Plato Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?



1.  The allegory of the cave represents the effects of how people perceive things in different situations and how others can see things we see as false as real.
2. The allegory uses shadows as an imagery to show he people who had only known the shadows thought they were the real thing.
3. This allegory suggests that we are educated by our surroundings  People in the cave learned about their world very differently then people outside the cave, and how enlightenment may not actually be wanted, even feared because people want and feel safe with what they already know.
4.  The imagery of shackles and the cave suggest that the perspective of the prisoners has been controlled or limited by their environment, or shackles, changing their reality.
5.  I feel in society today obsession with thing shackles the mind. Many people become to focused with whats cool or popular and instead of thinking about what they would actually enjoy do what someone else has established as good.
6. The freed prisoners are allowed to explore the outer realms unlike the chained prisoners, but they still prefer their initial situation. They just now know there is something else, but are unsure of it.