In Plato`s allegory of the cave, Should one feel pity and return to the bottom of the cave to release the prisoners?

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25 September 2007

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Plato 's Flashlight in a Cave

For Plato , the philosopher was the one who escapes the cave . The cave then is a representation of the senses of humans they see false objects , and hear false words . The person who is in the cave is using their senses to obtain a diagram of the world around them , but the cave is dark and there is no light , so all they see are shadows , or reflections of themselves reflections that are of

a lesser human . The philosopher on the other hand escapes the cave , or escapes the world of bodily necessity , and comes into the sun to realize that what objects are truly . Plato , being an opportunist but also a realist describes the scene of the philosopher escaping the cave and his encounter with the sun (truth .he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent , and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself , is he not likely to be pained and irritated ? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled , and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities .He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upperworld . And first he will see the shadows best , next the reflections of men and other objects in the water , and then the objects themselves then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day (Plato The Cave

The philosopher was guided by reason to escape the cave . Upon witnessing the sun , he begins to see the truth . Throughout the dialogue in The Republic Plato utilizes the `cross examination ' method of Socrates , and this is especially true in the metaphor of the cave . In Book 7 of The Republic , Socrates is having a dialogue with Glaucon Socrates , or Plato writing the dialogue , convince the man , through a series of questions that the cave is a false reality , and only when a person sees the sun can the truth be found . In answering the question as to whether or not one should return to the cave to free the prisoners or pity them , then in a Platonic response the answer is yes . Since the philosopher is the one who makes it out of the cave due to their enlightenment , Plato is stating that it is a necessity for the philosopher to travel back into the cave to convince the other prisoners that a greater and brighter world exists for them as well . The point of the allegory in the cave is that humanity is blinded by their own ignorance , and since it is impossible for the ignorant to achieve an epitome such as the volume as a philosopher can achieve then the philosopher must have...