Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: the Eye-Opening Ancient Version of the ‘Matrix’

by Nikola Fragerotorio
Learning Mind

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων, 427. BC. – 347. BC.) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is considered as one of the most influential people in the history of western civilization. He was Socrates’ student. Thanks to Plato, we have a significant source of information about Socrates. Plato founded the first institution of its kind – the Academy. Aristotle was a student of that academy. Plato’s best-known work is “The Republic” – a book in which he wrote about a utopian image of an ideal society that would be ideally run by philosophers. Plato left a lasting mark on the development of many minds that came after him. He is one of the most influential figures of the course of development of modern western society.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Plato once demonstrated his knowledge with his so-called allegory of the cave. It is found in the seventh book of dialogue in “The Republic”. It is quite vivid and serves as an important example.

He invites us to imagine a cave. In it, there are people who have been chained and are unable to turn to any other direction except for the inner wall they are facing. Because of the chains they cannot see anyone besides themselves nor can they see the cave’s exit, which is directly behind their back. The only source of light in the cave is a camp fire. Between people and the fire, there is a cover behind which there are other people that go about on their own business.
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