Plato wrote many great works, such as his records of the trial of Socrates. Specifically, his work “Apology” alone alone could earn him a place in the pantheon of Western philosophers. But his work entitled “Republic” is different. It seems to be best known today for its near-totalitarian political philosophy. Specifically, in that work, Plato advocated a philosopher-king with absolute power. I’ve never been a big fan of this particular part of the work. In fairness, Plato was writing more than 2,000 years ago, and did not have the kind of hindsight that we have today. I have more mixed feelings about Plato’s theory of forms, another doctrine detailed in the pages of “The Republic.” It’s not a very practical theory, but it may be among the first attempts in history to grapple with the problems presented by abstract concepts, and the concrete physical examples of them. Since I admittedly lack any true expertise in metaphysics, I will refrain from commenting further on Plato’s theory of forms in this particular post. And I will instead leave the discussion of Plato’s political theory to two other posts (here and here, respectively). Here, I will instead undertake to comment on a different part of “The Republic” – one of the few parts that actually meets with my approval. Specifically, I will be commenting here on Plato’s famous “Allegory of the Cave,” one of the classic allegories of Western literature and philosophy. It can be taken broadly as a metaphor for the discovery (or re-discovery) of some kind of world, which was previously unknown or forgotten. It could also be a metaphor for political or religious conversion, or the discovery of some subculture in which one finally feels at home.
Plato
This allegory seems not to represent the views of Socrates, but only those of Plato
Like most other parts of “The Republic,” the dialogue is presented as a conversation between two specific characters. One is “Glaucon,” a character with the name of Plato’s own brother. It has been speculated that Glaucon may indeed represent the author’s brother, although it would be difficult to know this for certain. The other character has the name of “Socrates,” the great philosopher who had earlier been the mentor of Plato himself. But, as with other parts of “The Republic,” there is serious doubt about whether this character actually represents the views of the historical Socrates, who had died twenty years earlier at the hands of his city-state’s government. There is debate about this, but most seem to believe that “The Republic” does not represent the views of the already-dead Socrates. The majority view among scholars, if indeed there is one, seems to be that this particular work only represents the ideas of Plato. I should mention that I have actually read Plato’s “Republic” in the original Greek. I have enough knowledge of the Ancient Greek language that I was able to spend roughly four years doing this. More specifically, I was reading the work from February 2019 to February 2023. Thus, I may be able to comment with some authority on certain parts of “The Republic.” To some degree, this includes Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” the subject that I will be undertaking to explore in this post.
Plato
A brief summary of the allegory itself, which describes people tied up from birth in a cave
Thus, perhaps I should start off by briefly summarizing the allegory itself. The full allegory commences at the beginning of Book VII of “The Republic.” (You can access its full text here, if you’re interested.) But the complete text of this allegory is a little long, so I will instead content myself with a concise summary from Wikipedia. As their elegant summary puts it, “In the allegory, Plato describes people who have spent their entire lives chained by their necks and ankles in front of an inner wall with a view of the empty outer wall of the cave. They observe the shadows projected onto the outer wall by objects carried behind the inner wall by people who are invisible to the chained ‘prisoners’ and who walk along the inner wall with a fire behind them, creating the shadows on the inner wall in front of the prisoners. The ‘sign bearers’ pronounce the names of the objects, the sounds of which are reflected near the shadows and are understood by the prisoners as if they were coming from the shadows themselves.” (Source: Their page on the “Allegory of the cave”) This page further relates: “Only the shadows and sounds are the prisoners' reality, which are not accurate representations of the real world. The shadows represent distorted and blurred copies of reality we can perceive through our senses, while the objects under the Sun represent the true forms of objects that we can only perceive through reason.” (Source: Same as above) A literal interpretation of the allegory would be a little hard to accept – since, in real life, the prisoners would be almost certain to see a real object at some point. Thus, as with other works of literature, we may need to suspend our disbelief long enough to understand the true meaning of this parable.
1604 depiction of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
A philosopher discovers a greater external reality, but his companions think him mad
Regardless, the allegory further talks about a philosopher being freed from the cave. The philosopher then sees for the first time the actual objects that he had previously known only through the seeing of their shadows. This is a far more reliable, and certainly much richer, reality than he had ever known before. The philosopher has discovered something that was previously invisible to him, and was far more real to him than anything that he had ever seen before. The philosopher is then changed by the knowledge, and goes back to the cave to relate his discovery to his former companions. But the other inmates of the cave “do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life” (Source: Same as above). They are angry at his suggestion that they “lack” a knowledge of the true reality, and they further consider him to be mad for believing in this “unverifiable” reality. Plato even suggests that they might feel affronted enough to kill him – as the Athenians had killed the real Socrates, some 20 years before this dialogue was first written. (This dialogue was actually written in 375 BC, and Socrates had been executed back in 399 BC – that is, further before Christ.) Thus, the philosopher fails to convince his former companions of what he now knows to be true. The knowledge of it is too contrary to the conventional wisdom, and to the “common-sense” notions of his upbringing in the cave. Apparently, if our views represent a sufficiently radical departure from the views of our neighbors, then we must tread carefully before we venture to bring them up, lest our neighbors esteem them (and us) to simply be mad.
A modern illustration of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Various interpretations of the allegory, from religious conversion to scientific discovery
Some have interpreted this as a metaphor for religious conversion, in which one “sees the light” for the first time (literally or figuratively). Others have interpreted it as a metaphor for other kinds of conversion, such as political or philosophical conversion. There is probably merit in (at least some) of these interpretations. But, in some ways, it may also be like discovering another world – perhaps one that was right under your nose the whole time, but whose richness was then escaping you. To use an example from my small-town experience, it would be like discovering the pristine wilderness outside of my Northern Arizona hometown. Perhaps a local has spent so much time in the urban environment of the city of Prescott, that they didn’t know that this beautiful wilderness existed – and that the forest is teeming with plant and animal life! And, when they discover it, they are forever changed by the experience, and want to know more about it – spending more time out in nature. For me, learning the Ancient Greek language was a little bit like this. I’d heard about the Ancient Greeks when I was growing up – as I describe in this post. But, until I started reading the books from Classical Greece, and learning this remarkable language, I had no idea about the richness of this magnificent culture. To me, it is more real than the misconceptions about the Ancient Greeks that I have described here. I feel like, in some metaphorical sense, I’ve now set foot in this lost world and seen it for myself. To use another metaphor, I’ve been set free from the cave, and seen the real thing – rather than the shadows that I was learning in school.
Plato
Conclusion: In their own way, a great many of these interpretations may indeed be true
Like other pieces of literature, the work is open to multiple interpretations – and, in their own way, a great many of them may indeed be true. I leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions. But I consider this to be one of the richest allegories ever taught by philosophy. When we discover truths about the cosmos (or human society), it can be an almost spiritual (and uplifting) experience. It can change our perceptions and expand our horizons, opening up lost worlds to us that had long since been unknown or forgotten. It can introduce us to subcultures that were there under our fingertips all along, waiting for us to find them. And this knowledge can forever change us, making us the better for it – enriching our lives in ways that we never thought possible, even in our wildest dreams.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment