Plato's Myth of the Cave

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that this world contains things that were more real than the statues he had seen earlier, which were copies of the objects in the real world. The prisoner has now reached the third stage, the cognitive stage which means he is beginning to see and understand ‘forms’.

Shortly after, the prisoner’s eyes become accustomed to the brightness of his surroundings. This leads to him looking up at the sun. By doing so he begins to understand that the sun gives him the ability to see things and it is a source of life. Socrates explains this by saying “And after that he would already be in a position to conclude about it that this is the source of the seasons and the years, and is the steward of all things in the visible place, and is in a certain way the cause of all those things he and his companions had been seeing.” (Plato 195) Consequently when he reaches the realization that the sun is a form of The Good, according to Socrates that means that he has reached the fourth stage, the stage of understanding, and he is no longer a prisoner, he is now a philosopher.

The new philosopher then considers whether he should return to live in the cave, Socrates explains that he will no longer be able to spend the rest of his life in the cave with the prisoners now that he has seen the truth. Yet he may be looked at as a “source of laughter” (Plato 518) by the prisoners, and if he attempted to show them the truth, then the prisoners would certainly “kill the man who attempts to release and lead up.” (Plato 518). Therefore the philosopher should continue his life in the real world, but he should also go back to the cave at times to rule the prisoners because according to Socrates “those who are without education and experience of truth would never be adequate stewards of the city.” (Plato 520). Therefore an educated person “must go down, each in his turn,” (Plato 521) said Socrates. When down in the cave the ruling philosopher should help the prisoners and educate them to create an ideal city, where people are turned towards the good, which would be the sun, instead of a cave wall.

What Socrates tries to do with the Myth of the Cave is to show the value of education, and the seeking of knowledge. Education is the thing that drags the prisoner out of the cave; it is what opens his eyes to the real things. The philosopher’s role is to rule the uneducated people and influence them to create a city where people are turned to the Form of Good (sun).

Socrates’ Myth of the Cave is a valid representation of the world. It portrays the value of education and the quest for knowledge. Initially, the biases and ignorance of the uneducated people in the world are represented through the prisoners in the cave. These people are influenced and deceived by a group of people who have more control, in the myth’s case that would be the people controlling the artefacts. In real life, it could be politicians, corporations, and mass media which can benefit from less educated and single minded people. Most importantly, Socrates in successful in showing how important education is and how powerful it can be. In the real world that I know, being North America, Canada more specifically, becoming educated is the primary way to acquire power; the case is the same in the Myth of Cave because Socrates explains the educated ones as “leaders and kings.” (Plato 521). Consequently, Socrates’ Myth of the Cave is successful in showing aspects of the real world by explaining that senses are not enough, intelligible observation is a needed asset in order to acquire true knowledge, and presenting how valuable education can be because it can open a person’s mind while allowing him/her access to new idea, places, and positions of power.

Works Cited:

Plato. The Republic of Plato. Trans. By Allan Bloom, The United States of America: Basic Books, 1968

Sparks Notes, S.N. (2011, March). The Republic: book 7. Retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/section7.rhtml