The Republic, Book VII: Corrupted by Truth Sophia Colbert
While there are entire books written on Plato's cave analogy, and one has probably said with more eloquence what I am about to say now, I'm going to focus on one point that most of us probably skimmed past without a second thought. I know I did the first time I read the analogy.
I'm referring to the passage in Book VII in the middle of pg 211 that talks about the temptations the enlightened man might experience after first being enlightened. Did anyone else catch the part where he said the man might want to be in charge of the shadows? To me this sounded like the men casting the shadows are other men who have been enlightened and are using their knowledge to spread falsehoods. The temptation to take advantage of other people was too strong for them to pass up. This means that the shadow casters were previously enlightened prisoners who used truth to their own personal gain. Before they came out of the cave, they were just as ignorant as everyone else. When they stumbled into the sunlight, they experienced truth and reality for the first time. With this knowledge, they had power to choose right or wrong. Instead of running back into the cave to free the prisoners, they ran back for a more sinister purpose. They had the power to control the reality of the cave, so they did. They became the shadow casters. This goes to show that even if you know truth, you might not become good.
Unfortunately, this thought brought up many existential questions for me about the cave, such as, if the shadow casters are men who are corrupted by enlightenment, then who were the first shadow casters? How did the prisoners get in the cave in the first place? Is this a generational rotation of the shadow casters, or do they kill each other off to get the prime spots for casting shadows? Can the shadow casters stop the people from being freed? Or are they the ones doing the freeing? If everyone is just as ignorant as everyone else, are some people more inclined to enslave others with truth while some use it to free others? Are there double-agent shadow casters who free people in the hopes that they will become truly enlightened for the good of the prisoners? How many people live in the realm of truth who don't know about the cave? What happens if someone gets freed at night? Will they still see truth? What if it's raining? Or cloudy? Why don't the shadow casters just block off the entrance to the cave?
Or what if the shadow casters are just as ignorant as everyone else and are forever doomed to cast shadows without ever having the opportunity to escape the cave?
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Cade's posts.
I'm referring to the passage in Book VII in the middle of pg 211 that talks about the temptations the enlightened man might experience after first being enlightened. Did anyone else catch the part where he said the man might want to be in charge of the shadows? To me this sounded like the men casting the shadows are other men who have been enlightened and are using their knowledge to spread falsehoods. The temptation to take advantage of other people was too strong for them to pass up. This means that the shadow casters were previously enlightened prisoners who used truth to their own personal gain. Before they came out of the cave, they were just as ignorant as everyone else. When they stumbled into the sunlight, they experienced truth and reality for the first time. With this knowledge, they had power to choose right or wrong. Instead of running back into the cave to free the prisoners, they ran back for a more sinister purpose. They had the power to control the reality of the cave, so they did. They became the shadow casters. This goes to show that even if you know truth, you might not become good.
Unfortunately, this thought brought up many existential questions for me about the cave, such as, if the shadow casters are men who are corrupted by enlightenment, then who were the first shadow casters? How did the prisoners get in the cave in the first place? Is this a generational rotation of the shadow casters, or do they kill each other off to get the prime spots for casting shadows? Can the shadow casters stop the people from being freed? Or are they the ones doing the freeing? If everyone is just as ignorant as everyone else, are some people more inclined to enslave others with truth while some use it to free others? Are there double-agent shadow casters who free people in the hopes that they will become truly enlightened for the good of the prisoners? How many people live in the realm of truth who don't know about the cave? What happens if someone gets freed at night? Will they still see truth? What if it's raining? Or cloudy? Why don't the shadow casters just block off the entrance to the cave?
Or what if the shadow casters are just as ignorant as everyone else and are forever doomed to cast shadows without ever having the opportunity to escape the cave?
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Cade's posts.
I did not catch that as I was reading, but it is insane. The fact that given free will to help or further condemn, these ex-prisoners would choose the latter is shocking. Why would they want the cycle to continue? If I were chained up for that long and then released, I'll be the first to admit my arms probably couldn't handle the stress of moving around some statues anyhow.
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