Adam Roke

Phil. 1, Fall
Midterm
Greenberg

On Platos Cave Allegory and its Implication towards Philosopher Kings

Adam Roke
10/31/14

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I. INTRODUCTION
The Republic, one of many Socratic dialogues published in Classical Greece, is arguably Platos
best-known work, as well as one that is still largely influential to Western philosophy today1. In
this dialogue, mostly through the main character Socrates, Plato sets out to prove that justice is
more valuable than injustice; in doing so, he argues for his conception of the just state, which
will have no rest from evils until philosophers rule as kings [] and adequately
philosophize (473c10-d4). My aim here in analyzing The Republic, therefore, will be specific
to justice in the state and how the state ought to be ruled; more specifically, it will be based upon
exploring the rather popular allegory of the cave found in Book VII, which goes hand-in-hand
with a distinction between true philosophers and common people, atopic integral to a discussion
of justice in the state. From there, I will connect the implications of the allegory to two central
arguments in the Socratic dialogue, these being how the prisoners in the allegory are like us as
well as precisely why that entails that philosophers are the only ones fit to rule a just state
(515a3). With these concepts clearly defined, I will use the allegory in tandem with Socrates
conception of the just state to conclude with a clear dichotomy between true philosophers and
common people, this being mainly which Forms we see.

II. THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

During the beginning of Book VII, Socrates, in a discussion with Platos brother Glaucon, asks
him to envision a vivid cave dwelling, in which there is an entrance facing to the outside light
and four prisoners within; these prisoners have always been there, and are chained so that they
must only face a cave wall opposite the entrance (514a1-b6). Behind and above them is a fire
1 National Public Radio (NPR) (August 8, 2007). Platos Republic Still Influential, Author
Says. Talk of the Nation. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12594668>

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burning, which projects shadows on the wall that the prisoners can see; we are to imagine that
people cast shadows of different objects towards the prisoners, and they thusly know nothing
better than to interpret these shadowsas well as sounds heard with the shadowsas reality
(after all, it is all they have ever seen) (515b6-b11). Should one prisoner become free from his
imprisonment, Socrates argues that this person would be pained by seeing the true light and the
true reality of the outside world at first (515c-d5). He continues, saying that over time, the
prisoner would become adjusted to the truth, and that rational thought would explain the shadow
reality before his ascension to the outside world (516b4-b6). Socrates concludes that this cave
metaphor can be compared with an understanding of the Good and the truth; the prisoners reality
seems just as real to them, but they cannot see and understand the truth and the real reality.

III. ANALYSIS & CONCLUSION

At this point, we are at a good place to answer the question of how the prisoners are like us, a
statement Socrates makes which ties the cave metaphor to the concept of the just state (515a3).
In the introduction, I made it clear that Socrates argues for philosophers to rule the just state as
philosopher-kings; the allegory metaphorically describes why. First, allegorically, the prisoners
are much like us as in the common people in an ideal state, while the prisoner who was free
from the chains and saw the truth is like a true philosopher who understands the Good and the
truth of all things, once exposed to the light of the sun; in this case, such a philosopher is
different from us in that he can see the true nature of things that to us are simply shadows,
which is why he must rule the just state (or metaphorically, the prisoners). Providing further
justification, Socrates references Platos conception of knowledge, known as the Forms:
according to the Forms, there are separate faculties and levels of knowledge, separated into the

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visible realm and the intelligible realm (477e6-480a10 & 2). The visible realm has to do with
belief and physical depictions of thingsa rudimentary form of knowledgewhile the
intelligible realm has to do with rational thought, the truth, beauty, and finally the Good
(represented by the sun). So therefore, the true philosopher has the education necessary to
understand the Good and the truth of all thingsthe rationality behind common peoples beliefs.
If a non-philosopher were to rule a state, and refer to his actions as just, he would only be acting
in reflections and beliefs of justice, not the true Good. Some might say that the freed prisoner
would not come back down to rule in the shadowsSocrates argument, though, is that a
philosopher king realizes their happiness when all citizens are at peace in the just state. In
opposition to the Forms, others may say that it is not black and white: everyone has some
knowledge of all the Forms (for example, one could know that they believe in something).
Despite this, the philosopher-commonperson dichotomy is still no less clear: the philosopher who
ought to rule the city has knowledge of the Good, not simply some knowledge. They are lovers
of seeing the truth (475e3). The common people mostly are stuck in the visible realm or have
knowledge of sights and sounds, only understanding what I call the shadows of justice. It is for
precisely this reason, therefore, that only the true philosopher is fit to rule the just state: the
allegory illustrates that they are the only ones capable of understanding the truth and Good, and
can point us in the ideal direction.

2 Reeve, C.D.C., The Republic, Introduction by Reeve. Page xviii.