PLATO ON: The Allegory of the Cave

The ancient Greeks were emphatic that philosophy was not just

an elaborate abstract exercise.

It was, they felt, a deeply useful skill

that should be learned and practiced by all,

in order to help us to live and die well.

No one believed this more than Plato.

Who was passionate in his defense of philosophy

as a kind of therapy for the soul.

One of the most forceful stories he told on behalf of the utility of philosophy

Was what has become known as "The Allegory of the Cave".

It is perhaps the most famous allegory in philosophy.

This was a story that was intended, as he wrote,

to compare "[t]he effect of education and the lack of it on our nature."

At the start of Book 7 of his masterpiece, "The Republic",

Plato tells us about some people living imprisoned in a cave

They've always lived there and don't know anything of the outside world.

There is no natural light in this cave, the walls are damp and dark

All the inhabitants can see comes from the shadows of things thrown up on the wall by a light of a fire

The cave dwellers get fascinated by these reflections of animals, plants and people