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Essay / Review of The Allegory of the Cave, by Plato
In Plato's The Allegory of the Cave, it allows an individual to realize what he already knows. The situation in the cave seems dark and gloomy, like a place no one would ever want to go. However, the reality is that some people find themselves in their own cave at some point in their lives. The people in Plato's cave, the prisoners, have always been there. They all have their legs and necks chained and cannot move. They cannot turn their neck or body to look around. The cave is very dark and there is a fire in the distance. There is a wall in front of them and the men frequently carry tools, containers and objects of various shapes with them. This creates shadows of different shapes that the prisoners can see. All they have seen or known is what lies before them, a two-dimensional world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay A two-dimensional world would depict people who only saw what was in front of them. According to Plato, one could only imagine, without ever seeing or having prior knowledge of people or objects. Like some people today, all the prisoners know is what is in front of them, a distorted view of reality. If a person only accepts what is in front of him, he too lives in a two-dimensional world. The shadows are reality for the prisoners because it is all they have ever known. They don't know that they are distorted and that they are a reflection of something real. An example Plato could use if he were alive today would be a movie theater. The movie projector would be fire. The projected film would be the shadows reflected on the wall. The spectators are the prisoners. The shadows on the wall can be compared to most films watched today because they do not represent reality but a distorted representation of it. If the spectator or prisoner chooses to accept what is before him as reality, he is in a sense choosing to live in a two-dimensional world. A prisoner should believe that there is more to life than what has been offered to him in order to change the situation and move forward in a three-dimensional world. In a three-dimensional world, people are able to interact with each other. and use their senses. We would accept and be able to understand a new reality. For example, if the prisoners were released, they would be curious to turn around and look behind them or walk towards the light, which is human nature. At the same time, it would also be difficult to do. The light would burn their eyes and the outside world would be a major change and might be difficult to accept. Naturally, the prisoners would be scared and hesitant, but to pass to the other world, one must be strong and escape from the cave in order to find true reality. Once they seek knowledge and good things in life that make a person happy, they will live in a three-dimensional world. Plato thought, my opinion is, that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last and is seen only with effort; and, when we see him, we also infer that he is the universal author of all things beautiful and just. To live in a three-dimensional world, one must not sit idly by and choose to accept what is in front of one as reality. A person who lives in a two-dimensional world is not truly happy. They did not seek knowledge or true happiness. For the prisoners trapped in the cave, never dreaming or imagining other realities shows that they.