be able to guess what will happen next, which will lead to praise and recognition from the other prisoners. Now, let's assume that one of the prisoners is released. If someone showed the prisoner an actual book, the prisoner would not be able to recognize it. For the prisoner, a book is a shadow thrown against the wall. The illusion of a book seems to be more real than the book itself. Socrates continued, pondering what would have happened if the freed prisoner had then turned toward the fire. The prisoner would definitely turn away from so much light and return to the dark shadows, which he thought were more real. Now, what if this was taken a step further, and the prisoners were forced to go outside? The prisoner would be angry, depressed, and unable to see the reality before him because he would be severely blinded by the light. Platos' Allegory of Caves in Popular Culture If this story sounds familiar, it's because you've probably seen some variations of it. The 1999 blockbuster film The Matrix is loose, based on the Allegory of Plato's Caves. Quoting Keanu Reevess' character Neo "Whoa". However, after a while, the prisoners will adjust and understand that the reality in the cave is not true. He would look towards the sun and understand that this entity is what created the seasons, years, and everything that is visible in this world (and even the cause is what he and his fellow prisoners have been in the cave to a certain exten). The prisoner will not look back on the time in the cave with fond memories, because he will now understand that the previous perception is not the real reality. The freed prisoner decided to return to the cave and free the others. When the prisoner returns, he struggles to adjust to the darkness of the cave. The other prisoners found this behavior shocking (because the darkness of the cave was still their only reality), and instead of giving praise, they considered it stupid and would not believe what the freed prisoner said. The prisoners threatened to kill the freed prisoners if he released them. Plato compared the prisoners chained in the cave with people who did not know the theory of its form. People mistake the appearance of what is in front of them for reality and live in ignorance (and quite happy, because ignorance is what these people know). However, when a piece of truth starts to emerge, it can be scary and can make people want to come back. If one does not turn away from the truth and continue to seek it, he will have a better understanding of the world around him (and will never be able to return to that state of ignorance). The freed prisoners represent the philosopher, seeking greater truths beyond perceived reality. According to Plato, when people use language, they do not name physical objects that can be seen, but rather, they name something that cannot be seen. These names correlate with things that can only be understood in the mind. The prisioner believed that the shadow of a book was actually a book until he could finally turn around and see the truth. Now, replace the idea of books with something more substantial, like the idea of justice. This form of Plato's theory is what allows people to finally turn around and find the truth. In essence, knowledge acquired through sense and perception is not knowledge at all, but opinion, only through philosophical reasoning is one able to pursue knowledge.