Allegory of the Cave

A detailed Summary of Allegory of the Cave

The prison dwelling and the visible realm are compared to one another in the first

sentence of the text. The realm is dark, with the exception of a small, well-kept fire. This

burning fire is almost a representation of the burning sun that shines in the outer world. This sun

is interpreted as the "idea of the good." The fire inside the cave helps guide the prisoners to use

their senses. Without it, they would see nothing, not even their own shadows glowing on the

wall. The physical objects that the prisoner saw were mere illusions. We should never trust

what we see with just our eyes, because illusions will be the result. Then, we would get

comfortable and never second guess it for ourselves.

and intelligence. As the prisoner steps out of the fire-filled cave, his journey heightens towards

the outside world, which seems quite abstract, for he has never encountered such objects before.

The intelligible world, or outside world, is foreign to the prisoner. It produces both truth

This is called knowledge. The prisoner does have a downfall of this newly-found knowledge,

table. The concept table is the intelligible, and not visible, but the one particular, concrete table

This is known as the intelligible realm. We find these ideas in the rational part of the soul. The

Approximate Word count = 503
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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