Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Part One

The Allegory of the Cave is a Socratic dialogue composed by Plato in his work Republic (380 BC). The characters in the passage are Socrates, who is used as a narrator to present Plato’s ideas, and Glaucon, Plato’s brother. Plato’s Cave has become one of the most famous allegories of Western Philosophy, discussing his views on the governing of the State, the importance of the correct type of education, and the ideal process in which the finest rulers should be selected.

I will be dividing the allegory into three sections. Part one covers the cave’s image introduced by Socrates to Glaucon and the implications this has on the state of being, touching briefly on the perfect State.

The translation I have used to study Plato’s works is Benjamin Jowett’s, which you can purchase here.

Part One

The Cave

The passage begins with the famous visual of prisoners chained to the wall in a darkened cave. All the prisoners can see are shadows cast on a wall from a fire lit behind them. People are carrying different objects, such as animal figures, past the wall to create different shapes of shadows. The below diagram illustrates Plato’s iconic shadow play.

Image taken from http://www.profkev.com/cavepics.php for cave illustrations.

Socrates description:

• “Behold! Human beings living in an underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light… their legs and necks chained so they cannot move”

• “Above and behind there is a fire blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a… low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets”

• “Men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals… some are talking, some are silent”

• “They [the prisoners] see only their shadows, or the shadow of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave”

The prisoners would also see the shadows of the passing objects in a similar manner. “If they were to converse with one another”, Socrates asks, “would they not suppose that they were naming what is actually before them?" Glaucon agrees. Socrates then asks if the voices of those carrying the objects, if they were to speak, would be assumed by the prisoners that their voices belong to the shadows. Glaucon again agrees. Therefore, the prisoners are deluded into believing that the shadows are real, and that these shadows are speaking. Their voices may sound distant to the prisoners, and muffled by the crackling of the fire behind them, further adding to the intriguing scene before us which Glaucon describes as “a strange image”. To the prisoners, this is reality.

“To them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images”

But what if these prisoners were to be released? What if they were able to see the true source of the shadows? Their lives, and mind, would be drastically changed.

Reality Broken

“If the prisoners are released… he would suffer sharp pains; the glare [of the sun] will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities in which his former state he had seen in the shadows; and then conceive someone saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion… but that now [he] is turned more towards real existence, he has a clearer vision… will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are know shown to him?”

Socrates is implying that the prisoners may feel denial and disbelief about what they now perceive above the cave; a natural human reaction when something unfamiliar is experienced. It is common for the majority to show skepticism and sometimes even aversion when a truth is revealed which discredits former knowledge.

“If he is compelled to look at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him… take refuge in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?” Glaucon agrees with Socrates. Socrates further asks about the dazzling sunlight, stating that the prisoner will be unable to “see anything at all of what are now called realities”.

This is because the prisoner’s eyes will need to adjust to the bright light before they can look properly at the natural world, or as Socrates refers to it, the “upper world”. The sun could be interpreted, whilst still regarded as a necessary part of the passage, as a symbol to illustrate reality - as the prisoner’s eyes grow accustomed to the sunlight, they too become accustomed to true substances.

“First he will see the shadows best”, Socrates continues, “Next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves… Last of all he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is”. “He will then proceed to argue that this is who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world”.

The sun is spoken of here as a “guardian” or a God-like deity; an omniscient force with the power to control nature and an eye to observe humanity. The prisoner’s eyes have now adjusted to the sunlight and he is no longer rendered to look at the sun’s reflection in water, but directly. Now, he is free to ‘contemplate’ this guardian. Contemplation, in fact, is the last stage of the prisoner’s transition. This is a huge window (and a key part of this passage) into what Plato believed to be the most vital roots of intellect - philosophy. Contemplating the sun and the visible world is comparable to the study of nature and existence; the core of the dialectic, and the heart of the truth in regards of coming into being. Therefore, it is the prisoner’s final concern to question everything and discover the ultimate truth, hence, to practice philosophy. (This is highlighted later in the allegory).

But what if the prisoner was then to return to the realm of the cave? To their old life? Socrates states:

“Imagine once more… one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?”. “And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak… would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and came down without his eyes”

The prisoner’s perception of the lower world would be exceptionally altered once he has perceived the truth of the upper world. His eyes would struggle to see in the darkness and need to readjust the similarly from when he stepped from the darkness into the light. The remaining prisoners will likely greet his descriptions of the upper world with disbelief, feeling that he has returned below blind and deluded. In reality, however, he has been exposed to the truth, a truth which is most inconceivable to those in the dark.

Beautiful Knowledge

There is a far greater point to Plato’s allegory then prisoners being released from a cave. As with all allegories, the transition of the prisoner symbolizes something much deeper; the journey of the soul and it’s rise to the discovery of true knowledge. Socrates says to Glaucon:

“This prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world…”

But what exactly is this knowledge regarded so highly in comparison to that of the remaining prisoners? The answer to that is the good.

“... whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual”

The virtue of good is central to Plato’s philosophy. All substances in the visible world orbit around the good which exists at the core of knowledge, only accessible through the ‘effort’ which Socrates describes. Plato’s view of the natural world is similar to that of Aristotle’s. They have both regarded goodness as being largely present in nature. When the true good is realised, all knowledge to follow is ‘beautiful and right’. Socrates then states that the good is ‘source of reason and truth’ for the intellect, meaning that true knowledge is obtainable through rational thinking, deriving from all that is ‘good’. It is important to understand that the term ‘good’ here doesn’t apply to the adjective, but to the definition of moral righteousness, or rather the correct principle of universal law, influencing growth as present in nature and people.

“You must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are forever listening into the upper world where they desire to dwell; which desire of theirs is very natural, if our allegory may be trusted”

The lower world, as represented by the prison house, is painted in a very different picture to that of the upper. Those who have seen the true beauty of the upper are now hesitant to return to the cave, and to the ‘human affairs’ it contains. They are no longer interest in the quarrels of human nature and desire to exist in the contemplating world above.

The transition has occurred not only in the prisoner’s mind, but in their eyes. Although succumbed to the darkness for so long, however, the prisoner’s already have the faculty of sight. Socrates states that this sight has been “... turned in the wrong direction, from the truth”. In the prisoner’s case, to the shadows upon the wall.

“The bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds”, Socrates states, “And arise from two causes, either coming out of the light or from going into the light… he who remembers this when he sees anyone whose vision is perplexed or weak, will not be too ready to laugh”. As Socrates mentioned previously, the prisoners who have embraced the upper world will not pity those still dwelling in the lower. Plato therefore believes that those who have cast their eye away from the truth should be aided instead of disparaged.

Those who have a weaker vision should be questioned whether “... the soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess light”. These are the two kinds of eyes; the first eye belongs to the prisoner who has ascended and then returned to the darkness, and he is counted “happy in his condition and state of being”, whereas the other belongs to the prisoner whom has only just left the cave and is blinded by the sunlight, and he should be pitied. But, if those who pity him “have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the den”. Therefore, those who are dazzled by the sunlight when they leave the cave are further from the truth than those who have experienced the upper world and are returning to the cave, although their vision is also weak.

Plato believed that it is impossible to put knowledge into the soul which wasn’t there before, “like sight to blind eyes”, he compares.

“Our argument shows that the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already, and that just as the eye was unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being, and learn by degrees to endure the sight of being, or in other words, of the good”

In order to reach the goodness which exists in the upper world, the eyes, body and soul must all be present at once to learn true knowledge. The prisoners already obtain sight, and knowledge exists in their soul although they are unable to access it. All they need is their bodies to be unchained so they can carry this sight and knowledge to the upper world, and thus with their eyes, mind and body, they can learn the knowledge of the good - the sight of being.

Plato speaks of many virtues of the soul, stating that some are “akin to bodily qualities” as although not innate, they can be “implanted later” through wisdom which contains a “divine element”. He takes the example of a clever rogue who is the reverse of the blind and uses his “keen eyesight” for the services of evil, being mischievous in proportion to his own cleverness. Socrates creates an argument for the rogue, suggesting that he perhaps led a poor life from birth and the visions of his soul were tortured upon the things that are “below”. If they were then released from these impediments, then the “very same faculty in them would have seen the truth as keenly as they see what their eyes are turned to now”. Therefore, the rogue’s wayward lifestyle can be changed, and his excellent vision can be later influenced to be used for the good, all he needs to do is let go of his troubled past. This presents hope for those who have become corrupt and used their intelligence in the wrong way.

This is where the Cave Allegory begins to dwell into a deeper topic which concerns Plato - the issue of the State and it’s perfect ruler. Inferred from the rogue example, Socrates states that “the uneducated will not be able ministers of the State” as they have “no single line of duty which is the rule of all their actions, private as well as public… because they will not act at all except under compulsion”. The governor’s absence in education results in an absence of reason. They have insufficient knowledge to dictate a just life to others to follow. Therefore, as they are not able to act according to the true good, they will act upon subjective impulse, which is not an ideal way for any State to be controlled.

Socrates further states that it is the State’s business to “compel the best minds to attain the knowledge which we have already shown to be the greatest of all”. They must ascend until they reach the good, but once they’ve reached the good and obtained the sight of being, they can no longer live how they previously did. Socrates believes they must “descend again among the prisoners in the den” and partake in their labours, for happiness in the State is to be whole.

Education In The State

Socrates states that there “will be no injustice in compelling our philosophers to have a care and providence of others”. He informs Glaucon that in other States, men such as themselves are forbidden to take part in politics. Although, he is not offended by this, and calls this “reasonable” for they have chosen to be self-taught and not abide by normal culture. He describes a philosopher’s purpose as being a “ruler of the hive”, and that they are better educated than others for their minds are open to contemplation of the visible world. Philosophers belong in the upper world, but they must return to the lower after seeing the beauty of above, for only then can they fully exert their knowledge onto those who are still shrouded in darkness.

“Each of you, when his turn comes, must go down to the general underground abode, and get the habit of seeing in the dark. When you have acquired that habit, you will see a thousand times better than the inhabitants of the den, because you have seen the beautiful and just and good in their truth”

The ideal State Plato has described will then become a reality, and not a dream, and this State will be unique, “administered in a spirit unlike that of other States, in which men fight with one another about shadows only and are distracted in their struggle for power, which in their eyes is a great good”. These States are poorly governed, for the rulers do not know the truth, and bicker over quarrels regarding the lower world. “The truth”, Socrates states, “is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are eager, the worst”

“You must contrive for your future rulers another and a better life than that of a ruler, and then you may have a well-ordered State; for only in the State which offers this, will they rule who are truly rich, not in silver and gold, but virtue and wisdom, which are the true blessings of life”

Plato believed that, “the only life which looks down upon the life of political ambition is that of philosophy…”. This is because those who are misguided with power and ambition are not as humble nor intellectual as the good mind of a true philosopher, who has seen the beauty of knowledge. They do not contemplate, and rather, dispute. “Those who govern ought not to be lovers of the task”, Socrates tells Glaucon, or, “there will be rival lovers, and they will fight”.

So what men should be the rulers of the State if not politicians? It is clear that Plato has been implying men such as himself, philosophers, are much closer to the ideal. Socrates questions who would make the perfect guardian; surely those who have a “better life than that of politics” and those who are “the wisest”. Glaucon, without a doubt, agrees.

But if philosophers are to be ideal guardians, what way should these guardians be produced? “How are they to be brought from darkness to light, as some are said to have ascended from the world below to the Gods?”, Socrates asks. The process necessary is the “turning round of a soul passing from a day which is little better than night to the true day of being, that is the ascent from below, which we affirm to be true philosophy”. To break this down, what Socrates means is that in order to produce perfect guardians for the State - philosophers, they must leave the quarrels of human affairs and propel themselves towards the contemplation of the visible world. The prisoner leaving the den and seeing the true daylight is an allegory for this. However, once he has discovered the truth, he must then return to the world below and apply what he has learnt to teach others; the philosopher to his students, so they too can rise from the darkness into the light of knowledge.

But what knowledge has the power of effecting such a change? And what knowledge can draw the soul from becoming into being?

End of Part One