• What is the Cave
    • Contained in Book 7, 514a-517c
    • Acts as an allegory to generalize human existence
    • Socrates imagines the cave, which is reflective of the lowest part of the divided line
    • Supposition - what would happen if a prisoner should be freed? A “world less vivid”
  • The topography of the cave
    • Underground cave with prisoners and free inhabitants
    • Entrance is very far up, has light and is as wide as the cave
    • Lit by a large fire above and behind the prisoners
    • On higher ground, a path stretches between the prisoners and the fire
      • Puppets are shown on this path above a low wall, and the shadows are shown to the prisoners
  • The cave as vertical stratification of space
Levels
Test
Exit/Entrance
Fire burning above the low wall which lights the Cave and reveals puppet shadows
The low wall and path on which puppets are shown
Prisoners who watch the shadows on the wall in front of them and hearing echoes
  • The cave-dwellers
    • Prisoners
      • Humans who have lived in the cave their whole lives, cannot move their bodies at all and can only see in front of them
      • Can tell the difference between different shadows and sounds
      • Can name shadows and discern patterns in their presentation
      • No self-perception or perception of those around them
      • Shadows talk if puppeteers talk
    • Puppeteers
      • Also humans with an ambiguous motivation, carry artifacts to show shadows
      • Some speak, some are silent
        • Speakers only do so to make sound effects
  • The release of the One & its painful effects
    • One prisoner must stand up, turn his head, walk, and look up towards the light (all physical verbs)
      • Beginning of enlightenment is to turn the head
    • The One would be pained, dazzled, and unable to see the objects that cast the shadows (puppets)
    • He would be at a loss if he learned that the objects were more real than the shadows themselves
    • His eyes would hurt if he looked at the fire, and he would want to turn back
    • He’d be pained if he wanted to walk up
    • After escaping, he wouldn’t be able to see the things outside of the cave
  • The forceful liberator
    • Someone/something suddenly compels a prisoner to stand up
      • “Suddenly” breaks the structure and flow of the time perceived in the cave
    • The prisoner would be at a loss if we compelled the prisoner, someone compels the prisoner to look at the light
      • Notice use of we vs. someone; someone is ambiguous and unknown, uncertain
      • The liberator is unknown and a wild variable that breaks the highly structured world of the Cave
    • Someone drags the prisoner using force and doesn’t stop dragging him until he has reached the sunlight
  • Cave, Line, & Sun
    • Visible Realm
      • Inside the cave/lower line
      • Involves shadows - reflections, shadows, illusions -> any images (Level 1 of the Line)
      • “To see, to believe”
      • Puppets -> physical objects (Level 2 of the Line)
      • Fire allows objects to be seen
    • Intellectual Realm
      • Shadows, images of men and other things in water -> Mathematics and hypotheticals (Level 3 of the Line)
        • “To see”
        • Not yet in the outside world of the Cave
      • Things themselves (things in the sky, night time objects) -> Forms (level 4 of the Line)
        • “To see, to study”
        • Leave the cave
      • The sun, provides light and therefore intelligence to mankind -> The Good
        • “To see, to study, to infer, to include”
  • Why do we need the Cave if we have the Line?
    • The Line is a geometric figure, while the Cave is a story about humanity
    • The Line implies continuity and progress between the lower and upper line, while the Cave implies a sharp divide between outside and inside the Cave
    • In the lower line, belief is “automatic” and comes after they see physical objects, while in the cave, belief is difficult and requires effort
    • The Line makes transitions from one part to another seem smooth, while in the Cave each transition requires an external force which comepls
  • Back to the Cave
    • A released prisoner coming back to the cave would not be able to see in the cave; too dark
    • If they talked to the perpetual prisoners, they would be ridiculed
    • Other prisoners would say that the released prisoner would have ruined their eyesight and that the journey up was worthless
    • If they tried to free the chained prisoners, they would be killed