Plato Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
According to Socrates, the Allegory of the Cave represents reality and what people want to see. The prisoners think where they are now and what they have experienced is all there is to life and everything arround them is just there.

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
In the allegory, the cave is what "world" you live in now, the outside is reality or new things you have never known to exist. The shackles are like filters and things that stop you from knowing what should be available to you. The shadows show the differences of what you see and think to be true versus the actual truth and reality in things.

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
The allegory suggests that for enlightenment or education you must step out of your comfort zone and take the initiative. Whether that is attempting to break the shadow to step into the light or to raise your hand in class to get an answer that you never bothered to figure out. You can't just sit around and expect you are doing your best when there are so much more else where that offers you your needs.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
The shackles is pretty much an excuse for them to believe that there is nothing outside of the cave and the cave itself seems to suggest that the prisoners feel in a way "safe" or "comfortable" there. It's their barrier from having to assume there is a better life outside the cave, because these prisoners have grown up inside the cave and have absolutely no idea what dwells right outside the entrance.

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Technology provides a lot more information than before but I feel there are still filters and walls that stop you from knowing "everything". Of course, it's nearly impossible to have knowledge about absolutely everything, but there is no chance of challeging it if there are subjects out in the world stopping you from knowing certain things. There are many other things that people may consider to be a "shackle", is there a possibility that school itself is a shackle? I could see that in a sense that not all students are taking advantage of their classes. There are limited classes offered and some teachers are only willing to teach the minium and enough to cover the course. Is law considered a shackle?

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
The freed prisoners have a wider and more new perspective compared to the prisoners still in the cave. The freed prisoners know more just by escaping and took the chance to live the life that they dreamed of. The prisoners still chained up are limited to knowledge and ideas, they have no idea how much they might like the outer world and how change can be one step away.

7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
Whe the prisoner turns his head in attempt to break the shackle he is forced to turn his head further because of the sunlight being so bright. He is then free from the shackle and takes a step out to the world outside, where the sunlight then again brightens the surroundings and widens his perspective. When he comes back to tell the others about the outside and how bright and spaceous it is, the cave seems so little, dark, and limited.

8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
By turning their head to the side although painful at first, the shackle breaks and they are set free. If you looked in different directions and sucked it up a little, you will obtain information you have longed to know. People have to step out of their comfort zone and just do it.

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
I think there are things that have distinct differences between appearances and reality. On TV, many people advertise products that "get rid of winkles", "makes you look 20 years younger" "makes you skinnier" and they show pictures of people before and after, but in reality, when people purchase the product and use it, it doesn't turn out like the pictures. People may look different than they actually are inside. I guess I agree, but it is hard to distinguish whether it is fair to say "everything" has a distinction between appearances and reality.

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?