Allegory of the Cave by Plato (Social Sciences Essay)

Allegory of the Cave by Plato
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Allegory of the Cave by Plato
The Allegory of the Cave is a creation of sickened Plato of Athens who executed his mentor, Socrates, for religious heresy about the group's religion's philosophical opinions. After his death, Plato left Athens to develop the first academy to extend and efficiently incorporate his mentor’s philosophical ideas into a methodical philosophy encircling ideas in metaphysics and epistemology (Metaphilosophy, 2016). Thereby, he created The Allegory of the Cave.
The allegory depicts the patterns of thought and life of a people, living in the cave for three generations. They had never seen the sun, the mountains, the greenery, or anything else than the interior of a cave. They were used to the darkness they have been facing for up to three generations. There was an inlet of sunlight into the cave, which threw light on the far-off wall in the cave facing it. Whenever an animal like a snake, cat, or rat passed by that inlet, its enlarged and black shadow on the wall caught the dwellers' attention. They were accustomed to watching these shadows and believing in them as they dogma. The shadows of animals and reptiles were their gods. They used to worship them and consider them a part of their life from generation to generation. They did never attempted to jump out of this dark atmosphere and dare see the outside world. It was a fire outside in their imagination, and anybody who attempts to cross the boundary will be burnt in it (Plato, 1963). For them, the cave was the safest place to live without even thinking about the outside world. They lived, died, and produced generations in that cave.
One day, one of the prisoners came out of the cave. His eyes blinded at first, and he could not adjust them to the bright views outside the cave. He tried to set himself in front of the harsh sunlight as his eyes were accustomed to the darkness. After passing some time, he could watch the beautiful views outside the cave. He saw green trees, mountains, water, birds, and all those animals whose reflections were the gods of the cave's prisoners. He glanced at the reflection of trees into the water and shadows of animals when light falls on their bodies. At first, he was afraid of what he saw and desired to go back to the safest place- the cave. Soon, he concluded the concept of particular objects and shadows. After understanding what was real and reliable, he realized the cave dwellers' ignorance and felt despised.
Finally, he returned to his home to tell his family and frien...