Plato Study Questions

1. According to Socrates, the Allegory of the Cave represents the people who are chained down by ignorance and deny or do not seek an enlightened truth that exists.
2. The key elements of imagery used are the cave and the light. The cave represents the world as it is experienced with merely our senses, what it is at face value. The light represents a higher knowledge and intellect through which to better understand the world.
3. The allegory suggests that the process of enlightenment might be denied by some, because it is at first uncomfortable. Also, that enlightenment is attainable to those who seek it and are open.
4. The shackles and the cave suggest that the prisoners are living in darkness, which symbolizes the lack of higher knowledge. The shackles represent the close-mindedness of the prisoners.
5. Religion and tradition are two common "shackles" in today's society. Religion because it states what it thinks is the "truth" and renounces those who question this "truth". Tradition is similar in that something has been the same for so long that people feel uncomfortable questioning or changing it.
6. The freed prisoner is enlightened and has realized that there is more to life and the world than he used to know. However, the other prisoners ignorantly accept that what they see is all there is, so don't reach the same enlightenment.
7. Lack of clarity can come from refusing to search for the truth or denying the truth once you have seen it.
8. The prisoners can be freed whenever they choose to get up and turn around. This suggests that knowledge and enlightenment are attainable for anyone who seeks them.
9. I agree. Appearances are merely what we see or experience through our own two eyes, but there is so much more to the world than that. Reality includes emotions and thoughts and abstract things that can be physically seen. 
10. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption, then the world is a simple place with no meaning. What you see is all there is and abstract things such as love and emotion don't exist.