The Allegory of the Cave

     In the Republic, Plato says there are three parts of the soul: the rational, spirited, and appetitive. He explains that the rational part of the soul represents the highest form of human capability, and he uses the Allegory of the Cave to illustrate how one comes to develop it in its fullness. Plato’s Allegory serves to illustrate how one comes to fully develop one’s intelligence, which is in alignment with the rational part of the soul.
    In the cave, prisoners are bound and permitted to only see the shadows projected on the wall before them, cast by the light of the fire shining on puppets. In the cave, the chained prisoners represent the starting point of mankind’s mind. They are only able to perceive illusions that are a crude reflection of what is real. A prisoner is loosed from his binds to see the puppets that the shadows are cast from and the fire that illuminates them. The freed man is then forced out of the cave into the light of the sun, where he will begin to see shadows and reflections of objects, then gradually as his eyes become fully adjusted he will perceive the objects themselves. Only a few will escape to see the visible realm and see the fire and objects casting the shadows, but they will lack the knowledge to explain what they now see. Eventually he will be compelled to look at the sun and recognize it as the source of illumination of everything he sees. Here everything is illuminated and represents knowledge and understanding. The last thing seen is the sun, which is the ultimate good; it is the source of light and all things that can be known in the intelligible realm. If The Good is the source of illumination of intelligence, then it is necessary to seek the things beyond the cave in order to develop the rational part of the soul. It is in the intelligible realm and knowing the Good that man reaches his highest possibility.