The Allegory of The Cave

humanity. The cave itself represents ignorance, to which

mankind is chained. We are all born into this state of

inexperience, similar to the prisoners who are unaware of

their own limited perspective. They sit chained to this wall

searching for the truth, yet they only acquire the shadow of

Most people do not want to believe what is true. They

are secure being chained to the wall of ignorance. When

one's eyes are forced away from what is counterfactual and

are brought into the light, he does not want to believe what

. . .
Once he is released from the chains of

ignorance and is enlightened, he discovers a clearer vision

of the world in which he lives.

As long as man believes that the cave in which he lives is

the ultimate reality, he will always be living in darkness

and unsophistication. We would be mistaken if we thought that the

concepts we grasp were on the same level as the things we

perceive. He must not fall into this trap which his

ego sets. The person who is represented by the

prisoner finally becomes aware that righteousness is the

origin of existence.

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.

Education is not a process of receiving knowledge into

inexperienced minds, but discovering what one already knows. Plato was exact when he said those individuals

who are experiencing ignorance will attempt to annihilate

those who are striving to lead someone to the righteous way.

With this clear vision he finds himself in a position

of feeling superior to those who are still chained to the

wall of ignorance. He realizes what is right, that there

are invisible truths lying under the apparent surface of

things which only the most enlightened can recognize and

understand. It is up to oneself to remove the

chains of ignorance and move out of the darkness and into

the light of reality and truth. It takes him time to discover and accept

what is reality. Ones ego can be debilitated by disciplining our

will over time.

The significance of The Allegory of the Cave is that there

are truths incapable of being conquered underneath the

illusory surface of things, which only the enlightened can

comprehend.

Man can be so blind that out of dismay he will attempt

and is sometimes successful in destroying what he does not

understand.

Common topics in this essay:
Allegory Cave, chained wall, chained wall ignorance, allegory cave, surface enlightened, wall ignorance, chains ignorance,

Approximate Word count = 414
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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