In the allegory of the cave, the human characters are prisoners in an underground cave. The cave has only one source of light and the individuals cannot move because their necks and legs are chained to the wall. Above and behind them is a blazing fire. There is a low wall between the prisoners and the fire where people pass carrying statutes of animals, people and other objects. Their perception of the world is the shadows they see reflected by the fire. They take the shadows to be the true representation of reality.
One of them is freed. Consequently he is forced to turn around and walk towards the light. At first he is disturbed by the glare of the light notwithstanding the fact that he is unable to see realities which he was used to in his former self. Such an individual, perplexed by the change of reality, would prefer his former version of reality to real existence of things. He is irritated when he is forced to a rugged terrain; his eyes are dazzled when he is forced to be in the presence of the sun.
Soon his eyes get accustomed to the sight of the world above the cave. He sees the shadows clearer when he sees the reflection of men and animals in the water. The starry night sky dazzles him further. To satisfy his curiosity he waits to see the sunrise the following morning. With all the wonders he has seen in the world outside, he pities the wisdom of his fellow prisoners.
Why would he care about the honors conferred to whoever was the first to notice a passing shadow? Will he envy the possessions of the individual who was honored among them for getting the height of a shadow correct? The answer is no. He in fact goes back to the cave in a bid to rescue his fellow prisoners from the greatest curse of all minds; ignorance.
Back at the cave people do not understand him. They say that he went up and came down without eyes. They think his experience of the world outside had erroneously changed his perception of reality. They probably ostracize him and stop him from going outside ever again. They say among themselves that it is better not to think of ascending. Anyone who is freed and tries to go to the world outside will be put to death.
Plato went further to expound that the prisoner is the world of sight .The prisoners perception of reality is the knowledge acquired through his senses. The journey upwards is the ascent of the soul to the intellectual world. In the world of knowledge, the idea of good passes last off and is only seen with effort. The intellectually lazy or lame cannot achieve this feat. Those who achieve knowledge are unwilling to descend to human affairs.
An individual can only reach the best form of existence through intellectual labor. In this way you see reality in ways that ordinary mortals do not see. Your understanding of the world is better in comparison to mortals who are chained by ignorance. Although Plato would later opine that the wisest of all the mortals is the one who opines that wisdom is useless, true wisdom can only be gained by a curious mind in the process of searching wisdom.
It is undisputable that Plato’s best type of life reflects the best type any individual can live. To choose ignorance over wisdom is deleterious to ones intellectual abilities. It is better to be mocked, despised and ostracized for seeing the light than to be praised by your fellow prisoners for accurate measurement of shadows, for which they perceive as the true representation of things. Individuals who lead a life under Plato’s definition of the best form of life are more rational in their inter-relations with one another and have a better understanding of the world around them.
In conclusion leaving the cave should not be mistaken for complete liberation from ignorance. With all the exposure above the cave an individual can still find himself under the dogma of taking the shadows as the true representation of things. To be completely free one has to break from him former state of taking shadows for reality. However, freedom may come at the price of leaving your fellow prisoners behind and disassociating yourself from their honors and praises.
Reference
Huard, R. (2008). Plato's Political Philosophy: The Cave. New York: Algora Publishing.
