Myth of the Cave: what is it, interpretation, nowadays

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Plato narrates an allegorical story called Cave myth or Cave allegory in his most complex work, the republic. The dialogue between Socrates, main character, and Glauco, his interlocutor, aims to introduce the reader to the Platonic theory about the knowledge of the truth and the need for the city's ruler to have access to that knowledge.

Read too: Relationship between the Myth of the Cave and the Matrix movie

What does the Myth of the Cave say?

In the text, Socrates tells Glaucon to imagine the existence of a cave where prisoners lived from childhood. With their hands tied to a wall, they can see only the shadows that are projected onto the wall ahead.

The shadows are caused by a fire, on top of a fence, situated at the back of the wall where the men are trapped. Men pass before the fire, make gestures and pass objects, forming shadows that, in a distorted way, are all the knowledge the prisoners had of the world. that wall of cave, those leftovers and the echoes of the sounds that people from above produced was the restricted world of prisoners.

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Suddenly, one of the prisoners was released. Walking through the cave, he notices that there are people and a bonfire casting shadows that he thinks are the entirety of the world. When he finds the exit from the cave, he has a fright when he comes across the worldoutside. Sunlight blurs his vision and he feels helpless, uncomfortable, out of place.

Gradually, his vision gets used to the light and he begins to realize the infinity of the world and nature that exists outsidegivescave. He realizes that those shadows, which he thought were reality, are actually copiesimperfect of a small portion of reality.

O prisonerfreed he could do two things: return to the cave and free his companions, or live his freedom. A possible consequence of the first possibility would be the attacks he would suffer from his companions, who would judge him as Crazy, but it could be a necessary attitude, as it is the fairest thing to do.

Plato is hierarchically arranging the degreesinknowledge with this metaphor and saying that there is a way of knowing, of knowing, which is the most adequate way to think of a ruler capable of doing politics with wisdom and justice.

Prisoners had access only to the shadows cast on the cave wall.
Prisoners had access only to the shadows cast on the cave wall.

the republic - the book in which the Myth of the Cave is contained

the republic it is perhaps Plato's most complex and complete work. Composed of ten books, the work talks about the various shapesingovernment and politics to arrive at the ideal political model, according to Plato. To reach the formulation of his theory, the philosopher went through characteristic elements of human life, such as the aesthetics, The art it's the human knowledge (which is discussed in book VII, the same book as the Allegory of the Cave).

The long dialogue narrates the trajectory of Socrates seeking to establish, theoretically, how the governmentPerfect. Knowledge is, for Plato, the essential element of a good ruler. Therefore, in book VII of the republic, Plato asserts that the philosopher must be like the prisoner released from the cave. These characteristics are fundamental for the ruler: the search for the truth.

Also know: Read about these other Platonic concepts.

Conclusions about the Myth of the Cave

The metaphor proposed by the Allegory of the Cave can be interpreted as follows:

  1. You prisoners: the prisoners of the cave are the common men, that is, we are ourselves, who live in our limited world, trapped in our customary beliefs.

  2. THE cave: the cave is our body and our senses, the source of a knowledge that, according to Plato, is erroneous and misleading.

  3. The shadows on the wall and the echoes in the cave: Shadows and echoes are never projected exactly the way the objects that cause them are. Shadows are image distortions and echoes are sound distortions. Therefore, these elements symbolize the wrong opinions and the prejudiced knowledge of common sense that we believe to be true.

  4. THE exitgivescave: leaving the cave means seeking true knowledge.

  5. THE lightsolar: the light, which overshadows the released prisoner's vision and puts him in an uncomfortable situation, is true knowledge, reason and philosophy.

Cave Myth seen these days

Bringing the Allegory of the Cave to our time, we can say that the human being has constantly regressed, to the point of being, more and more, living like a prisoner of the cave, despite all the information and all the knowledge that we have our disposition.

People are too lazy to think. Laziness has become a common element in our society, stimulated by the ease that technologies provide us. THE lazinessintellectual it has been perhaps the strongest feature of our time. Socratic doubt, questioning, non-acceptance of statements without first analyzing them (elements that cost Socrates his life in antiquity) are now despised.

Politics, society and common life are no longer interesting for the citizens of the 21st century who just live as if life itself were more important than the preservation of society. At Newsfake more and more are deceiving people who don't take the trouble to check the veracity and reliability of the source disclosing the information.

At social networks they have become true showcases of the ego, which spread the false propaganda of happy lives, but, superficially, they do not even know the weight that their existence brings to the world. Ignorance, in our times, is cultivated and celebrated.

Anyone who dares to oppose this kind of vulgar life, buried in ignorance, trapped in the cave as Plato's prisoners were, is considered mad. The slaves trapped inside the cave do not realize they are prisoners, as do the people who are trapped in the cave. media, on social networks and in the sea of ​​information, often uninformative, on the internet, do not realize that they are mistaken.

We live in an era of the predominance of shallow opinion, superficial knowledge, useless information and the daily prison that drags people, more and more, into the cave of ignorance.

by Francisco Porfirio
Philosophy teacher

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/filosofia/mito-caverna-platao.htm

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