State what you think is the main point or thesis of the article Explain why you think that, and provide textual justification for your claim in the form of exegesis, not direct quotation.
1. State what you think is the main point or thesis of the article.
2. Explain why you think that, and provide textual justification for your claim in the form of exegesis, not direct quotation.
3. Share some critical remarks about the article. What did the author overlook, get wrong, or what are some potential implications of the author’s claims that may be problematic in some way?
208Book 7SOCRATESÕ NARRATION CONTINUES:SOCRATES:Next, then, compare the effect of education and that of thelack of it on our nature to an experience like this. Imagine human beingsliving in an underground, cavelike dwelling, with an entrance a long wayup that is open to the light and as wide as the cave itself. They have beenthere since childhood, with their necks and legs fettered, so that they areÞxed in the same place, able to see only in front of them, because their fet-ter prevents them from turning their heads around. Light is provided by aÞre burning far above and behind them. Between the prisoners and the Þre,there is an elevated road stretching. Imagine that along this road a low wallhas been builtÑlike the screen in front of people that is provided by pup-peteers, and above which they show their puppets.GLAUCON:I am imagining it.SOCRATES:Also imagine, then, that there are people alongside the wallcarrying multifarious artifacts that project above itÑstatues of people andother animals, made of stone, wood, and every material. And as you wouldexpect, some of the carriers are talking and some are silent.GLAUCON:It is a strange image you are describing, and strange prisoners.SOCRATES:They are like us. I mean, in the Þrst place, do you think theseprisoners have ever seen anything of themselves and one another besidesthe shadows that the Þre casts on the wall of the cave in front of them?GLAUCON:How could they, if they have to keep their heads motionlessthroughout life?SOCRATES:What about the things carried along the wall? IsnÕt the sametrue where they are concerned?GLAUCON:Of course.SOCRATES:And if they could engage in discussion with one another,donÕt you think they would assume that the words they used applied to thethings they see passing in front of them?GLAUCON:They would have to.SOCRATES:What if their prison also had an echo from the wall facingthem? When one of the carriers passing along the wall spoke, do you think514a5b5c515a5b5Reeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 208 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
The Allegory of the Cave209they would believe that anything other than the shadow passing in front ofthem was speaking?GLAUCON:I do not, by Zeus.SOCRATES:All in all, then, what the prisoners would take for true realityis nothing other than the shadows of those artifacts.GLAUCON:ThatÕs entirely inevitable.SOCRATES:Consider, then, what being released from their bonds andcured of their foolishness would naturally be like, if something like thisshould happen to them. When one was freed and suddenly compelled tostand up, turn his neck around, walk, and look up toward the light, hewould be pained by doing all these things and be unable to see the thingswhose shadows he had seen before, because of the ßashing lights. What doyou think he would say if we told him that what he had seen before wassilly nonsense, but that nowÑbecause he is a bit closer to what is, and isturned toward things that are moreÑhe sees more correctly? And in partic-ular, if we pointed to each of the things passing by and compelled him toanswer what each of them is, donÕt you think he would be puzzled andbelieve that the things he saw earlier were more truly real than the ones hewas being shown?GLAUCON:Much more so.SOCRATES:And if he were compelled to look at the light itself, wouldnÕthis eyes be pained and wouldnÕt he turn around and ßee toward the thingshe is able to see, and believe that they are really clearer than the ones he isbeing shown?GLAUCON:He would.SOCRATES:And if someone dragged him by force away from there, alongthe rough, steep, upward path, and did not let him go until he had draggedhim into the light of the sun, wouldnÕt he be pained and angry at beingtreated that way? And when he came into the light, wouldnÕt he have hiseyes Þlled with sunlight and be unable to see a single one of the things nowsaid to be truly real?GLAUCON:No, he would not be able toÑat least not right away.SOCRATES:He would need time to get adjusted, I suppose, if he is goingto see the things in the world above. At Þrst, he would see shadows mosteasily, then images of men and other things in water, then the things them-selves. From these, it would be easier for him to go on to look at the thingsin the sky and the sky itself at night, gazing at the light of the stars and themoon, than during the day, gazing at the sun and the light of the sun.GLAUCON:Of course.10c5d5e5516a5bReeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 209 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
Book 7210SOCRATES:Finally, I suppose, he would be able to see the sunÑnot reßec-tions of it in water or some alien place, but the sun just by itself in its ownplaceÑand be able to look at it and see what it is like.GLAUCON:He would have to.SOCRATES:After that, he would already be able to conclude about it thatit provides the seasons and the years, governs everything in the visibleworld, and is in some way the cause of all the things that he and his fellowsused to see.GLAUCON:That would clearly be his next step.SOCRATES:What about when he reminds himself of his Þrst dwellingplace, what passed for wisdom there, and his fellow prisoners? DonÕt youthink he would count himself happy for the change and pity the others?GLAUCON:Certainly.SOCRATES:And if there had been honors, praises, or prizes among themfor the one who was sharpest at identifying the shadows as they passed by;and was best able to remember which usually came earlier, which later, andwhich simultaneously; and who was thus best able to prophesize the future,do you think that our man would desire these rewards or envy those amongthe prisoners who were honored and held power? Or do you think hewould feel with Homer that he would much prefer to Òwork the earth as aserf for another man, a man without possessions of his own,Ó1 and gothrough any sufferings, rather than share their beliefs and live as they do?GLAUCON:Yes, I think he would rather suffer anything than live like that.SOCRATES:Consider this too, then. If this man went back down into thecave and sat down in his same seat, wouldnÕt his eyes be Þlled with dark-ness, coming suddenly out of the sun like that?GLAUCON:Certainly.SOCRATES:Now, if he had to compete once again with the perpetual pris-oners in recognizing the shadows, while his sight was still dim and beforehis eyes had recovered, and if the time required for readjustment was notshort, wouldnÕt he provoke ridicule? WouldnÕt it be said of him that he hadreturned from his upward journey with his eyes ruined, and that it is notworthwhile even to try to travel upward? And as for anyone who tried tofree the prisoners and lead them upward, if they could somehow get theirhands on him, wouldnÕt they kill him?GLAUCON:They certainly would.1Odyssey 11.489Ð90. The shade of Achilles speaks these words to Odysseus, who isvisiting Hades. Plato is likening the cave dwellers to the dead.510c510d5e5517a5Reeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 210 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
The Allegory of the Cave211SOCRATES:This image, my dear Glaucon, must be Þtted together as awhole with what we said before. The realm revealed through sight shouldbe likened to the prison dwelling, and the light of the Þre inside it to thesunÕs power. And if you think of the upward journey and the seeing ofthings above as the upward journey of the soul to the intelligible realm, youwonÕt mistake my intentionÑsince it is what you wanted to hear about.Only the god knows whether it is true. But this is how these phenomenaseem to me: in the knowable realm, the last thing to be seen is the form ofthe good, and it is seen only with toil and trouble. Once one has seen it,however, one must infer that it is the cause of all that is correct and beauti-ful in anything, that in the visible realm it produces both light and itssource, and that in the intelligible realm it controls and provides truth andunderstanding; and that anyone who is to act sensibly in private or publicmust see it.GLAUCON:I agree, so far as I am able.SOCRATES:Come on, then, and join me in this further thought: youshould not be surprised that the ones who get to this point are not willing tooccupy themselves with human affairs, but that, on the contrary, their soulsare always eager to spend their time above. I mean, that is surely what wewould expect, if indeed the image I described before is also accurate here.GLAUCON:It is what we would expect.SOCRATES:What about when someone, coming from looking at divinethings, looks to the evils of human life? Do you think it is surprising that hebehaves awkwardly and appears completely ridiculous, ifÑwhile his sight isstill dim and he has not yet become accustomed to the darkness aroundhimÑhe is compelled, either in the courts or elsewhere, to compete aboutthe shadows of justice, or about the statues of which they are the shadows;and to dispute the way these things are understood by people who havenever seen justice itself?GLAUCON:It is not surprising at all.SOCRATES:On the contrary, anyone with any sense, at any rate, wouldremember that eyes may be confused in two ways and from two causes:when they change from the light into the darkness, or from the darknessinto the light. If he kept in mind that the same applies to the soul, thenwhen he saw a soul disturbed and unable to see something, he would notlaugh absurdly. Instead, he would see whether it had come from a brighterlife and was dimmed through not having yet become accustomed to thedark, or from greater ignorance into greater light and was dazzled by theincreased brilliance. Then he would consider the Þrst soul happy in itsexperience and life, and pity the latter. But even if he wanted to ridicule it,at least his ridiculing it would make him less ridiculous than ridiculing asoul that had come from the light above.b5c5d5e518a5bReeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 211 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
Book 7212GLAUCON:ThatÕs an entirely reasonable claim.SOCRATES:Then here is how we must think about these matters, if that istrue: education is not what some people boastfully declare it to be. Theypresumably say they can put knowledge into souls that lack it, as if theycould put sight into blind eyes.GLAUCON:Yes, they do say that.SOCRATES:But here is what our present account shows about this power tolearn that is present in everyoneÕs soul, and the instrument with which eachof us learns: just as an eye cannot be turned around from darkness to lightexcept by turning the whole body, so this instrument must be turnedaround from what-comes-to-be together with the whole soul, until it is ableto bear to look at what is and at the brightest thing that isÑthe one we callthe good. IsnÕt that right?GLAUCON:Yes.SOCRATES:Of this very thing, then, there would be a craftÑnamely, of thisturning aroundÑconcerned with how this instrument can be most easilyand effectively turned around, not of putting sight into it. On the contrary,it takes for granted that sight is there, though not turned in the right way orlooking where it should look, and contrives to redirect it appropriately.GLAUCON:ThatÕs probably right.SOCRATES:Then the other so-called virtues of the soul do seem to beclosely akin to those of the body: they really are not present in it initially,but are added later by habit and practice. The virtue of wisdom, on theother hand, belongs above all, so it seems, to something more divine,which never loses its power, but is either useful and beneÞcial or useless andharmful, depending on the way it is turned. Or havenÕt you ever noticed inpeople who are said to be bad, but clever, how keen the vision of their littlesoul is and how sharply it distinguishes the things it is turned toward? Thisshows that its sight is not inferior, but is forced to serve vice, so that thesharper it sees, the more evils it accomplishes.GLAUCON:I certainly have.SOCRATES:However, if this element of this sort of nature had been ham-mered at right from childhood, and struck free of the leaden weights, as itwere, of kinship with becoming, which have been fastened to it by eatingand other such pleasures and indulgences, which pull its soulÕs vision down-ward2Ñif, I say, it got rid of these and turned toward truly real things, thenthe same element of the same people would see them most sharply, just as itnow does the things it is now turned toward.2See 611b9Ð612a6.5c510d510e519a5b5Reeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 212 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
The Allegory of the Cave213GLAUCON:ThatÕs probably right.SOCRATES:IsnÕt it also probable, thenÑindeed, doesnÕt it follow necessar-ily from what was said beforeÑthat uneducated people who have no expe-rience of true reality will never adequately govern a city, and neither willpeople who have been allowed to spend their whole lives in education. Theformer fail because they do not have a single goal in life at which all theiractions, public and private, inevitably aim; the latter because they wouldrefuse to act, thinking they had emigrated, while still alive, to the Isles ofthe Blessed.GLAUCON:True.SOCRATES:It is our task as founders, then, to compel the best natures tolearn what was said before3 to be the most important thing: namely, to seethe good; to ascend that ascent. And when they have ascended and lookedsufÞciently, we must not allow them to do what they are allowed to donow.GLAUCON:WhatÕs that, then?SOCRATES:To stay there and refuse to go down again to the prisoners inthe cave and share their labors and honors, whether the inferior ones or themore excellent ones.GLAUCON:You mean we are to treat them unjustly, making them live aworse life when they could live a better one?SOCRATES:You have forgotten again, my friend, that the law is not con-cerned with making any one class in the city do outstandingly well, but iscontriving to produce this condition in the city as a whole, harmonizingthe citizens together through persuasion or compulsion, and making themshare with each other the beneÞt they can confer on the community.4 Itproduces such men in the city, not in order to allow them to turn in what-ever direction each one wants, but to make use of them to bind the citytogether.GLAUCON:ThatÕs true. Yes, I had forgotten.SOCRATES:Observe, then, Glaucon, that we wonÕt be unjustly treatingthose who have become philosophers in our city, but that what we will sayto them, when we compel them to take care of the others and guard them,will be just. We will say: ÒWhen people like you come to be in other cities,they are justiÞed in not sharing in the othersÕ labors. After all, they havegrown there spontaneously, against the will of the constitution in each ofthem. And when something grows of its own accord and owes no debt for3505aÐb.4420bÐ421c, 462aÐ466c.c510d5e520a5bReeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 213 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
Book 7214its upbringing, it has justice on its side when it is not keen to pay anyonefor its upbringing. But both for your own sakes and for that of the rest ofthe city, we have bred you to be leaders and kings in the hive, so to speak.You are better and more completely educated than the others, and betterable to share in both types of life.5 So each of you in turn must go down tolive in the common dwelling place of the other citizens and grow accus-tomed to seeing in the dark. For when you are used to it, you will see inÞ-nitely better than the people there and know precisely what each image is,and also what it is an image of, because you have seen the truth about Þne,just, and good things. So the city will be awake, governed by us and by you;not dreaming like the majority of cities nowadays, governed by men whoÞght against one another over shadows and form factions in order to ruleÑas if that were a great good.6 No, the truth of the matter is surely this: a cityin which those who are going to rule are least eager to rule is necessarilybest and freest from faction, whereas a city with the opposite kind of rulersis governed in the opposite way.ÓGLAUCON:Yes, indeed.SOCRATES:Then do you think the people we have nurtured will disobeyus when they hear these things, and be unwilling to share the labors of thecity, each in turn, and wish instead to live the greater part of their timewith one another in the pure realm?GLAUCON:No, they couldnÕt possibly. After all, we will be giving justorders to just people. However, each of them will certainly go to rule as tosomething necessary, which is exactly the opposite of what is done by thosewho now rule in each city.SOCRATES:ThatÕs right, comrade. If you can Þnd a way of life that is bet-ter than ruling for those who are going to rule, your well-governed citywill become a possibility. You see, in it alone the truly rich will ruleÑthosewho are rich not in gold, but in the wealth the happy must have: namely, agood and rational life. But if beggarsÑpeople hungry for private goods oftheir ownÑgo into public life, thinking that the good is there for the seiz-ing, then such a city is impossible. For when ruling is something foughtover, such civil and domestic war destroys these men and the rest of the cityas well.GLAUCON:ThatÕs absolutely true.SOCRATES:Do you know of any other sort of life that looks down onpolitical ofÞces besides that of true philosophy?GLAUCON:No, by Zeus, I do not.5I.e., the practical life of ruling and the theoretical life of doing philosophy.6See 476cÐd.5c5d5e521a5bReeve-PlatoRepub-00Book Page 214 Wednesday, June 23, 2004 2:26 PM
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