Plato and the Cave Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plato and the Cave - Essay ExamplePlato and the CaveIn the allegory, Plato depicts humans as prisoners chained in their thoughts. When they look at the shadows, they mistake its appearance for reality. They think that what they satisfy on the wall is actually real and could not comprehend the line up causes of the shadows. If for example, a shadow looks like a shovel, they would say I see a shovel but then again he is only expression at the shovel.For Plato, the prisoners would be mistakenly taking the terms in their expression to refer to the shadows that pass before their eyes, rather than to the real things that cast the shadows. This is the reason why people where represented by prisoners. They are bound to their belief much to the point that they are addicted with as the term shackle would imply. In a word, they keep on believing and interpreting something which is superficial.Plato can therefore be seen as referring to a higher reality. In his allegory, his point was that t he general terms of our language are not names of the physical objects per se but are actually names of things that we cannot see, things that we can only grasp with the mind. (Irwin, 1995 Jackson, 2001 Kochin, 2002 Kraut, 1993)I have no qualms on philosophers as leaders in the community as they are very good in making sense of what is happening. However, I also see concrete action as one essence of a leader which to, my belief, are lacking of philosophers. They may vainly philosophize on a simple(a) issue without actually taking action even when it is urgent.