Platos allegory of cave:

Platos allegory of cave:The distinction between appearance and realitySTAGE I : 1. A Cave with prisoners chained to their legs and are sitting facing the caves wall; cannot move and cannot see outside world; there is faint light passing through a whole in the walls of cave; 2 Imagine: a puppet player enters the scene and lights fire behind the prisoners and moves all kinds of goods like wooden toys of animals or things like that; 3. Their images flash in the wall in front of prisoners. 4. Prisoners imagine that they see live images inside the cave under the sunlight piercing through the hole.

The Story firstThe Mental Game begins:

Plato suggests that the prisoners would begin a game of guessing which shadow would appear next.If one of the prisoners were to correctly guess, the others would praise him as clever and say that he were a master of nature.

Mental Game begins: The EscapeOne of the prisoners then escapes from their bindings and leaves the cave.He is shocked at the world he discovers outside the cave and does not believe it can be real.As he becomes used to his new surroundings, he realizes that his former view of reality was wrong.He begins to understand his new world, and sees that the Sun is the source of life and goes on an intellectual journey where he discovers beauty and meaning.He sees that his former life, and the guessing game they played is useless. Story of Cave: Stage 2The Return

The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners of his findings.

They do not believe him and threaten to kill him if he tries to set them free.

The CaveIn Platos theory, the cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear in the world empirical evidence. The cave shows that believers of empirical knowledge are trapped in a cave of misunderstanding.The ShadowsThe Shadows represent the perceptions of those who believe empirical evidence ensures knowledge. If you believe that what you see should be taken as truth, then you are merely seeing a shadow of the truth. In Platos opinion you are a pleb if you believe this (their insult for those who are not Philosophers)!The GameThe Game represents how people believe that one person can be a master when they have knowledge of the empirical world. Plato is demonstrating that this master does not actually know any truth, and suggesting that it is ridiculous to admire someone like this.Meanings of the Cave StoryThe EscapeThe escaped prisoner represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave and outside of the senses.The Sun represents philosophical truth and knowledgeHis intellectual journey represents a philosophers journey when finding truth and wisdomThe ReturnThe other prisoners reaction to the escapee returning represents that people are scared of knowing philosophical truths and do not trust philosophers.

The following questions arise:

Who could be the deceased prisoner?How many boundary lines in the story? Why the prisoners wanted to kill the freed prisoners story? What mistakes they committed by killing his story, if not the story teller?How is then knowledge or education earned? How many levels of distortion may appear in the education process?

Questions from the Story:There could be a difference between surface meanings and deeper meanings; between appearance and reality; What appears to be true may be simply images, not aspects of the essential reality; The Idea (the ideal) is about the essential reality; How do the Idea is revealed in this story? Moral TheoryThe Idea of a Cave

The famous Leo Strauss in his book City and Man (1957) says the following tricks inside Plato's cave may be interpreted as follows:1. Light inside the dark Cave and Light from outside falling inside Cave: Both forms of Light serve the puppet players to manufacture images that deceive prisoners. (Leo Strauss)AKP: Let us think of cases of how do Brahmins use light from real life coming from the outside of cave to deceive Dalits inside their Cave controlled by them?AKP: Plato uses light outside cave as having power to unravel truth. Thus, Plato's inconsistency is not noticed by Strauss: light contributing to darkness vs his theory of sun-light as liberation/freedom. (AKP)A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 12. Puppet Player as governing elites, not masters and Prisoners as governed class, not slaves (Leo Strauss).

Two counter-arguments against Leo Strauss

AKP: I disagree with Strauss that governed class does not include Slaves. That is how Greeks really forgot to include Slaves in their language of power. Trying to understand ruling class politics in terms of evident claims made by them is to fall into the world inside cave's field. Take, for example, to understand caste as Chaturvarna is to fall prey to Brahminical/Straussian/ Platonic deception, for we should not be silent on Panchamas (fifth strata) of Caste Cave, who physically built caste cave.

A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 2AKP: I also disagree with Strauss that governing class is different from the master class. This is plainly mistaken. The governing class are 'deputies' chosen by the masters in ancient times. The same is true for modern times - Locke' time or our times. The word 'deputies' is not my word. This is Locke for you. Deputies are supposed to represent civil society in govt. Who are the deputies of Brahminical class in ancient India? Did they manage to rule via deputies or directly? How do we understand modern caste-class system with deputies from among prisoners of caste cave? Recall Ambedkar's words and we will find answers to these questions. Time to ponder. But for the moment, Strauss, the Chicago Professor, goes off the mark.

A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 33. Noble Lie/Deception:

The parable of cave shows that Plato remains critical of deception played out by elites. However, he defends Noble lie to played out by elites over prisoners; Even though, he advises Philosopher Kings not to lie to each other and advises lower orders/prisoners not to lie each other.

Following the example of breeding livestock, Plato advocated eugenics for human beings. In his ideal state the lower orders must be discouraged from having children by restricting their access to sex. Publicly, these unfortunates will be told that the right to have intercourse is randomly assigned by lot. In reality, though, the Guardians control the access by secret conclave.

A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 4The allegory of metals is nothing less than a rationale for maintaining a caste system. Socrates suggests that if the people believed "this myth . . . [it] would have a good effect, making them more inclined to care for the state and one another (415cd).

Thus the Noble Lie is a contrivance for one of those falsehoods that come into being in case of need, of which we were just now talking, some noble one. (414bc).

A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 5One should distinguish the Noble Lie from Platos deployment of myth to convey his ideas.His myths - such as the story of the Cave in the Republic or in his book on the Symposium, and in his book on the Winged Soul - are fictions that are meant to make vivid his philosophical points, which they complement.Such myths are not meant to deceive.Strauss asks whether it is true that noble lies have no role at all to play in uniting and guiding the community.Are myths needed to give people meaning and purpose, ensuring a stable society? Strauss implicitly endorses. AKP: Noble lie for order or social change? Force for power or freedom? I reject Strauss for making Plato as Noble Philosopher but presents Machiavelli as Evil Philosopher.

A Critique of Platos Best Defence: Part 6