Understanding the Cave Allegory

Paper Summary:

In the Seventh Book of Plato's "Republic", the famous cave allegory depicts the difference between illusion and knowledge. It is also a call to go beyond appearances and seek the light of reality. After closely looking at Plato's story, the paper seeks to understand this philosophical quest, including a detailed consideration of the film, "Rashomon". The paper argues that perhaps this philosophical project may actually not be understandable.

From the Paper:

"But Plato's description of the cave allegory wants to do more. The story concerns notions of "virtue," "justice," "truth," and so forth. Plato asks us to deal with "ultimate" matters, in which appearances only obscure "reality" and that one needs to be "illuminated" to be able to adequately contemplate that ultimate reality. One must make this journey towards truth and return to my everyday world with this truth. Otherwise one will be lost in a fog of mere opinions in which an account of a particular shadow simply amounts to an interpretation that finds company with other people's interpretations, so none of us sees the actual reality that is the cause of the perceived world of shadows."

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