Question

Tell the Allegory of the Cave in your own words. Where would you place yourself in the cave? Explain why and give an example to support your view.

Answer 1

In Plato’s theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge is based on what we see and hear in the world i.e. the empirical evidence. The cave represents that believers of empirical knowledge; are trapped in a ‘cave’ of misunderstanding. The Shadows representing the perception of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If we believe that what we see should be taken as truth, then we are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Plato’s opinion, we are a ‘pleb’ if you believe this. I want to place myself close to the walkway in the cave so that instead of having perceptions about the reality I can observe reality with my own eyes.