In the parable of the cave, Plato uses metaphors to contrast human beings’ beliefs and perceptions regarding the truth and reality. The thesis behind the allegory of the cave is that as human beings we have different perceptions on the ultimate forms that are said to represent the truth and reality.
Plato presents the parable of the cave through a fictional dialogue between Socrates his teacher and Glaucon his brother. The parable of the cave can be understood better when it is related to the metaphor of the sun. In this theory, Plato presents his viewpoint on truth and human beings’ struggle with reality. According to Plato, the purest truth is ideas or forms and not perception of the world in our senses.
To demonstrate how the truth can be painful and confusing, Plato establishes a cave with prisoners who are chained and are facing the front wall of the cave. When analyzing this allegory, two things come out as important: the metaphor of the prisoners and tenets of philosophy demonstrated.
The prisoners are chained in darkness; they are bound to the floor such that their heads cannot turn to see whatever is happening behind them. To their backs, there are puppeteers who are protected by the parapet and they cast shadows on the cave’s wall.
The prisoners perceive this as reality. The description of the cave as well as that of the situation of the prisoners shows that they are mistaken on the idea of truth and reality. From this perspective, it is clear that the ascent of truth can be painful and confusing. For instance, the reader can tell the fact that the puppeteers are using objects to liken those shadows to reality.
With the prisoners’ heads turned down there is no way they can know the truth thus they perceive the shadows situation as real. From this point, it is a fact that what a person perceives as real from the time they are born can be completely false because the assumption is based on imperfect interpretation of the truth, reality, and goodness.
The truth is that, while living in a cave, an individual is unaware of the most important aspects of the environment. First, the individual cannot tell whether they are in a cave for they assume the surroundings constitute their entire universe. Secondly, the person has no idea that above the cave there is a sky, a ground level, and the sun because of the belief that what they see around them is real.
Upon release, a prisoner learns the truth on the objects that dominate their perception on reality. After stepping out in the sun, the prisoner learns the truth and reality which is actually confusing. All these points explain why Plato observes that the ascent of the truth can be confusing and actually painful. According to Socrates, the new found awareness of the prisoner’s reality and truth expands his understanding and knowledge on fundamental aspect s of the environment.
With reference to the Phaedo, it is true that the vision of reality can be dangerous to the eyes as seen in the case of the prisoners in the cave. Obviously it is not safe to look at the sun eclipse with naked eyes because of the terror of the truth. This is evidenced by the release of the prisoner; upon seeing sun’s rays his is bewildered and fearful for learning the truth.
If the prisoner returns to the cave, he will be going back to darkness. When he does return to the cave, the others ridicule him for taking the ascent and actually do not believe whatever he tells them. Therefore, the prisoner recognizes the Forms of Goodness and has to take the responsibility of sharing this enlightenment.
This allegory demonstrates what happens when a person passes from light into darkness and from darkness to light. During this process, the soul and mind gets confused after gaining knowledge. In one way or another, we are similar to the prisoners in the cave simply because we may have knowledge regarding our surroundings but with the world being immense we fail to know about everything.
A good example is a friend of mine, Albert who went blind at four months of age until last year when he had an operation to restore his sight. During his blind years, Albert just heard the descriptions his family and friends did on objects. Albert was used to darkness and could only perceive the reality and the truth about the world. He lacked knowledge on the fundamental aspects of his surroundings or rather environment.
As a result, Albert would have ideas completely dissimilar with their actual form in the real world. Albert was just like the prisoners in the cave; although he could move around he lacked knowledge on what constituted his surroundings. The surgery last year brought new light into Albert’s world.
Just like the prisoner who stepped out in the allegory, Albert went from “light to darkness.” When he narrates his experiences to his blind friends they seem to doubt the truth that he tells them. This is because they are used to their surrounding as blind people. Their perceptions on the truth and reality differ with the actual truth. This parable represents the stages we go through in our lives and shows how the truth and reality are important in our existence.