Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave"

Subject  > Humanities Essays  > Philosophy  > Contemporary Philosophy

Even in this abridged version, Plato's fable "The Allegory of the Cave" reflects the vast wisdom of Plato, his teacher and the philosophers of his time. The story's meaning and lessons are as significant today as they were then, and its inclusion in The Republic is well earned. The intentions of Plato in sharing this story seem to be fairly simple. As with all of the works that he included in The Republic, he is attempting to convey a message that relates to government and leadership. I also believe that this story conveys a message to, not just leaders, but people in general. The message that is expressed by this work is that, " A lie told often enough becomes the ...

... real, they are condemned to believe in what is not. The piece warns us that we must not blindly follow our own beliefs, without continually viewing and considering other views that may be true as well. If we do not always consider the ideas of others, we will essentially be trapped by our own adamant conviction in what we think is real. This lesson has become evident in countless cases throughout history, where beliefs about a geocentric universe, a flat earth, etc. were all held to e true and the introduction of the ideas we hold as true today was ridiculed and deemed ludicrous. Today, we believe that the galaxy is heliocentric and that the

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