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| Plato |
He then makes a significant transition from this hypothetical example by claiming that it applies to real life. Plato begins to make this transition on page 453 when he writes, “this entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument.”
Plato is involving a little bit of trickery here by convincing the readers with the allegory and then leaping into his real agenda with how we should view the world and the state, using the allegory as the foundation for it. He is basically using an ancient version of the bait-and-switch scam. He baits us by using a plausible hypothetical allegory and switches by diving into his philosophical agenda without giving logical reasons for the transition.
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| Plato |
Due to the import of “The Allegory,” writers have been analyzing it for well over 2,000 years. Some have interpreted it to have one meaning, others, another.
As we seek to understand exactly what Plato was seeking to accomplish with his allegory and subsequent analysis, we must think about the argument he was trying to make, and whether or not he was successful. As I will point out, the connection between his allegory and his analysis is quite tremulous.
“What?”
“Go to a porn site!”
“I don’t know any porn sites,” was my response to the order from my high school principal to ogle nude women. Perhaps a bit of context might be appropriate.
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| Creative commons photo credit: matthewvenn |
Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave” is a pivotal philosophic text for many reasons. One of the primary reasons that it is so monumental is that Plato addresses so many different areas of philosophy in this one piece: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and more. Despite the fact that this piece has had a massive impact down to our present day, it is by no means free from weaknesses. In this short essay I will discuss the many strengths and some of the serious weakness of “The Cave.”
Marcella had an enviable life as the daughter of a prominent Roman
family who married a wealthy man. But less than a year after her
wedding, her husband died. She was given a chance to continue living in
wealth when she was proposed to by the wealthy consul Cerealis. She
chose instead to convert her mansion into one of the earliest
communities of women, where she and other noblewomen formed a group
known as the "Brown Dress Society" and used their riches to help the
poor. Marcella said she preferred to, “store her money in the stomachs of
the needy than hide it in a purse.” In 410, when the Goths invaded
Rome, they broke into Marcella’s home. When they demanded money, she
calmly responded that she had no riches because she had given all to the
poor. Though she was an elderly woman, they beat and tortured her
mercilessly. Her attackers were eventually shamed by her piety and she
was released.
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