Plato\'s Myth of the Cave

Plato's Myth Of The Cave

According to the Greek philosopher Plato, what we commonly think of as 'the real world' is not real at all, but merely an imperfect version of an ideal world, a world full of what Plato calls the 'the forms.' The forms are the ideal versions of everything that exists in this false world. Instead of an ordinary horse, for example, in the world of the forms there is a perfect version of a horse -- and there is an ideal version in the world of the forms of what we think of as love, a kind of Platonic love that transcends the physical world.

To illustrate the limits of earthly cognition, trapped in the materiality of existence, Plato created what has come to be called the "Myth of the Cave." In the real world, we are dwelling in a dark cave, isolated from enlightenment and heaven. Puppeteers have chained us to a rock so we cannot escape, and worse still, we do not know that we are chained because the cave is dark, lit only by a fire in the center of the cavern. The puppeteers manipulate shadow-puppets and we think the false shadows on the walls are 'real' but they are in fact only copies of copies.

Most of us live in total darkness, mistaking the shadows for the whole of human existence. Some people see beyond the shadows, but even they often fixate on the puppets which are not truly 'real,' either. It takes a true, enlightened philosopher to understand the nature of human existence, and only a philosopher can gain enough insight to liberate people from the cave. People need to shake off their chains, turn away from the seductive false reality of the shadows and puppets and escape from the darkness, into a world that is lit by sun rather than false fire. This heavenly world of pure forms away from material existence is the Platonic world.

A good example of how even people less philosophically enlightened than Plato experience the levels of cognition of the Myth of the Cave is found in the example of love. When we first feel what we call love for other human beings, it is usually a form of self-love. We love our mother because she loves us, we love our parents because they buy us Christmas gifts and take us to softball practice, and we love the prettiest girl in the class because looking at her makes us feel good. Then we feel love that acknowledges the other person, but is still often very shallow -- we might give our first crush a rose on Valentine's Day, but don't understand the other person's needs. Perhaps when they have a bad day, or need time with their friends, we ignore them or get upset when they seem to be ignoring us. This shallow love deepens into the ability to experience and appreciate a more mature and self-sacrificing relationship, like what occurs during a long-term relationship, or when we have a family. Then we have moved from thinking the first shadows we experienced are love, to finally seeing beyond the shadows, looking at what Plato would call the puppets.