Plato’s Cave Myth: What It Is and How It Relates to You

Plato’s myth of the cave is an allegory of the idealist philosophy that has marked our way of thinking and understanding the world.

Plato’s cave myth allowed us to understand how this philosopher perceived the world. A relationship between the physical and the world of ideas that give rise to a reality full of lights and shadows. Plato (428 BC-347 BC) uses this allegorical figure to explain the difficult task of the philosopher of trying to guide people towards true knowledge, since, according to him, people can reach to feel comfortable in their ignorance and to reject any possible emancipatory view.

We can find this text in book VII of The Republic and it is presented to us through a dialogue in which Socrates, Plato’s teacher, talks with one of his disciples about the importance of knowledge and education in the way in which each one of us perceives reality. On the one hand, we have reality as it is. For other, We find ourselves with a fictional reality where our beliefs and illusions take center stage. But, before we dive deeper into all this, what does the myth of the cave tell?

In the myth we are presented with some men chained deep in a cavern where they can only see a wall. Since they were born, they have never been able to go out and they have not been able to look back to know the origin of the chains that bind them.

However, behind him there is a wall and a little further away a bonfire. Between the wall and the bonfire there are men carrying objects. Thanks to the bonfire, The shadows of the objects are projected on the wall and the chained men can see them.

I saw images that were lies and false realities. But how could I consider it such a thing? Yes, since I was little, it is the only thing I have seen that is real.

Myth of the cave: a fictional reality

Men had only seen the same thing since they were born, so they had neither the need nor the curiosity to turn around and check what those shadows reflected. But this was a deceptive, artificial reality. Those shadows distracted them from what was the truth.

However, one of them dared to turn around and see beyond. At first he felt confused and everything bothered him, especially that light that he saw in the background (the bonfire).

Then, he began to distrust. Had she believed that shadows were the only thing that existed when they weren’t? Every time she moved forward, His doubts tempted him with the possibility of returning to his shadows.

However, with patience and effort he continued forward. Getting used, little by little, to what was now so unknown to him. Without letting himself be overcome by confusion or surrendering to the whims of fear, he left the cave.

Yes indeed, When he ran back to tell his companions, they greeted him with ridicule and even violence.. A contempt that reflected the disbelief that those inhabitants of the cave felt for what the adventurer told them.

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Interpretation of the Myth of the Cave

The Allegory of the Cave has different levels of analysis depending on the point in the story on which we decide to focus. Thus, on the one hand, the myth refers to human nature and our own bodily limitations to achieve the fullness of knowledge. The passage from ignorance to the world of ideas is possible only if we free ourselves from our perceptual ties and seek knowledge through intellectual reflection.

On the other hand, if we take the sun as a metaphor for good and true knowledge and the freed prisoner as a representation of the figure of the philosopher, we could see in the myth Plato’s position regarding the importance of philosophy to guide people. people towards knowledge and the place of the philosopher as one who has reached a higher stage and would be in a position to show others the truth.

Thus, the characters are actually individuals who do not have the knowledge of things and who are carried away by what others say and do not allow themselves to be guided by the light of reason. The rise of the chained towards the exit is the representation of the long path that man must follow: remove the chains, turn his face and walk uphill, towards the exit, towards true knowledge, towards the Truth.

Finally, we can make an interpretation from the pedagogical level, in that the myth shows how not only the presence of a teacher to guide us is necessary, but, above all, the will to seek knowledge and the individual desire to abandon ignorance.

The liberation of the chained

The prisoner who leaves the cave must adapt to the light, that is, to see things in their true reality. The free man who has unleashed the yoke of fiction and slavery must return to the cave again to bring to the light the others who have remained within it. But for what? Well, so that he walks towards reason and knowledge. To break the chains of trapped subjects, the free man (the philosopher) must use dialectic:

«The dialectical method is the only one that marks, canceling the assumptions, up to the very beginning, in order to consolidate itself there. And this method gradually pushes the eye of the soul, when it is really submerged in the mire of ignorance, and raises it to the heights, using as assistants and auxiliaries for this conversion to the arts that we have described» (Patón, 2011).

Dialectics helps men to ascend, but also the need for knowledge that they have in their soul and in their reason, since the path of ascent satisfies this desire that some have to understand the reality of things. So, it can be said, in closing, that there are people in charge of unleashing others and bringing them to the light, to knowledge, so that they see things in reality (Calva, 2013).

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The myth of the cave today

It is curious how this vision that offers us The myth of the cave can be transferred to the present day. That pattern that we all follow and by which, if we go beyond what is dictated, they begin to judge us and criticize us.

Think that we have made many of our absolute truths our own without stopping to question them, without considering whether the world is really very close or very far from being like that.

For example, Thinking that the error is a failure can influence us to abandon any project at the first setback.. However, if we do not let ourselves be carried away by this idea, we will cultivate our curiosity and error will cease to be a demon completely loaded with negativity. Thus, the change in perspective will not only stop us from fearing it, but when we commit it we will be in a position to learn from it.

Next, we will see how this myth can correspond to our current lives:

Deceptions and lies: Deception can be observed in the willingness to keep others in the dark. Also, in the lack of scientific and philosophical progress, which would embody the phenomenon of shadows that parade along the cave wall.Release: In our lives we can observe this phase in the acts of rebellion that we usually call revolutions. In this case, it would not be a social revolution, but rather an individual and personal one. On the other hand, liberation also involves seeing the foundations of our core beliefs shake.Ascension: The ascension to truth involves letting go of beliefs that are deeply rooted in us. Therefore, it is a great change that is seen in the renunciation of old certainties and the openness to truths.Return: It would be the last phase of the myth, which would consist of the diffusion of new ideas. It is also the creation of a new way of seeing and understanding the world that comes from the destruction of old beliefs that did not faithfully represent reality.

Analytical dimensions of the allegory of the cave

Plato’s cave encompasses several elements that entail its theory of ideas and an analysis divided into 3D: anthropological (Human nature), ontological (of being) and epistemological (of knowledge), and moral (valuation of society) and politics (way of governing).

Anthropological dimension

It alludes to the condition of the human being and his way of knowing. This dimension is symbolized in the nature of the prisoner and his body, his relationship with the cave (sensible world) as well as with the outside world and the liberation of his soul (world of ideas). The prisoners are a metaphor for those who are bound to their perceptions and the images presented to them. The shadows are the physical world that you perceive and believe to be true knowledge.

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Ontological and epistemological dimension

The ontological dimension refers to the nature of being, while the epistemological dimension refers to the nature, origin and validity of knowledge.. Each element of the allegory represents a level of being and knowledge, within Plato’s ontological and epistemological dualism. Thus, the men imprisoned inside a cave (lower level) and the freed man (upper level) function to explain their dualistic conception of the world.

Moral and political dimension

The prisoner who has been freed is a witness to the ideal world. As he ascends and witnesses the exterior of the cavern, he feels a duty to share what he has experienced. So, the freed prisoner, who is now like the philosopher, cannot continue with knowledge based on opinion (doxa) derived from perceptions. His return to the depths of the cave and the world of appearances is an example of the philosopher helping others to achieve true knowledge.

Getting out of the cave is a difficult process

The man who in the myth of the cave decides to free himself from the chains that imprison him makes a very difficult decision. But In the myth, this decision, far from being appreciated by his companions, is valued as an act of rebellion.. Something that is not very well regarded, which could have urged him to abandon his attempt.

When he makes up his mind, he sets out alone on the path, overcoming that wall, ascending towards that bonfire that causes him so much distrust and that dazzles him. In the process, doubts plague him, he no longer knows what is real and what is not.. He has to let go of beliefs that have been with him for a long time. Ideas that are not only rooted, but, in turn, are the basis of the rest of his tree of beliefs.

But, as he moves towards the exit of the cavern, He realizes that what he believed was not entirely true.. Now… What do you have left? Convince those who mock him of the freedom they can aspire to if they decide to break with the apparent comfort in which they live.

The myth of the cave introduces us to ignorance like that reality that becomes uncomfortable when we begin to be aware of its presence. Given the slightest possibility that there is another possible vision of the world, history tells us that our inertia pushes us to tear it down because we consider it a threat to the established order.