Plato’s parable of the cave was describing the situation of prisoners chained and made to stay in one position for a long time. A fierce fire that was burning behind them was their only source of light.
The chains where designed in a way that the prisoners could see nothing else apart from their own shadows that were projected to the wall by the light from the fire. After sometime, puppets were moved in front of the fire and their shadows were projected to the wall too. The prisoner mastered puppets’ images as they appeared on the wall, they could even predict the sequence of appearance of these puppets. (Chadwick 13)
One day, one of the prisoners was set free from the chains and made to turn and see the fire, as well as the puppets, which he compared with the shadows he had been seeing he had been seeing. They were very different. Later, the freed prisoner moved out forcefully of the cave and saw the real things using the light from the sun.
The sun’s light was so bright and for some time he could not see anything. He even feared looking at it, until he was well adapted to the brightness. This prisoner was astounded to see how things really looked like and then difference between the objects and their shadows. While out there, he was able to see the difference between the shadows and the reflection of objects in water.
He remembered his fellow prisoners who were still in the darkness and chained in the cave. He decided to go back and save them from their confusion, but he found that the prisoners had even crowned each other for being then best in predicting the sequence of the images (Gilson, 369).
He could not do what they were doing and when he tried to tell them that what they were seeing was not real, they laughed at him, and accused him of destroying his eyes when he went up there. Though he pitied them, they could not buy his idea of reality, the only choice he had was to leave them. Had he insisted to liberate them, he would have paid a high price that could have included him life.
The fire and the puppets in the parable were signifying the unrevealed truths about reality, and the limiting aspect of this knowledge (Chadwick 325). The limited light signifies the shallow knowledge of reality that people get from politicians. The puppets are the issues that affect the life of men.
The puppets pass in front of the fire-projecting image on the wall that signifying distorted reality. As Plato saw it, people who become enlightened are the ones who should take the leadership in society, as they will lead people towards the truth. The fire and t he puppets also signifies politics, politicians and political leadership.
Augustine’s Confession
Augustine knows that God is absolute and he is all knowing. God is also above the human beings in all aspects, and his confession he indicates and worships the power of God. Light refers to knowledge and a mind that is enlightened (Gilson 150). If God’s mind resembles absolute knowledge, then the point of contact with the human mind is like light.
God reveals wisdom to human beings by shading light on their brains that they may be able to reason in the right manner. Plato was referring to the light from the sun as the genuine illumination that helped people to see the reality, and that the sun controlled the seasons. Plato clearly demonstrated that light from the sun was brighter than that which was coming from the fire.
The light is unchangeable n the sense that it is absolute and complete. Least but to mention, it is in its whole form, and nothing is beyond it (Gilson 157). Even though the light is above us, it is in our mind because God allows it to have it. Human beings cannot perceive things that are not at par with them.
Confusion
Descartes, in his first meditation, decided to doubt everything that he has ever believed and start seeing as false. His move was prompted by the realization of the fact that fact that everything that he knows was as his sense could perceive. Therefore, his knowledge lacked the aspect of objective truth, but remained subjective to the opinion of his senses. He started on a journey towards achieving the objective truth of the world, because he realized that his sense have been deceiving him (Saint, 100).
Plato discusses the same idea in his parable of the cave, as he indicated the need to take on a journey of salvation that will help him to see the real world. This journey begins with doubting the original knowledge and developing the desire to know then reality as it is not as it is perceived by the senses (Saint 96).
In conclusion, the philosophers named in this write up had a common vision of saving humanity from ignorance. They demonstrated the need for an individual to gain objective truth that will help him to have a different view of the world. They also emphasized on the need to recognize the superiority of God and the need to maintain a good relationship with him to be able to experience the truth.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Henry. Saint Augustine: Confessions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Saint, Augustine. Confessions. Henry Chadwick, trans. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Chadwick, Henry. Augustine. New York: Oxford University Press, Past Masters Series, 1986.
Gilson, Etienne. The Philosophy of Saint Augustine. L.E.M. Lynch, trans. London: Random House, 1960.