Plato's "The Republic" Critically discuss the simile of the cave in relation to the role of the philosopher

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Philosophy

Plato’s  “The Republic”                                                      

Critically discuss the simile of the cave in relation to the role of the philosopher ruler.  

In the simile of the cave We are asked to picture a group of people sitting inside a dark cave, their hands and feet are bound in such a way that they can only look at the back wall of the cave. Behind the chained prisoners a fire is burning, and between them and this fire a path runs along which men carry figures, the shadows of these figures are projected onto the back wall of the cave. The prisoners experience is based solely on the shadows, which form their world. They have been sitting in this position since they were born so they believe that all they can see is all that there is. Within this illustration one of the prisoners is set free and confronted with the real world and the sun, a painful experience. At first he cannot see anything due to the bright sunlight, but after a while, for the first time in his life, he sees colours and shapes.  One point that Plato is making in this simile is the relationship between the darkness of the cave and the world beyond, corresponding to the relationship between the empirical world and the world of ideas and forms. He was saying that the physical realm is dark and dreary in comparison to the clarity of ideas. Plato believed that the human mind had the capability to discern the ‘ideal forms.’ Plato compares the form of the Good to the sun. In the visible world the sun is a source of growth and light, which gives visibility to objects of sense and the power of seeing to the eye. In the intelligible world, the Good is a source of reality and truth, which gives intelligibility to objects of thought and the power of knowing to the mind. Without light, even if eyes have the power of sight, the user will see nothing. In the same way when the minds eye perceives objects, which are illuminated by truth and reality, it can understand and know them, but when all it sees is the world of change and decay it will only be able to form opinions. In the simile the released prisoner then returns to the cave, there he was no interest in the world as he once believed it to be, the other prisoners think his journey to the outside world had ruined his eyes, they would not wish this for themselves.  He is ridiculed for leaving in the first place.

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The simile deals with all the aspects of Plato’s philosophical beliefs, one belief held by Plato is that the philosophers are the only members of society fit to rule, because they are the highest educated. They are able to use the Form of the Good for perception and are better qualified than the rest of the people in the state. In the Simile of the cave these philosophers represent the freed prisoner accessing the form of good, the visibility of the sun. Because of the philosopher’s ability to access the intelligible realm they should lead the state through politics, ...

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