Allegory of the Cave

Plato in his writings created several allegories to expose their doctrines. The best known is The myth of the cave, which helps progress of knowledge.

According to this allegory, prisoners from small men are found in a dark cave and are tied in such a way that always remain with his back to the cave opening. Never left and never saw what's outside. However, due to light a fire that enters through this opening, they can look in the back wall of the projection of the shadows of the beings that are out there in front of the fire. Accustomed to seeing only those projections, that is, the shadows of which can not directly observe, assume that what they see is the true reality.

If you leave the cave and seeing things in the world bright, do not identify as true or real. It would take a while. Being accustomed to the shadows, illusions, would have to accustom their eyes to the sight of the real: the first would look at the stars at night, after the images of things reflected in calm waters, until they could directly face the sun and see the source of all light.

"Plato recognized that the picture of the Divided Line may be difficult for many of us to understand. Although it accurately represents the different levels of reality and corresponding degrees of knowledge, there is a sense in which one cannot appreciate its full significance without first having achieved the highest level. So, for the benefit of those of us who are still learning but would like to grasp what he is talking about, Plato offered a simpler story in which each of the same structural components appears in a way that we can all comprehend at our own level. This is the Allegory of the Cave.

Plato seriously intended this allegory as a representation of the state of ordinary human existence. We, like the people raised in a cave, are trapped in a world of impermanence and partiality, the realm of sensible objects. Entranced by the particular and immediate experiences these things provide, we are unlikely to appreciate the declarations of philosophers, the few among us who, like the escapee, have made the effort to achieve eternal knowledge of the permanent forms. But, like them, it would serve us best if we were to follow this guidance, discipline our own minds, and seek an accurate understanding of the highest objects of human contemplation."