Plato's Allegory of the Cave

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
-That we as a society live in an unenlightened world and are so sheltered from beliefs outside the ones we are taught or come to know.

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
-The prisoners, the shackles that bind them, the darkness, and the shadows.

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
-That we are close minded to new ideas or concepts, we come to know the world we believe we live in and refuse to believe that there is more to life than we know.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
-The shackles suggest that we are bound to our ideas and views even though there might be more to them. The cave represents our dark closed off minds and how it's near impossible to enlighten something so dark and enclosed.

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
-Insecurity and the fear of being different can shackle us because we're afraid to go against the current in fear that we'll be judged or become an outcast.

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
-The freed prisoner has broken free of his old view and is now enlightened, trying to educate the cave prisoners on his new findings but the cave prisoners are still bound to the walls of the dark cave, only able to see what they've already come to know and "understand".

7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-I was sort of confused with this, but on Friday in our groups my group discussed ignorance and apathy.

8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
-Opening their minds to enlightenment and reality is the way they become free.

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
-I agree that there is a distinction between appearances and reality because the saddest person can still put a smile on their face everyday and the sweetest person can put up a tough exterior in fear of being hurt.

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
-People see what they believe and the reality you're viewing isn't necessarily real, but it's real to you.