Plato's Analogy of the Cave
Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 1.1.3
Plato's Analogy of the Cave
The analogy of the cave shows the journey that the philosopher makes from illusion to reality – from ignorance to the world of Forms.
Prisoners chained to a wall
- A prisoner is chained alongside others facing a wall. Behind them is a fire and in front of that a raised wall, upon which objects are placed so that they cast their shadows onto the wall in front of the prisoners.
The prisoner's journey
- One of the prisoners is freed. He sees the fire first, the objects and then he begins the difficult ascent out of the cave.
- When he gets outside and his eyes become accustomed to the light, he sees reflections of the moon and stars in the water. Then he sees them in the sky.
- Finally, he sees the sun. When he returns to free the prisoners from the cave and tell them of the outside world, they think he is mad and drive him away.
Allegorical meaning of the cave
- The cave: the world of the senses
- The shadows on the wall: illusions – what we see and mistake for reality.
- The chains: ignorance.
- The fire: the sun.
- The objects on the wall: physical things.
Allegorical meaning of the cave
- The difficult ascent: the dialectic – the process of arriving at truth.
- The reflections: the process of understanding.
- The moon and stars: the Forms of justice, beauty etc.
- The Sun: the Form of the Good.
Test yourself on Plato's Analogy of the Cave
What do the different parts of Plato's Cave analogy represent?