Allegory of The Cave and Greek Philosopher

Plato was born 427 BC in Athens Greece and died on 347 BC. Plato, a Greek philosopher was born in a politically active family. Plato was the student of Socrates and was one of the most well known philosophers of that time. One of his most famous writings “Allegory of the Cave” was written during a time of Greek history known as the Classical Age (360 BC). The Allegory of the Cave questions reality. What is reality? Does reality really exist?

Socrates says that being the enlightened one may not be as easy as you think. The prisoner has been looking at shadows all his life, and now that he can see the actual reality he will be confused. The responsibilities you will have after seeing the reality is to tell the other prisoners, at first you may not want to, but Socrates says that to be the true enlightened one you will have to go back into the darkness and share your knowledge.

Plato tells us that the process of getting knowledge as a rise from darkness to the light. In this voyage, humans are able to see the nature of truth, or in other words, they are able to gain a grasp of what is actually real. Even though this process is painful and distressing, at the end it will offer freedom and enlightenment to those who have acquired knowledge.

Plato believed happiness could be understood as the moral goal of life . Philosophers usually describe happiness as either a state of mind, or a life that goes well for the person leading it. Part of Plato’s view was that we must be moral in order to be truly happy; based on a discussion of the four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

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