The Cave and the Light

“This entire allegory, I said, you.............................................life must have his eye fixed.”

The unfortunate thing about a metaphor is that, it’s poetic nature tends to appeal to highly non-rational aspect of an individual’s thinking. In searching for comparisons with real life scenarios, simplicity is often brought into these topics, making them more accessible, definitely, but, only at a very superficial level. The ancient Greeks seemed all too happy to fall into this trap, but ultimately, finding an extremely convincing vessel for a view makes discussion a little difficult, as you’re limited to the visuals of an image which may not be able to bring about all aspects of the subject.

This allegory is a fascinating one...but it draws clear hierarchies between modes of thought, and seems very absolutist in many aspects of its design. I think on some level I’m blaming a lot of the fallacies we see in predominant Western thought upon this single, very influential, metaphor, which probably explains a lot of my gripes with it. Plato speaks explicitly of an absolute truth in the viewing of the environment through this “light”....a truth which most people are ignorant about, and an ideal towards which every individual should strive. But what if an individual should know nothing but the shadows and the infinitely complex patterns they can also cast on the cave’s uneven wall? Does that make their lives worth less? For these people, the shadows are the reality. If they have no way of knowing what exists behind them, or what’s creating the shadows, it’s arguable that they aren’t losing much.

To bring up another point, this entire metaphor for the cave, with the “less fortunate” shackled at one end, and the free, enlightened being dancing around the light, itself is seems to be contained in a space that’s a mere portion of the rest of the world. Clearly this cave is just a part of something larger, that its inhabitants cannot access. If there can be no issue with that, and a relative ignorance can still be considered an ideal, why can’t the same apply to those tied at the bottom of the cave? Sure, they’re shackled...but similarly, the enlightened ones are trapped within this limited space, and equally so, despite what freedom they have. If the prisoners cannot know what freedom they are lacking, why should it matter to them? And when one of the fortunate ones returns to “help” their previous companions, how are they giving themselves the right to make this decision? Why have these moral values been constructed only in this singular way?

Perhaps, those in the light can see more of the world around them, but they’ll never see the shadows dancing on the walls again. And that, I feel, is equally lamentable.