Plato
Greek Philosopher
427-347 B.C. A selection from
THE REPUBLIC
Narrated by Grover Gardner
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The Myth of the Cave
AND now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened
or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in a underground den,
which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den;
here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks
chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them,
being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads.
Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance,
and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way;
and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way,
like the screen which marionette players have in front of them,
over which they show the puppets.
I see.
And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all
sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood
and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall?
Some of them are talking, others silent.
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows,
or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite
wall of the cave?
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they
were never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they
would only see the shadows?
Yes, he said.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they
not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?
Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the
other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by
spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?
No question, he replied.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows
of the images.
That is certain.
And now look again, and see what will naturally follow it'
the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first,
when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand
up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light,
he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he
will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state
he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him,
that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he
is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more
real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply?
And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing
to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name them,
-will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows
which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown
to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he
not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take
and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he
will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are
now being shown to him?
True, he now
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep
and rugged ascent, and held fast until he's forced into the presence
of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated?
When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not
be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.
Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world.
And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men
and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves;
then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the
spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better
than the sun or the light of the sun by day?
Certainly.
Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections
of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place,
and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.
Certainly.
He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season
and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world,
and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows
have been accustomed to behold?
Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.
And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den
and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate
himself on the change, and pity them?
Certainly, he would.
And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves
on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and
to remark which of them went before, and which followed after,
and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw
conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care
for such honours and glories, or envy the possessors of them?
Would he not say with Homer,
Better to be the poor servant of a poor master,
and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live
after their manner?
Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than
entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun
to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain
to have his eyes full of darkness?
To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring
the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den,
while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady
(and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit
of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous?
Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without
his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending;
and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light,
let them only catch the offender, and they would put him
to death.
No question, he said.
This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon,
to the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight,
the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me
if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul
into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which,
at your desire, I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly
God knows. But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in
the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all,
and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred
to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right,
parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world,
and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual;
and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally,
either in public or private life must have his eye fixed. More information about Plato from Wikipedia
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