cave-(wo-)men

1 So then, I said, liken our nature in relation to its education and lack of education to the following condition. Consider human beings as those who live in a subterranean cave–like home, and although there is a passageway towards the light beyond the cave, the human beings are kept there since childhood, with their limbs and necks tied up in chains to keep them in place and to only see what was right in front of them. Because of their bondage, they are unable to move their head around, and so, to them, the light, burning from afar, comes from above and behind them. In between the fire and the prisoners is a pathway that leads up towards a wall, just like the walls that are setup by puppeteers over which they present their wonders. I see, he said.   2 Look further, and notice the human beings who are holding all sorts of props over the wall: artificial objects and statues resembling both men and the other life-forms, all made of stone and wood, and all sorts of things. As they carry these over the top of the wall, some are silent, but some make sounds like the animals and human beings they are carrying about. You are describing a strange likeness, he said, and strange prisoners.   3 But they are like us!, I said: Do you believe these people are able to see anything of themselves or each other, other than the shadows that the fire projects to the opposite side of the cave? How could they?, he said, if they have been forced to keep their heads fixed and unmoved their entire lives?   4 What about the objects being carried about? Isn’t it the same thing with them? How do you mean? Well, if they were able to dialogue with each other, would you think that they’d believe that the things are the very things they are seeing? Necessarily.   5 So, what if the prison could carry an echo all the way to the opposite side? Do you think, if someone passing by made a sound, that they [the prisoners] would believe anything other than the shadow passing before them is the one making that sound? By Zeus, not I!, he said So then, in every way, I said, these human beings would believe that the truth is nothing other than the shadows of artificial things. Unavoidably so, he said.   6 So, consider, I said, what might be their possible release from bondage, and medicine for their folly, if they naturally encountered the following situation: As soon as someone is freed from their bondage, he would be compelled to suddenly stand up, turn his head around, walk and look up towards the light. While doing all these things, he would suffer pain and, due to the extreme bright light, would be unable to see those things, the shadows of which he saw before. [In that circumstance], what do you believe he would say, if someone else should tell him that what he knew previously was foolishness, but now he is closer to being, and that, by aligning himself more with being, he will see more correctly. Furthermore, by showing him each one of those who have been moving around [behind the scenes/wall], he would compel him to answer, by asking him what they are. Don’t you think that he would be confused and would believe that the things he used to see to be more true than the things he is being shown now? By far, he said.   7 So then, even if the light itself forced him to look at the light, would he experience pain in his eyes, and turning away, would he run towards those things he was able to gaze upon, believe those things to be in reality clearer than the things that were being shown to him? It is like that, he said.   8 But, if, I said, someone should drag him by force through the difficult uphill ascent and, refusing to release him until he is carried out into the light of the sun, wouldn’t he kick and scream as he was being dragged? Then, when he would finally arrive at the light, wouldn’t his eyes fill with the light of the sun, and he would be unable to even see what is now being called true? No – at least not right away! he said.   9 I believe he would need to get accustomed to it, if he wanted to see the things above. First, he would be able to see the shadows quite easily, and after that, he would see the images of human beings and everything else in the waters. Then, finally, he would see the things as they are, from which things he would also see the stuff in heaven and heaven itself, more easily at night, by gazing on the light of the stars and the moon, rather than the light of the day and the sun. How not?   10 Finally, I believe he would gaze upon the sun itself, not its reflection of the water, or in another place, as an illusion of the sun, but as the sun is by itself and in accordance with itself, he would see and wonder as to what it might be. Necessarily, he said.   11 After all this, he might converse with himself and think that the sun is the bringer of the seasons and the years, nourishing all things in the visible realm, and that the sun in some way is the cause of all these things they have been seeing. It is clear that he would come to these conclusions, he said.   12 What then? After remembering his first home, what [is called] wisdom there, and all those who are in bondage there, don’t you think that he would count himself blessed from his transformation, but would pity the others? Very much so.   13 So, if at that time there were any honors, praises, or gifts amongst them, to award the one who could with greatest clarity see the things that go by, or the one who could remember which things were carried first, which things afterwards, and which things at the same time, or even further, one who is most powerful at predicting what would arrive in the future, do you think that he would be enthusiastic for these awards, and would be envious of those amongst them who were honored and the most powerful there, or would he instead experience the saying of Homer, and so would rather “be a farmer of the soil, a serf to another even poorer man, and to suffer anything else whatsoever, rather than to think or live as they do? I believe this is so, that he would rather accept suffering than to live in that way. Consider this, then, I said. If such a one returned and sat in his old seat, wouldn’t his eyes be full of darkness, having all of a sudden arrived from the sun? Very much so, he said.   14 If it was required that he search for knowledge in terms of the shadows there, where his eyes were still dim, and argue with those who have always been prisoners, before he could get clear vision – for it could take a long time before his eyes to adapt – wouldn’t he receive ridicule, and would be said to have ruined his eyes ascending above, that it really isn’t worth it to even attempt to do such a thing? Furthermore, if it were possible for them to take and kill the one who attempts to free and lead others, wouldn’t they do so? Absolutely, he said.       (Plato, the republic 514a-517a)     Okay… this Riddle is ancient and has been explained many times.. ..but usually not very well..   So let’s try to really ‘dissect’ every paragraph and sentence.. ..and most importantly: relate the metaphors to personal experiences and ‘famous examples’!   Ohh.. this Riddle is going to reveal way more, than most of us expect! *hihihihi…* This discussion was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by  Jester.