Allegory of the Cave: The Supremacy of Good
There is a situation which can be used as an analogy for the human condition, as an allegory for human nature. Imagine people living in a cavernous cell under the ground. Behind them, at the far end of the cave, a long way off, is an opening to the outside world as both an entrance and exit. They have been down here since childhood, with their legs and necks bound up in a way which keeps them in one place, allowing them to look straight ahead only. There is light coming from a fire burning up on a slope between them and the exit. Between the people and the light, a low wall has been built, like a partition, behind which another group of people, the “conjurors” have placed themselves. The conjurors can now secretly show their tricks to the shackled people in front of them.
The conjurors have access to all sorts of artifacts, human statuettes, and animal models carved in stone, wood, and other materials. In their near darkness, the observers cannot see each other or themselves, only the shadows that are being cast upon the wall in front of them. Being allowed to talk with one another, all they talk about were the play of shadows moving across the wall. Sounds from the conjurors echo from the wall as well as the sounds of talking from the observers (“prisoners“). These shadows and echoes were the reality of the people inside the cave.
Now imagine one of the observers (prisoners) had been set free and is made to stand up, to turn his head and walk towards the firelight. It hurts him to do all of this. He was dazzled by the artifacts that had been used to cast the shadows on the wall. He was then told that all this time, what he had been seeing has no substance, and that he is now closer to reality and is seeing more accurately the true nature of his existence. The one-set-free (escapee) had thought that there was more reality to the shadows, than to the objects themselves.
When forced to look at the firelight, the one-set-free turned away with eyes that hurt and ran back to the things he could make out, convinced these shadows appeared clearer to him. Now imagine him being dragged by force away from this area, up the steep and rough slope. He was not released until he was pulled into the natural sunlight. This caused him much pain and stress. Upon reaching the sunlight outside the cave, the one-set-free was unable to see a single one of the things in this new world, being overwhelmed by the sunbeams. At first all he could see were the shadows, which were most easily comprehended by him. Over time, he began to see and make out the reflections upon a body of water. Later he was able to see the actual things themselves. Next, he was fascinated by the heavenly bodies and the heavens; the light from stars and the moon. Eventually be was able to see the sun itself. From seeing all of this, he discovered the source of the seasons and yearly cycle. The one-set-free could now take in the visible realm within this new domain.
The one-set-free was now feeling happy about his new altered circumstances. He felt sorry for the prisoners back inside the cave. The prisoners used to assign prestige and credit to one another based upon the speed of one recognizing the shadows as they passed, and the ability to remember which ones normally came earlier or later, and then they could make comparisons. They used this knowledge to predict which ones would arrive next. The escapee no longer cared about the status and rewards that such abilities offered.
If the escapee were to go back underground into the cave, his eyes would he initially overwhelmed by the darkness. It would take him a period of time to make the adjustment. If again engaging in the tasks of identifying the shadows, he probably would expose the decay in his former abilities. The prisoners came to the opinion that going on an upward journey into the greater light was not worth doing. They would indeed resist anyone who tried to convince them otherwise.
We think of the upward journey into the light as an analogy of the mind’s ascent into the divine realms. This realm of knowledge is goodness. It is responsible for everything that is right and fine. The progenitor, originator and giver of light can be seen in the visible realm of the world, but it is also the light as a source of truth and knowledge in the divine realm. The seeing of this light is a prerequisite for intelligent conduct in both private and public affairs.
Imagine someone returning to the human world with all its misery after contemplating the divine realm. This one-set-free might seem awkward and ridiculous to the watchers-of-shadows. The eyes can become confused in two different ways, depending upon the circumstances. One in the transition from light to darkness, and another from darkness to light. One from greater lucidity to a greater ignorance, and another from relative ignorance to relative lucidity. One from increased darkness, and another from increased brightness.
If a person took these same facts into consideration when he noticed that the mind of someone else was in a state of confusion, and that he was incapable of making sense through the confusion, his reaction would not be one of unthinking ridicule. Rather, he would try to find out whether this other person’s mind was returning from a mode of existence which involves a greater lucidity, and that he had been blinded by the unfamiliar darkness. Or whether they were moving from relative ignorance to relative lucidity and had been overwhelmed and dazzled by the increased brightness.
Once this one-set-free realized this, he would congratulate this other escapee who was found in the second state, and feel sorry for anyone in the first state.
Commentary:
This moving from state number one inside the cave into state number two of the visual realm happens more than often when we learn a second language, with it’s new culture and ways of looking at our world. It can happen when one moves outside not only our primary language, but when we move outside our primary programming and acculturation from our parents, siblings, other family members, our schools, places of worship, and communities. It happens when we change the focus of our consciousness from one ore mores elements of our group identity and self identity to another, such as race, gender, ethnicity, religion, education, class, and so on. I personally found this process effected me when beginning to translate ancient Chinese poetry into English with my wife, as well as in the reading and study of the philosophies of the East.
Another interpretation of this allegory is the realization that there were three groups of people examined. One group were the people watching the shadows, and hearing the echoes against the wall in front of them in the darkness. They were called the “prisoners”. In the context of the allegory this appears to be as good a label as any. Group number two were the presenters and manipulators of the shadows, echoes, and narratives. These were called the “conjurors”. And finally, group number three was the one person who journeyed outside the cave, against his will at first. He was called the “escapee”. For variety I also called him “the one-set-free”. He could be called “the hero” who went on an archetypal journey or quest into a strange land.
This story reminds me of the first lines of a old Nepali song called “Phooliko Aankhama”, sung by Ani Choying Drolma. It can be found on the Internet. The lines are:
“In the eyes of a flower
The world appears as a flower
In the eyes of a thorn
The world appears as a thorn.
A world of clarity blossoms in the clear heart.”
As applied to the Allegory of the Cave:
In the eyes of someone in the light
The world appears as Light.
In the eyes of someone in darkness
The world appears as Darkness.
This summary and commentary were written in the third person perspective, but the original written by Plato was in the dialectical format, a dialogue of questions and answers. This format was common in ancient times, such as the questions and answers in the four gospels between Jesus and his inner circle, and in the Bhagavad Gita between Lord Krishna and Arjuna.
To slip in a bit of contemporary political and social satire, the shadows on the cave wall appear to me to be a metaphor for today’s electronic screens, our televisions, monitors, iPads and cell phones that have so dominated and changed the worlds of the twenty-first century. Instead of shadows, the people of today are watching electronic images projected onto these devices. And so it goes.
Plato Republic: translation by Robin Waterfield Oxford University Press: 1993