Plato's Cave
The Truth can be deadly. (The Bus 5.42)
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ARCHIVE EDITION - FIRST PUBLISHED (1.27) 7 July 2022
The Stop
Plato’s Cave (also known as the Allegory of the Cave or the Simile of the Cave), is a short narrative from The Republic (514a-517a) in which Plato1 explores the philosophical nature of truth - and how those with different backgrounds or experiences may perceive it or react to its revelation. The allegory itself is set out in typical Platonic fashion as a dialogue between Socrates and - in this case - Plato’s older brother, Glaucon.2
In the allegory, Plato asks that we imagine a group of people chained together and imprisoned in an underground cave. Behind them is a fire, and between the prisoners and the fire is a raised walkway with a low wall. People walk back and forth along the walkway carrying objects or puppets of ‘men and other living things,’ but walk behind the wall so that only what they carry casts shadows, not their bodies. The prisoners, chained for their entire lives and forced to look only at the cave wall, are unable to see all this behind them. Able only to see the shadows cast on the wall before them, they believe the shadows of the moving objects and puppets are real things - and the only things. In other words, their ‘visible world is their whole world.’
Plato then asks what would happen if one of the prisoners is freed. He says this prisoner would turn around and see the fire, his eyes would hurt and he would have difficulty seeing the objects causing the shadows. If told what he was seeing was real, he would not believe it and in his pain would try to return to his believed version of reality - the shadows. However, Plato says that suppose someone forces this prisoner up and out of the cave, dragging him into the sunlight. At first the prisoner would be angry and in pain, but gradually his eyes would adjust. Eventually he would be able to see shadows and then reflections of people and things in water and then later these things themselves. Eventually the freed prisoner would be able to look at the stars and the moon and - at last - the sun.
The freed prisoner would realise the world outside the cave was real and would rush into the cave to share this ‘truth’ with those remaining inside. But on reentering the cave, his eyes - now accustomed to the light - would be suddenly blind and the others, according to Plato, would believe leaving the cave had harmed him. Not willing to undertake the same journey and be harmed themselves, Plato concludes that the prisoners, if they were able, would kill him and anyone who tried to take them out of the cave.
There are various interpretations of the allegory, most of which centre around Plato’s understanding of the role - and risk3- of being a philosopher - a role intimately connected to Plato’s understanding of the nature of truth. Plato believed there were two separate realms - the eternal realm and the physical realm. We (and everything in the known universe) inhabit the physical realm; the eternal realm is located in what might be termed the ‘spiritual dimension’ or the ‘mind of God.’4 The eternal realm holds truth - the true forms of things - while the physical realm is the realm of shadows, illusion and change. Things in the physical realm receive their value from the eternal realm, but are at best poor imitations of the true reality.5 For Plato, the philosopher’s role is to uncover the true nature of things - to identify their true form and convey this new knowledge to others, despite the risk revealing the truth may bring.6
For a great Ted-ed video explaining the analogy and its meanings, check out: Plato's Cave
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to an interesting article about the relatively rare and highly prized pink Italian apples. Despite a history stretching back to Ancient Rome, the apples are difficult to grow and thus commercially unviable. As a result, they have all but disappeared. Nevertheless, this has begun to turn around - and not only is the fruit still thriving, but there has been a renewed interest in farming. Great descriptions and great photos.
The Quest to Save the Pink Apples of Italy
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Tom McCarthy’s Remainder (2005). It tells the story of an unnamed protagonist who has had some sort of accident ‘which involved something falling from the sky’ - and proceeds to create a bizarre world in which his past memories are reenacted in order to help him find authenticity.
From the back: ‘A man is severely injured in a mysterious accident, receives an outrageous sum in legal compensation, and has no idea what to do with it. Then, one night, an ordinary sight sets off a series of bizarre visions he can’t quite place. How he goes about bringing his visions to life - and what happens afterward - makes for one of the most riveting, complex and unusual novels in recent memory. Remainder is about the secret world each of us harbours within, and what might happen if we were granted the power to make it real.’
Here’s a review from The Guardian: Reality Studio
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is a collection of tracks I find loosely fit the Stop’s Platonic theme: ‘Down in a Hole’ (Alice in Chains, 1992), ‘Blinded by the Light’ (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, 1976), ‘Soul One’ (Blind Melon, 1996), ‘Mountain Song’ (Jane’s Addiction, 1988) and ‘Still I Rise’ (Barry Adamson, 1998). Enjoy - and let me know what you think.
The Thought
Today’s Thought is a quotation from Plato’s Republic.7 In a discussion between Socrates and Glaucon about the true nature of the eternal Forms, Socrates asks a question I find appropriate on a more mundane level:
“Has it never struck you that without knowledge all opinions are hideous? Or at best blind?”
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this stop - I hope you enjoyed a brief diversion from your regular journey!
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Until the next stop …
Plato (429? - 347 BCE) was one of the ‘most dazzling writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most penetrating, wide-ranging and influential authors in the history of philosophy.’ In The Republic, probably his best-known work, he sets out many of his most important ideas - including the meaning of justice, utopia, the role of the philosopher, his theory of the Forms and the immortality of the soul. There are many great resources on Plato available, but for a good (and in-depth) introduction see: Plato (Stanford)
There is quite a pedigree here: Socrates (see Socrates (Stanford)) taught Plato, who taught Aristotle (see Aristotle (Stanford))who taught Alexander the Great (see Alexander the Great (Britannica)) - who conquered most of the known world at the time (from Greece eastward to modern-day India) and spread these ideas along the way.
Plato was dramatically influenced by the Athenians executing Socrates in part for ‘corrupting the youth’ by teaching them to question the nature of truth.
Though neither of these really encapsulates Plato’s meaning, they’ll suffice for the Stop.
An example I’ve often used in class: in the physical realm there are different animals - house cats, jaguars and lions - that, although they would never be mistaken for each other, nevertheless share a sense of ‘catness.’ This ‘catness’ is in them because that’s what remains of the ideal, eternal Form of ‘cat’ in their imperfect, physical copies. Similarly, wine: in the physical realm there is red wine, white wine and rosé - all completely different, but nevertheless ‘wine’ because they contain and share the ideal, eternal Form of ‘wineness.’ The differences experienced in the physical realm - different ‘cats,’ different ‘wines’ - are there because they are imperfect copies of the perfect Forms existing in the eternal realm. That such differences nevertheless share an identifiable ‘essence’ (e.g., ‘catness’ or ‘wineness’) is for Plato evidence the ‘real thing’ is out there.
Sources for today’s Stop include: Allegory of the Cave, Plato and Republic
Republic 505c
Manfred Mann somewhat specialised in creating hits from songs written by others. Blinded by the Light was written by and appeared on Bruce Springsteen’s debut album. The Mighty Quinn, another MM hit was written by Bob Dylan.