After reading The Allegory of the Cave and watching several videos that thoroughly explain the philosophical thinking process of life, I came to the conclusion that I in fact agree with some of the theories Plato tries to convey. If we take some time to think about the philosophies that Plato establishes in The Allegory of the Cave, we can see that they indeed make a lot of sense. To begin with, one of the main principles being introduced in this story is that most of the things that we see as a society are phantoms or shadows of reality. If we compare ourselves to the man in the cave, we will be able to realize that just like them we have been blinded by the society’s norms of life. As Plato suggest most of the trends and values we follow are just shadows and corrupted concepts of reality. Most of the times we are influenced to think about life in a very superficial manner, leaving behind the real meaning of these concepts. For example, like it was stated in one of the videos that we watched in class, most of us are so comfortable in our ignorance that we take offense on anyone who tries to educate us and enlighten us with their brilliance. In this following analytical response, I will explain why I agree with Plato’s theory that in order to have an efficient, and well-grounded society we must allow some philosophers to take the lead of our form of government.
Like I stated previously I agree with the concept of The Allegory of the Cave. I firmly support the idea that as individuals we are most of the times influenced by concepts that are not entirely accurate. A clear example of that is the concept of beauty. To most people beauty is something that can be defined and perceived, but the truth is that we can only argue this because we have been manipulatedby social norms who have blurred our individual perceptions of beauty. Society has created a standard of beauty that looks to be appreciated by all of us, we see it being promoted in the news, in the media, in our advertisements, but the truth is that no one has the real definition of beauty. This is the case because beauty is not something that can be defined, and is not something tangible. Instead beauty is very subjected to the eyes of the viewer, we all have our own perception and definition of beauty and it may vary depending on who is describing it. But as individuals we are taught to believe on the images that we see without any chance to second guess the validity of what we are seeing.
Another concept that is being emphasized in The Allegory of the Cave is that society must be ruled by philosophers who have knowledge, and power to enlightened. I totally agree with the theory, because as a society we lack the skill to analyze and think analytical about certain aspects of life. In other words we have pigeonholed many ideas in our lives that are redundant and superficial. I strongly believe that to grow in unison we must be educated, and accept that we indeed lack the knowledge to live a prosperous, and ethical life. Which leads me to believe in Plato’s theory that our society must be ruled by thinkers which have mastered the skill to think critically, and analytically about life concepts. By accepting this theory, we are accepting the fact that we must be able to accept the opinions, and thoughts of those who may challenge our way of perceiving life. This will automatically promote the use of dialogue to come to a safe ground where everyone feels safe and enlightened, by doing so we will be learning to use our words as methods of knowledge, rather than utilizing them to hurt and punish each other. In other words, the implementation of a system which is primarily lead by philosophers may bring peace and tolerance to the world.
