Plato was born 427 BC, and died 347 BC. He was one of Socrates’ pupils, and learned very much from him. Plato wrote dialogues which collectively described Socrates’ teachings. He was preparing to enter politics when he discovered Socrates and his ideas, which changed his life. He began to follow philosophy, and opened a school called the Academy which was outside of Athens. The school was dedicated to Socrates and his search for wisdom.
Plato was both a writer and a teacher, unlike Socrates who was only a teacher. Everything he wrote was in the form of dialogue, which Socrates was always included in. His most famous work was The Republic. Its purpose was to inform people about what is necessary to educate philosophically. Within the Republic, Plato tells a story of man’s struggle for knowledge. He calls this story, ‘The Allegory of the Cave.” This is one of Plato’s many parables that explain the theory’s of knowledge. This story intertwines most of Plato’s postulations about Philosophy. These include his ideas that; the world our senses portray is not the real world but only a copy of it, and that we can only discover the real world through intellect and teaching; that knowledge is not transmitted from teacher to student, but that the teacher must guide the student towards learning what is important and let them find their own way; his ideas that the universe is good; and that individuals who have been fortunate enough to be enlightened owe it to society to show them the way.
Below, some paraphrased excerpts from the Allegory will help us to analyze the story.
Now then, imagine mankind as living in an underground cave which has a wide entrance open to the light.&n ...