On Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”.

When I Studied Philosophy of Education

Philosophy, a field of study in itself that makes one look sophisticated, is something that we may often engage in without realizing that we actually are doing it. To a layman, the word philosophy conjures names like Socrates, Plato or Aristotle.

When I took a course on Philosophy of Education in my sophomore year back in college, the lecturer constantly asked us to hand in commentaries on philosophical articles we read. I recently came across some comments I made on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Plato’s narrative is truly sophisticated, knowing it has brought about debates from various scholars on what its intended meaning was. While appreciating other schools of thought, my perspective of Plato’s write-up infers politics and revolutions

“Politics is a dirty game. Don’t do it” they say. “Those that engage in it are at risk of dying sooner” others say. Whatever their inference, we have so long been raised to fear the political arena, leaving it for a select few (more often than sometimes, elite few). We have been raised to consider less of being political aspirants and more of observing what governments do.

From observation, I can tell that there is a large number of people that are in Plato’s cave. They see the shadows manifesting on the walls, not the actual object. They do not see corruption or looting from the governments ‘they’ put in power. In this cave they are in, all they see is ‘roads being constructed in their areas’, not shenanigans going on behind these ‘constructions’. And you can’t blame them really, until they step out of the cave to actually see the light.

Unfortunately, that they step out of this cave is no guarantee that they will actually embrace what they see. It may be difficult for them to adjust to this blinding light outside the cave, preferring to resort back to the cave.

Think of an individual raised in a typical village who believes the government is not corrupt simply because this government built a road in his village. The ‘reality’ that the government is corrupt has been obscured, and one being brought out of the cave, would find it hard to accept this reality. Arguably one may resort to labelling such revelations as ‘propaganda’, hence discarding them.

While I equally entertain the idea that some are out of the cave and have come to terms with this ‘newfound reality’, I realize it comes with its repercussions.

When a people sees these governments for their truest identities, a people considers the prospects of joining the political arena. But do you know why?

They do not wish to be a part of the system because they would like to make amends (they make tantalizing promises). They only realize they had been missing a lot while they were in this ‘cave’. My postulate is that if they get into power, their first mission is to loot, none whatsoever with actually building a nation.

Quite frankly, I find this one of the major reasons some nations are plagued with an endless cycle of corruption, among others.

But what would you expect of a nation if its ‘supposed’ future leaders have been exploited by governments before?

That they have lived so long in poverty at the expense of government officials enriching their coffers?

It takes a whole deal of personal choice and integrity to break this spell. But how many, after getting into power, would actually uphold what is right? How many would actually decide to put the nation first, having been sidelined from wealth for so long?

While others come out of the cave, as in the case above, there are some who refuse to come out of the cave entirely.

From this perspective, I decide to look at the concept of a revolution. There are a number of us that are afraid of grand change, especially when we have to be the agents of that change.

Plato shows that the prisoners in the cave don’t want to change and they will kill anyone who drags them out for a change. Even if the change proves to be for the better.

People may be living under a pathetic administration (some universities I know) but may never subscribe to being pioneers of a revolution, let alone taking part in the revolution. Wonder the reasons behind?

Most people cannot see beyond the Revolution (a friend of mine hinted at the hedgehog vs fox model). Their reality, which they are quite content with, is living in this cave.

Who knows if the revolution will be a success anyways? Matter-of-fact, who knows if, after the revolution, life will be better than before? They would rather stay with what they already have than a promise of a better tomorrow that is rather too opaque.

I was told there are seven words that always keep people from change:

“We have always done it this way”.

Anyways, at least that’s what I could make out of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.