Plato's Allegory of the Cave

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
- The Allegory of the Cave represents what we believe is reality and when we are brought out of our reality, we are lost and confused.  

2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
- The darkness is used to represent the reality in which the prisoners live in while the light represents the unknown world they have been deprived of. 

3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
- I believe the allegory suggests that in order to learn something new you must be willing to step out of your comfort zone and have an open mind.

4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?

- To the prisoners, the cave is the only world they know of. It is their reality they have been limited to. The shackles represent how they are trapped and so greatly restrained they are not even able to turn their heads. Everything they see in front of them is the only thing they know.

5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
- I believe limitations and rules shackle the mind today. For example, I have not traveled a lot due to the fact traveling fees these days are so expensive. I also have a very busy schedule that inhibits me from doing fun things or going on vacations. Rules can shackle the mind in school, for example, because students' freedom is so limited. 

6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
- Unlike the cave prisoners, the freed prisoner is able to see things the cave prisoners can't like the sun. This leads him into the world of imagination as he is able to imagine what other things may be out in the world. Before the freed prisoner escaped, he would never have imagined something so bright like the sun existed. The cave prisoners still believe in only the shadows because it is the only thing they have ever known.  

7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
-Lack of clarity can occur when one simply doesn't know of any other possibilities. If someone is taught one thing all their lives and someone suddenly tells them they are wrong or there are other possibilities, how could they have known that in the first place? Intellectual confusion can occur when you are trying to explain something to someone they didn't even know existed. 

8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
- The cave prisoners can get free if they simply just try to escape. This tells us that in order to do something new you need to step out of your comfort zone. Though it may be scary at first, that one decision can hold a million different outcomes and opportunities. 

9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- I agree with this statement. In the allegory, the cave prisoners only saw the appearances of the shadows on the walls. In reality, those shadows were different things like animals and people. 

10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
- One assumption could be that everything you see is indeed what it appears be and nothing else. Another assumption could be that all the things you know of are the only things that exist in the world.