The Image of the Cave

The Image of the Cave
[ Plato (4th cent. BCE) "The Republic," Book VI; B. Jowett translation, shortened & edited]

And now, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened.

Behold! human beings living in an underground den [right-hand group, in shadow] that has a mouth open towards the light [upper left] and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance [lantern, upper middle], and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way [wall, right of lantern], like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

And do you see men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent. [Puppets with trumpets, walking on the wall]

They see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave. [Extreme right: shadows of puppets cast on the wall]

And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows.

And if they were able to converse with one another, they would suppose that they were naming what was actually before them.

And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, they would be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by [speaking figures to the left of the wall] spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow.

To them, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.

In Plato's Cave, human beings do not see the real objects of the external world outside the cave, nor the imitations of those objects inside the Cave, but only the shadows of the imitations, thrown against the wall of the Cave, two steps removed from the real world.

HOMEWORK: I give you the opening lines of a 21st CE cent Image of the Cave: extend the image, and consider our current enlightened or unenlightened nature.
"Behold! human beings living in a TV den; here they have been from their childhood.... Above and behind them a satellite is beeping at a distance .... If you look, a widescreen TV is built against the wall.... And do you see images passing on the screen, figures of animals, women playing sports, cute cat videos, some are talking, others captioned....