Plato’s allegory of the cave

In short: In the allegory of the cave Plato describes people chained from birth in a cave who take shadows on the wall for reality. Anyone who steps into the light recognises the true world, but the others do not believe them.

In more detail: The allegory appears in Plato’s “Republic” (around 375 BC).

In detail

• Shadows: Sensory impressions and opinions.
• Ascent: The arduous path to knowledge, symbolised by the light of the sun.
• Theory of Forms: True knowledge is directed at unchanging ideas such as the Good.
• Return: The knower should help the others but meets resistance.
• Relation to Socrates: Plato shows how philosophers can remain misunderstood (sokrates-und-die-sokratische-methode).
• Today: The image stands for filter bubbles, media literacy and enlightenment.
• Interpretation: As with any allegory there are different readings (erkenntnistheorie-wissen-und-glauben).