The Dimensions of Morality in The Prince and The Republic of Plato

The prisoners perceive the shadows as reality and remain ignorant of the world outside of the cave. Later in the story, a prisoner is freed and exposed to the sunlight. We can see that initially, the man is resisting what he

In The Republic Book 3, Plato uses a fictional character named Socrates to argue that people in society must be handpicked to rule as well as also handpicking people to become ruled in order to confirm there will be no disagreements over who is leading. He essentially claims choosing what every citizen does with their life is necessary for creating a steady and working structure in society. This theory of telling people what they were destined to do in life is known as the “noble lie.” It tells everyone a “religious lie” that people all originate from the same place and are siblings of each other, an attempt to convince everyone to get along regardless of their social class. Personally I do not believe that Plato’s arguments in his book are correct and that the use of a “noble lie” would not work in society.

Plato's main goal in the Allegory of the Cave is to communicate the relevance and importance of the concept of intellectual perspective. His real agenda is to illustrate that most people are likely perceiving the world around them in a much more limited manner than they realize and that most of us are, to some degree, living our lives in the same circumstances as the prisoners he

In the ‘Allegory of the Cave’, a philosophic view that is discovered is difficult challenges that are faced when seeking new knowledge. This is a view that is very well portrayed in the allegory because once the prisoner is released to the real world and is faced with the truth, it became hard for him to absorb it. Before the prisoner was locked in the cave with other prisoners, he was not aware of the real world as they did not even know what was real or not. As it is stated in the allegory, “Here they have been from childhood, chained by the leg and also by the neck, so they cannot move….” They

Soon enough this prisoner’s eyes begin to adjust to this strange new environment and begins to see the reflections in water and the trees and people that surround him. Sadly, after experiencing this new world, Socrates begins to explain what happens when this finally free man is sent back to the dark depths from which he’d been imprisoned. This prisoner is once again dragged down into the darkness of the cave, but as he’s forced back in his eyes have become accustomed to the brightness of the sun, he feels blind in the darkness of his old “home”. His blindness implies to the rest of his fellow prisoners that the world where he was sent to did more harm than good, and for him to tell them any different would cause them to shun him and decide they never want to leave the cave as it seems safer to stay there than to face the unknown. As mentioned, the story of “The Allegory of The Cave” begins with the description of a cave in which a group of prisoners are shackled to chairs that face only one of the walls.

Defining Morality? In the book the Republic by Plato, the matter of morality is discussed in the first chapter. The opening follows the discussion between Socrates and three different individuals: Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus. Socrates questions the meaning of morality and thus everyone gives their own definition to his question.

In “Allegory of a Cave” Plato brings a ‘what if’ situation in which one of the prisoners is released of their shackles and is allowed to remove themselves from the cave. When going past the entranceway, it first distressed him, causing him an almost immediate pain. Going through the entranceway, the shadows which once represented truth will be nothing compared to the reality. This represents how hard it is to transition to the complete form of truth and understatement after being forced to grow accustomed to a blurred sense of truth. Beginning the transition will be a painful process as Plato describes the prisoner’s action claiming, “At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his round neck and walk

In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato uses a vast spectrum of imagery to explain ones descent from the cave to the light. While Plato uses this Allegory to explain his point through Socrates to Glaucon. This allegory has many different meanings. The Allegory can be used in many different ways, from religion to politics to ones own intellectual enlightenment, or it can be interpreted as the blinded person in a colt like reality. Are we all prisoners in a world that is forced on us through the media? How do we really know that we are not just pawns in some one’s chess game. What meaning was Plato trying to introduce to Glaucon? This cave can represent many aspects in the world. And the prisoners can be any one. The

workers, so that they do not desire to be in the ruler's position. It is seen

Because of this, the prisoners will come to see the unsubstantive shadows as reality since their views are only limited to what is shown to them. Plato then suggests that there is a person that frees one of these prisoners. A person tells the other that the shadows are artificial and only an inaccurate reflection of the truth. He then leads the prisoner towards the exit of the cave and shows him the sunlit world outside. From there, the prisoner perceives the actual reality without

The Allegory of the Cave is written by the brilliant mind of Plato. In the famous dialogue, Socrates, a well known philosopher, teaches to a student, Glaucon, about gaining wisdom and enlightenment. He uses the cave and the prisoners as an analogy to help make his argument more clear and understandable. It questions those who have knowledge and their responsibilities. Those who have knowledge may not realize that he or she plays an important role in society and its future. Their role involves appreciation, morals, and betterment for society. When someone gains wisdom from an experience, he or she should be morally obligated to pass on the wisdom to others because it can overall benefit society.

The one prisoner finally escaping the cave to the outside light shows symbolism as a higher level of philosophy. Returning to the cave was the choice of the prisoner, he felt compelled to spread his new knowledge. Plato’s uses him to represent breaking free from the normal mindset shared. Plato’s argument stands since the cave represents lack of expanding on common knowledge. Even after the prisoner returns to express his findings to others, individuals with philosophies different than the norm is dismissed because of their level above previous things thought of as true.

In The Prince and The Last Days of Socrates, Niccolò Machiavelli and Socrates give their respective personal discourses on what makes an effective leader and what are favorable practices of politics. Although both men have intense nationalism and agree on the ends of their operations being a prosperous principality, it is how they plan to get there, in which the two men differ. Machiavelli believes in a cautious, unexamined approach to statecraft where the ends justify the means while Socrates believes in a ruler that is questioned by his people, examines every viable option available, and adheres to a morally correct code of ethics that is driven by the betterment of the soul over the benefit of one’s state.

The Allegory of the Cavern aims to reveal the state in which, with regard to education or lack of it, our nature is found, that is, the state in which most men are found in relation to the knowledge of truth or ignorance. Thus, the prisoners represent the majority of humanity, slave and prisoner of their ignorance and unconscious of it, clinging to the customs, opinions, prejudices and false beliefs of always. These prisoners, like most men, believe they know and feel happy in their ignorance, but live in error, and take for real and real what they are but simple shadows of fabricated objects and echoes of voices. This aspect of the myth serves Plato to exemplify, through a language riddled with metaphors, the distinction between sensible world and

In this dialogue we see Socrates in intellectual argument with a fellow philosopher: Protagoras who claims to be Sophists (professional expert in wisdom) they both use various arguments and counter arguments to prove their arguments on the topic of piety and virtue. Socrates believed that Virtues is something that could not be taught or learned, where Protagoras claimed that he can teach people “good judgement” in both personal affairs, civil issues and teach political science so that his students will become good citizens.