At school I studied Religious Moral and Philosophical Education, as I hoped it would help me when coming to university and fulfilling the philosophy aspects of this course. However, my teacher had a tendency to focus on religion, so I never gained that insight into Philosophy that I’d essentially hoped for. I have really enjoyed the philosophy inputs, as it is something new to get my head around and I have found it all very interesting!

The philosophy input I enjoyed the most was Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Brendan Knight gave us a very interesting insight into Plato’s theory which has stuck in my mind ever since.

Plato, who was an Ancient Greek Philosopher is from Athens , born in 423 B.C.E. Plato was prevented from a career in politics due to the aftermath of a war with Sparta, which brought a group of wealthy men into power known as the 30 tyrants. Plato instead became a pupil of the philosopher Socrates.

Socrates however was executed for heresy in 399 B.C.E, after which Plato began to write and teach with many of his philosophical works in the form of dialogues. The main character in all these being his old teacher Socrates, who would debate questions such as “what is life”.

In the seventh book of the republic Plato chose to focus on the differences between what seems to be real, and what actually is real. This is what is known as the Allegory of Cave, a short story highlighting these differences.

In Brendan’s lecture he spoke of the term “experience”. To understand this, he asked us – what if we grew up inside a cinema? We see life through the films we watch, without ever leaving… and this is our only experience of the world outside the cinema…

Plato’s theory of the Cave is very similar to this. He pictures three people born in a cave. They are chained up and facing away from the entrance; they never see what is actually happening out with the cave – only reflections of the outside world reflected on the wall in front of them. They can hear what is going on, but they cannot see it. The cave and the shadows on the wall in front of them is their only experience of existence.

One day, one of the three escapes their chains. At fist they are very weary, and scared to proceed. But the thought of a new experience encourages them to keep going. At first, he is blinded by the light, and very frightened. But he decides to proceed. His eyes eventually adjust to the light and for the first time he experiences life outside the cave. To him, it is a revelation. Something new, something he has never before experienced.

His first instinct to return to his cave, to what is familiar to him. However, he eventually decides to explain this new experience to the two others in the cave, He explains that they HAVE to experience this new world, the beautiful views and all the new sights and senses. They think this is absurd, and assume he is crazy. They are only used to life in the cave though – right?

The man simply cannot persuade them. He leaves to experience this new world out with the cave in which he is used to; the thought of something new being just too interesting for him to leave behind for the four walls of a cave. The message behind this is; “The men in the cave can only understand what they experience, nothing more”, whereas this man who has escaped, has had a taste of a new world. He has educated himself that there is more to life than the shadows on the caves wall. He realises than this outside world represents the true form of a world – that to him was previously only seen as a shadow projected on a wall.

This brings us to the “theory of forms”. What is justice? Well, many people see justice as equality. As an important characteristic in human life. Plato believed a human’s true form was their “psyche”, otherwise referred to as their soul – justice, is the characteristic that forms this.

Just. What is just? Justice is the ability to be a good person, and follow good morals. It IS possible to become more just, and to do so, Plato believed; all people had to do was educate themselves as philosophers.

Until they look into these philosopher’s views, new views of life that had previously not been considered, they are limiting their selves – essentially living in a cave. Without considering others views, they are limiting their intelligence and only viewing a distorted view of the world such as the three men inside the cave – who could not see the whole picture.

To become more just, all you need to do is educate yourself, believes Plato. The men who came from the cave have no experience of education. The only things they understand is from experience. This makes them ignorant, even though it is not their fault. Unlike the other man, they are not educated on the outside world, in what true forms actually are. They do not know that this world of the cave is not the only one that exists. They need to realise that their true form is actually their soul, and their justice comes from an upbringing of nurturing and caring.

Plato considered many forms of education, music, physical education and mathematics. All of which follow common themes – justice, responsibility and morals.

Plato concludes that everything in life has a form. By educating ourselves as philosophers, we are educating ourselves to identify these true forms. Plato believes the true form of a human is fundamentally their soul – and the only way to protect and nourish it is to act and think justly, which will in turn achieve true happiness.