“For Plato the realm of ideas is the realm of true knowledge. The realm of material objects is the realm of mere opinon. His famous ananlogy of the cave illustrates this. In The Republic Plato tells an imaginary story of men who have lived in a cave as prisoners since childhood. They are chained and immobile. Their field of vision is restricted to a wall directly in front of them. Behind them is an elevate area where people are walking, carrying objects made of wood, stone, and other materials. The glow from a fire casts shadows of the people on the wall that the prisoners can see. The prisoners hear the voice of those people and assume that the voice come from the shadows. Indeed, their only perception of reality comes from the shadows.
Plato then asks what would happn if one of the prisoners were to be released and allowed to walk toward the fire. Having been cramped for so many years he would find walking painful. The glowing fire would hurt his eyes. Because looking at real objects is more painful than gazing at shadows, he would be inclined to return to his customary position and confine his glance to the familiar shadows.
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