Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”

Introductory Points Source: Plato’s Republic. Setting: Ancient Greece. Speakers: Socrates is talking to Glaucon (remember him from “Gyges’ Ring”?) Format: Dialectic, “the tradition of continuing debate or discussion of eternally unresolved issues” Give and take, Q&A.

ALLEGORY Something in the text represents something else. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. An allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.

Diagram and Video 1. See a diagram of the cave: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/pl ato/caveframes.htm 2.Read the Allegory 3.Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F7Gh ASOdM 4. Complete group work After video students work in groups to answer questions

A Few Questions What happens when someone who knows the truth (who has seen the light) goes back to the cave? Why would one do such a thing? Can you think of examples of such persons from history? From current events? (See the examples on the next slide.)

Such Persons Jesus Gandhi Martin Luther King John Lennon RFK Harriet Tubman You?

Contemporary Analogy What movies have you seen that illustrate this “seeing the light”?

Education What are the implications of this passage? “And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he’s forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated?”

For Plato… Education is a painful process that turns the soul of the student toward the truths of the world. Its purpose is to elevate us from false appearances (self-deception) to things as they are (reality/truth). And, eventually to things as they may ideally be. Implication: In order to be educated, we must turn away from our world and our own misconceptions. We must awaken! We must achieve achieve personal transformation.

Points In allegory, something in the text represents something not in the text (i.e. an idea, historical moment, etc.) In this case, the cave/prison represents the world in which we live. Thus education involves getting out of the cave and away from the illusions of reality. It involves awakening, seeing the truth of the world that has been hidden from you. The cave dwellers must climb up out of the cave to the light. Leaving the cave is progress, but there is still a higher realm one must seek to attain.