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Plato's Caveat
And now,
he said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened. Behold! Human beings living in the 21st
century, traveling to various enclosed dens, as they have been from childhood, captivated by the images placed before them.
Glauckon: Yes.
And imagine that in another place is a society of actors, puppets and marionette players
which have created these images and show them on various screens and stages in the different dens by means of a bright light
is blazing in the background, projecting the images before them.
Glauckon: I must imagine it.
And
can you imagine, I said, that these images are not only figures of men and animals, but of all the world and all things in
it both natural and man-made?
Glauckon: Yes, I can imagine it.
And suppose further that the images
are accompanied by sounds and music and voices which add such intensity to the scene, that the sounds and images seem altogether
real and the prisoners are no more able to turn away than if their heads were held in place by chains?
Glauckon:
You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.
Like yourself he replied; and they see only
images of things, which are shown on the various stages and screens and never the things themselves?
Glauckon:
True, he said; how could they see anything but the images if they never moved their heads?
And of the people being
displayed in like manner they would only see the images?
Glauckon: Yes.
And would they not become completely
absorbed by these images and have their thoughts and emotions totally determined by them?
Glauckon: Quite true.
And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not only discuss the ideas presented in the images?
Glauckon: Very true.
To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the images.
Glauckon:
That is certain.
And also, would not every feeling and thought they have of the world and for one another be based
only upon their various interpretations of the images? And that the entirety of their intellectual and emotional lives would
be so determined?
Glauckon: No doubt.
Now, if they have all been subject to the same images, there would
be little disagreement in their perceptions, but if they had been presented with various different images, they would have
no basis for agreement.
Glauckon: None whatsoever.
And now look again, and see what will naturally
follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly
to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the people and things around him; the sight will distress him,
and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the images; and then conceive some one
saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to real existence and
his eye is turned towards more reality, he has a clearer vision, what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that
his instructor is pointing to the people and things around him and requiring him to name them, will he not be perplexed? Will
he not fancy that the images which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?
Glauckon:
Far truer.
And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged out of the den, and held fast until he's forced
into the presence of sunlight, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the natural light his eyes
will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what is reality.
Glauckon: Not all in a moment.
He will be required to grow accustomed to the sight of the natural world. And first he will see the outlines best,
next the shapes of men and other objects, and then the objects themselves; and he will see the sky and the stars by night
better than the light of the sun by day?
Glauckon: Certainly.
Last of he will be able to see the real
world in the sunlight, and not mere images and he will contemplate it as it is.
Glauckon: Certainly.
He
will then begin to see that this is the real world, and is in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows
have been accustomed to behold?
Glauckon: Clearly, he said, he would first see reality and then reason about it.
And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose
that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?
Glauckon: Certainly, he would.
And
if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows
and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able
to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors
of them? Would he not say with Homer;
“Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything,
rather than think as they do and live after their manner?”.
Glauckon: Yes, he said, I think that he would
rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.
Imagine once more,
I said, such a one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his
eyes full of darkness?
Glauckon: To be sure, he said.
And if there were a contest, and he had to compete
in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak, and before
his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable)
would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better
not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the
offender, and they would mock him and shun him; even put him to death.
Glauckon: No question, he said.
This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glauckon, to the previous argument; the prison-house is the Subjunctive
world that mankind has created, the images having been shown for generations in this Academy. Of late, in this 21st century,
the fire has become the fire of the electronic media, of such intensity that even to free men, its images more powerful than
reality itself. Mankind will crowd into these dens, under the illusion that the images are life and the universal author of
all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of
reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public
or private life must have his eye fixed.
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©2004 - The Sequitorian Society
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