Platos Allegory of the Cave Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Platos Allegory of the Cave - Term Paper Example For, as one should probably know, the shadow is an allegory for a man’s self, ultimately, the id. The id is what separates the humans from the animals, and this philosophy delves into what is truly the nature of a man. It consists, one realizes, not of the man’s shadow but of himself as well as the representation of himself—which can be realized in the shadow. That itself is an allegory for what is really happening here—in essence, Plato is parsing that of which humanity really consists. If one, for example—were to be chained to a cave wall—does that diminish any less one’s humanity, one’s dignity, one’s sense of pride? Perhaps, but it cannot defeat the self, which is an inimitable, integral part of the human psyche—a cave, indeed, in which Plato explores more deeply the mysteries of the human mind. Just as some philosophers might attribute parts of a speech with rooms in a house, Plato is advancing upon new territ ory here—basically a type of psychoanalysis—which delves into what really makes humans tick. He has found out, and figured out, what is at the basis of all human interest and toil. It’s a need for knowledge. The cave allegory is significant because Plato thought that the cave represented work in education. Plato felt that the cave was symbolic of something greater in a man’s life. The cave could be an allegory for the fact that man spends all of his life—in essence—figuratively chained inside a cave. One struggles and slaves away, toiling at work, in search of an education, in search of a future. Meanwhile, the real battle is trying to find oneself in the midst of living life. Seeing shadows on the wall are an allegory for noticing one’s form in sensory ways—although it does not reflect the true nature or character of the person which it represents. Indeed, the shadows are a leitmotif for something more spiritual—it coul d be said. One has probably heard the phrase, â€Å"He’s only a shadow of himself, only a shadow of what he used to be.† A shadow intimates the presence of a skeleton which does not represent the true heart or soul of a person, but only the person’s physicality—the earthiness of his or her being. Indeed, these shadows represent a filament in the light bulb of human existence, which is ignited with personality. It is in this revelatory moment that one realizes the importance and power of the human spirit—and it is in this moment that one learns how everything important about being human can be understood from the allegory of the cave. It is not just our sensory awareness that is important to have in life, but knowledge of this sensory awareness at its height is the most evolved consciousness that a human can hope or expect to have. It is this consciousness that one seeks to cultivate through education, and this is reinforced by the allegory of the c ave. The cave allegory does for philosophy what Freud’s theory did for psychology. It revolutionized everything. Plato’s cave allegory is ultimately the ability to ascribe forms to shadows, making indiscrete objects into discrete realities. Thomas Hobbes was ridiculed for taking abstract notions and then defining those in concrete terms. But if we had never had such abstractions defined, we would—in Western political philosophy—not have had notions such as justice, good, evil, right, wrong, and moral philosophy, for example. Plato’s allegory of the cave is simply another way in which he attempted to define a human element. Plato’s allegory of the cave recognizes the importance