Discussion Questions

Plato. "The Allegory of the Cave"

1. If the artificial objects carried along the wall designate objects that we perceive in our experience with the world, what do the shadows signify?
2. Why does Plato stress the difficulty that the prisoners have in looking at the light of the sun?
3. Why do prisoners receive their returning colleague as they do? What does this tell us of the position of the philosopher in society?
4. In what ways does this allegory attack contemporary Greek education?