If I think and therefore I am, does this mean that I see and hence it’s the truth?
Lo and behold! Prisoners in a cave that are bound by chains which restricts them from moving. The prisoners can only look forward towards the wall of the cave, where they see shadows on the wall created by puppeteers above them. Truth to them, is nothing but shadows.
The prisoners play a game of naming the shadows, the fastest at naming the shadows are respected as elites. They become so good at it until they can predict the next shadow which is to be shown on the wall.
Suppose that one day, a prisoner is released from the chains and is compelled to stand up and to walk out towards the exit of the cave. Wouldn’t she be shocked by the sight of the puppets and the light? What if she is asked to name the puppets as how she named it’s shadow?
As she leaves the cave, the brightness of the sunlight overwhelms her, her eyes that were accustomed to the dark environment cannot see. Over time, her eyes starts to adapt to the new environment, she first identifies the shadow of herself and the other objects around her. She then starts to study the sky, realising that the sun is the cause of everything she sees.
Contemplating about her past, she realises that the rewards of winning in the game of naming the shadows on the wall was worthless. She feels pity for the other prisoners who are still trapped in the cave, she would rather suffer than to live like that.
Upon her return to the cave, she realised that her eyes that were once capable of seeing clearly in the dark was affected by the brightness of the sunlight. The prisoners ridiculed her when she failed perform in the game of naming the shadows on the wall.
She tells the prisoners about her enlightenment and the truth about the shadows on the wall. She persuades them to leave the cave.
However, the prisoners concluded that her ability to identify the shadows (which they still believe to be the truth) was ruined by her journey out of the cave.
The prisoners refuse to leave the cave.
Yes, be glad that you’ve left the cave.
I like this post.
Thank you
Call it cliche, but i cannot give up the chance of highlighting how this allegory could be guidance for theists to head towards atheism.
That’s the problem I’ve talked to you about the other day. You can’t just set up a straw man and come to conclusions like that. When Plato’s allegory of the cave is taken into the context of ‘The Republic’, Plato intended it to be an exemplification of his ‘Theory of Forms’.
Religious doctrines and beliefs aside, the ‘Form of the Good’ is analogous to the concept of God. The shadows on the wall and the captives depicts the difficulty of humans to understand the ‘forms’.
This is not to be interpreted as a direction towards atheism.
I am not saying Plato used this as an explanation or argument supporting atheism. In fact, asiade from metaphysics, he did not have much to do with religion on a personal level. What i am doing is I am borrowing his allegory for my own purpose. Forgive me if you find this wrong, and if you do , I accept that i am guilty as charged. But if you just allow my to borrow it for a while , I will show you what I was originally tring to say. For me, shadows on the wall depict unexplained phenomena to which humans turn to religion for an explanation such as the creation of man and the formation of the universe. The prisoners name the shadows like how creation was described in the bible , or the Quran, or the Bagavad Gita. The journey of discovery of the real scientific explantion and cause and process of these events is comparable to the accent out of the cave. Like how some few staunch and narrow minded theists constantly critisice atheists for straying from the truth, the prisoners ridicule the freed prisoners reduced abilty to understand or interpret the shadows. like how the prisoners would kill someone who tries to free them, narrow minded theists would do anything to shut their doors to the scientific or atheistic world. Again I am merely humbly borrowing a great work of philosophy from a great man.
In the words of this man’s great teacher, I know that I know nothing.
I see. May I ask you a question?
Can you tell me what exactly do you believe in? What is outside your conceived cave?
Socrates thought us the value of not jumping to conclusions. Hence, I would like to know your views before I respond.