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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that relates Plato's allegory of the cave, which is told in Book VII of The Republic. The writer summarizes and explains the symbolism of this allegory and relates it to Plato's worldview pertaining to the relationship of the philosopher to society and the relationship between different levels of reality. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcave.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
between different levels of reality. To illustrate these points, Plato presents a famous and detailed analogy that compares society and reality to living in a cave. Examination of this analogy
reveals Platos basic worldview, which is essential to understanding the main points of his philosophical outlook in The Republic. The men who
live in the cave have been there since childhood. They sit facing the far wall of the cave, and since their legs and necks are chained, they can never turn
to see the outside world. They can look only straight ahead of them at the wall of the cave. Behind them, near the mouth of the cave, is a fire.
Between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway with a parapet. Along this walkway, other men pass, carrying a variety of objects, such as vessels, statues, etc. the
fire casts shadows of these objects on the far wall. Platos writing always took the form of dialogues between Socrates, Platos teacher and mentor, and others. As Socrates relates
this strange story, he is interrupted by Glaucon who remarks on the unusual nature of the situation and these prisoners. Socrates replies that the men in the cave are very
much like ourselves. As this suggests, Socrates means to make it clear that this allegory has relevance to the realities of everyday existence. The prisoners, because of their chains,
cannot turn their heads from side to side, so they experience even each other only as shadows. The prisoners can communicate with one another, and they, naturally, give names to
what they see on the wall. Also, as is typical of caves, there is an echo. Therefore, whenever when the men walking on the parapet speak, the echo makes
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