Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: knowledge, knowers (scope, perspectives and

ethics)

See the video:

https://youtu.be/LUQd8AKgSdc?si=FBgGrHs01WQhiTwH

OPTIONS: https://youtu.be/sAu-CNSh9F0?si=CMh-cJYVUv1jS_Nx

1. Review the elements of the allegory.

a. Who are the people in the cave? What is “true” to them?
b. There is one person in the cave who is different from the others. What
sets him apart?
c. How does he react upon being freed?
d. Why does he leave the cave? What motivates him?
e. What does he find outside? What are some differences between what
is inside and outside?
f. Why does he return to the cave? What motivates him to return?
g. How do the prisoners in the cave react to his information about the
cave and the outside world?

2. Discuss the meaning of the allegory.

a. What does this allegory seem to suggest about…
1. most people stay mired in ignorance without realizing it
2. some external force is necessary to free us from ignorance
3. true knowledge of reality is always preferable to ignorant half
truths
4. we have an obligation to free our fellow man from ignorance,
though they are likely to resist our efforts.
b. What does the allegory suggest about the process of education or
enlightenment?

c. i. What does the imagery of shackles and the cave represent about the
perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
ii. In society today, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
d. What does the allegory suggest about the “knowledge” possessed by
the prisoners within the cave? What meaning or value does such
knowledge have?
i. Is the perspective of the freed prisoner better than that of the
others or only different?
e. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between
appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why?
i. Is Plato’s Cave an appropriate metaphor for the distinction
between ignorance and enlightenment?
f. Would you want to be released from the cave? Why?
General Discussion
a. What features of modern life stand between the world we experience and the
world that is?
b. What, if anything, can we do to transcend our limited perspective and arrive
at a deeper, fuller and truer knowledge of reality as it actually is?
c. i. Is there a duty to enlighten others? Discuss different perspectives
ii. Why are thinkers mistreated many times?
iii. Should we accept/deny all new ideas?