The cave myth, Also known as the allegory of the cave, it is the creation of the Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC), an Athenian thinker, a disciple of Socrates and the author of one of the most famous allegories in the history of philosophy. Plato wrote all his works in the form of dialogues, almost always with Socrates as the main character, and in which he dealt with topics such as love, ethics, virtue, politics, knowledge, etc..
It was in one of these dialogues, the Republic, where Plato put on the lips of Socrates, conversing with a brother of Plato, Glaucon, the myth of the cave as a way to explain his theory of knowledge.
The myth of the cave has been the object of multiple analyzes and interpretations for more than two thousand years by theologians, philosophers, poets, storytellers (there is a novel by the Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, justly titled The cavern).
It should be noted that although it has remained for posterity as a "myth" (a timeless and anonymous belief, belonging to a culture), it is actually an allegory: the representation of an idea through a story or story.
A group of men have been locked up in a cave since they were children; There they are chained in such a way that they can only see in one direction: towards a wall where a light is reflected from outside, from somewhere outside the cavern.
Shadows of objects and people passing in front of the external light are reflected on the wall, which the chained beings mistake for real entities: they believe that the shadows are the true figures, and not their reflection.
One of the prisoners manages to free himself and walks, dazzled by the light, towards the exit of the cavern. Outside he contemplates the objects and beings that produce the shadows, but the daylight prevents him from seeing them directly, only reflected in the water (as if it were a mirror).
When he manages to look at them directly, he understands that these are the real beings and objects, and not the shadows that he contemplated when he was chained. He also understands that the sun is the main benefactor of human beings and of all life..
Then he decides to return to the interior of the cavern to tell the others what he has discovered. Entering he walks awkwardly because of the darkness; goes to where his companions are and tries to explain what he has seen outside.
Because of their clumsiness when walking, and because of their difficulty in explaining what they have seen outside, the captives doubt the words of the free man, and even come to believe that it can be dangerous to try to leave.
The prisoners laugh and scoff at his story, and even try to kill him when he tries to free them from their chains. They prefer to remain as they are than to make the effort to free themselves from the chains and leave the cavern..
In the Republic, Plato, through Socrates, provides a first interpretation of this myth, and explains each aspect of the story as follows:
It is the sensible world, the reality in which we move every day. The shadows that move on the wall is the information that we receive through the senses (sight, hearing, etc.).
It is what allows us to know the world, it comes from the sun, but when the light comes indirectly, as on the wall, it can be misleading. The sun would also be the idea of good, to which every human being should aspire.
The relationship with light in myth is like our relationship with knowledge: too much light blinds the prisoner, so he must look for an indirect way of observing things (through his reflection in the water), until he gets used to it and can see directly.
The liberated prisoner would be the soul, which rises towards the light, towards the knowledge. It would also be the philosopher trying to reveal the truth to others.
It would be the world of ideas, the reality beyond our reality. In myth the way out is difficult, to point out that the search for true knowledge is almost never easy, and deserves a greater effort than remaining in ignorance..
The prisoners would be the human race, trapped in the world of the senses; public opinion and common sense, which is governed only by what it can see. The chains that keep them looking in one direction represent prejudices and false beliefs.
This Platonic allegory has been approached from various perspectives, due to its wealth of ideas and suggestions..
Exposing his ideas around what would be the two forms of knowledge would have been Plato's main motive: the knowledge provided by the senses and that provided by the soul or spirit, through intelligence and science..
In this myth, Plato raises his vision of the human being, divided into body and soul. The myth also serves to show his perception of the human race, trapped in ignorance and ignorance, and with fear and hatred towards those who try to educate them.
In the myth, the path outward, toward enlightenment and knowledge, is full of difficulties; you must fight against personal blindness and then try to convey that information to a humanity that does not want to free itself from its chains.
In the myth the world contemplated by the prisoners is not a real world, but shadows and reflections of a higher world that we cannot perceive with our usual senses. The real world would be the world of ideas, the world outside the cave, where real objects and beings are, illuminated by the sun..
This idea, that of the sensible world as an illusion, and the existence of a superior and true world, is one of the bases of idealistic philosophy..
Another way of interpreting it is that for Plato the shadows and silhouettes of the cave would be part of the world of the imagination, while the vision outside would be a form of scientific knowledge..
Another reason for the significance of the myth of the cave is that it exposes two ways of seeing and knowing: the materialistic, through the senses and experience; and the idealistic, through intelligence and spirit.
The liberated man is the philosopher, who by accessing knowledge also acquires the obligation to return to the prisoners, those who do not know the truth, and instruct them, although they cling to ignorance and may even be dangerous.
As in the ascent from the bottom of the cave towards the light, the path of knowledge is full of obstacles, and at first the truth can blind us, so we have to look for ways to approach it indirectly.
We have to educate ourselves to access knowledge, and also train to be able to transmit it, assuming the risk of not being understood, as happens with the free prisoner when he returns with his companions at the bottom of the cave..
The released prisoner represents the educator, who must guide the students, the prisoners in chains, towards the higher levels of knowledge, and towards the light of the highest good..
The fact that this myth is part of the Republic, one of Plato's political dialogues, allows an approach from this field, especially if we consider that for this philosopher citizens had a moral obligation and a political duty to educate themselves.
The prisoners would become the people, and the prisoner who is freed the leader (who is also a philosopher), destined to educate and direct the community towards a better world. It should not be forgotten that in this dialogue Plato proposed the idea of the philosopher king.
With the myth of the cave Plato exposed his theory of how we acquire knowledge, and how we can access the truth. In the story, the prisoners observe the shadows, a partial knowledge provided by the senses and that identifies with opinion.
The prisoner, by freeing himself from his bonds, is equivalent to the soul that, through intelligence and science, can access the world of ideas, true knowledge. There is a sensible world, that of the cave, and there is an intelligible world, the one illuminated by the sun..
Both worlds are real, both forms of knowledge are true, but only with the second one can access the idea of good, which in myth is represented by the figure of the sun..
For Plato, the first form of knowledge, that of the sensible world, is that which we express through opinion, a knowledge that can contain errors because it is based on superficial and partial information (the shadows on the wall of the cave)..
The second form of knowledge, the direct vision of beings and objects outside the cave, is accessed thanks to science and intelligence. These tools, in addition to allowing us to observe objects as they really are, lead us to the idea of good.
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