This is in a section of Plato’s Republic, which is an ancient political thought on justice, the role of the city-state, the philosopher-kings, and the making of society as well as the roles of truths and forms. I won’t go into the details on the whole book but I want to point out one chapter that is reflective of the current state today.
When we were young, we were told a few stories and similes. I couldn’t recall the most illustrated one but the one that remains most prominent in my head is the one about the tortoise and the hare race. The moral learning of this story that was delivered to us in our childhood was to work diligently and always be in the pursuit to win the race or that you will be able to win the race regardless of your circumstances. (How meritocratic…)
Plato’s simile of the Cave is one that refers to the story of knowledge and what we perceive as reality and given realities in the names of Forms. In this Cave, Plato talks about these prisoners whom are positioned in front of a fire. These prisoners are tied to this Cave and only faces the front of the Cave. There are puppeteers creating the puppets which are then reflected at the front of the Cave — basically, everything that the prisoners see. In this situation, these prisoners’ only realities are the shadows. The simile then goes on to say that if one of the prisoner wrestles away and somehow is able to move away from this stagnant position, he would realise that his realities (which has been these shadows for his whole life) is not the truths but simply created forms of an object that he imagines in his head.
When looking at this fire that creates the shadows, his eyes will “hurt” since it is so bright compared to the years of the shadow-reality. He would be shunned away and turn back to these shadows and go back to the “imagined” realities. If he, however, “grow[s] accustomed to the light” he would be able to see the “heavenly bodies and the sky itself…and its light by day” and ultimately, he will be able to “gaze at [the sun] without using reflections…, but as it is in itself”.
He would realize that the realities of things are instead created by the Sun outside of the Cave and that the fire is artificially construed for these prisoners. The climax is when this prisoner returns back to the Cave and seeks to tell all the stuck prisoners. The enlightened prisoner, who saw the Sun, would now tell the stuck prisoners the true realities. However, naturally, he will come to the dawning that they will not believe him and the enlightened prisoner will simply make a fool of himself.
Well, that’s one whole of a story and unfortunately, these stories are not the morale tales we learn when we are young.
This simile is powerful and almost extremely simple in its’ message. Most of us are not prisoners and yet, we live like prisoners in our minds. We are given certain truths or we grow comfortable with a certain reality and take it for granted. Uncovering things that are not within our comfortable lives to me seems like stepping out of the stuck prisoner position and then gradually seeing the fire, seeing the lights outside the cave and hopefully to seeing the Sun, which reflects the truest reality, which Plato primes as “the truth of the matters…known only to god”. Being made enlightened somewhat puts this prisoner at a disadvantage for he will be ostracized by his fellow stuck prisoners for being out-of-the-world (if you will haha).
I think it has become easy to choose a certain side and develop arguments and opinions and bring out arguments that we can better associate and live with — we are all different inherently. Perhaps there is no real truth form in fire or in the Sun but I think good is one that has a model answer. It doesn’t seem “unethical” or “injust” to be Good but even with that, being “Good” seems counterintuitive and gets thrown in the shade of cynicism today.
Back to the realities
To Plato, as lawgiver and constructors of society, it is their job to “compel the best minds to attain what we have called the highest form of knowledge, and to ascend to the vision of the good as we have described”. It is to encourage them to remain “in the upper world, and refusing to return again to the prisoners in the cave below and share their laborers and rewards”.
To me, I agree. It’s as simple as that. There are many sides to the stories in every matter and seeking more truths and evidences become an agent of division of the realities for both persons in the Cave and out of the Cave.
To be able to see out of the Cave is one that is frustrating for the prisoner is then seen as a fool. It would only be more foolish for the enlightened prisoner to continue encouraging and convincing the prisoners in the Cave whom have been stuck their whole lives to seek out to the truths which might hurt their eyes when they see the fire and later when they see the true light out of the Cave.
It is hence somewhat a choice to uncover these truths, grow used to them, and then to tackle them as an individual and later, a society. Seeking to wrestle out of this stuck position might seem like a rebellious one but who’s keeping score and what are the knowledge and education that we truly seek?
Perhaps in this life, that is not philosophical, going into Caves and discovering the depths and magnitude of size and life within the underground that is without sunlight is one that intrigues the minds of our outside-worlded brain. So, we are in reverse of this simile. Perhaps, we are fortunate enough to be put in direct view of the “truths” that we grow accustomed to truths and seek something a little less real within these deeper, darker caves.
Writer’s note
Lastly, ancient philosophers are irrelevant but their analogies and philosophies are so heavily evident today in society I uwuuwu everytime. Would philosophers play a better role in constructing society? Probably not, but these days, it feels like we have too many bureaucrats than philosophers around in schools, work, and the nation.
