The cave

Background of “the Cave” “The Allegory of the Cave” was presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic (~380 BCE) to compare "the effect of education and the lack of it on our nature.“ It is written as a dialogue between Plato's brother, Glaucon, and his mentor, Socrates, and is narrated by the latter. The book as a whole encompasses the definition of justice, the order and character of the just city-state, and the just man—for this reason, ancient readers used the name On Justice as an alternative title. It is Plato's best-known work and has proven to be one of the world's most influential works of philosophy and political theory, both intellectually and historically. In it Socrates. along with various Athenians and foreigners, discuss the meaning of justice and examine whether or not the just man is happier than the unjust man by considering a series of different cities coming into existence "in speech," culminating in a city called Kallipolis, which is ruled by philosopher- kings; and by examining the nature of existing regimes. The participants also discuss the theory of forms, the immortality of the soul, and the roles of the philosopher and of poetry in society As my professor once said, the Republic is, essentially, “a bunch of old guys hitting on each other” with philosophical ideas and ideals Plato likens our perception of the world around us "to the habitation in prison, the firelight there to the sunlight here, the ascent and the view of the upper world [to] the rising of the soul into the world of the mind"