Plato's Allegory Of The Cave Summary

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Plato describes knowledge as things that are unchanging in the eternal, that it is unchanging and needs to be grasped to understand to truth of life and the world. Plato’s story in Book VII really helps to reader understand what exactly he is trying to explain. He tells a story about the Allegory of the Cave and in the cave Plato talks about prisoners who sit in the dark and watches the shadows on the wall to be told what the “truth” is on the outside world. They are not to turn around or look side to side; just straight ahead If the prisoners could turn around they would see puppeteers with props and a fire behind that (Plato Republic book VII). The shadows represent reality to Plato, this is because that is all the prisoners are use to.
It is their only reality until a prisoner takes a chance and turns around to see what is actually happening behind them and sees the truth about everything they have been taught. The prisoner then escapes the cave Plato describes how the sunlight/good, or truth would blind him and how it would be a challenge to begin to fully see and understand the outside world. (Republic book VII). The prisoner once after getting accustomed to the …show more content…
In the diagram there is eight steps and stages to knowledge and it leads up to forms and intelligence. There are also four main sides to the stages and they are world of being, world of becoming, visible world, and intelligible world. In the stages everyone can be at different levels with knowing and understanding. Some believe in the appearances that are seen as a true reality. Plato explains it as what you see or hear is not always what you get, or how you may be able to read the content but there is not understanding of the real meaning (Republic book VI). If there is knowledge that something is real, then the person is beyond the imagination stage but they are not past the belief and visible
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