What is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave Essay Example

What is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave? Paper However Antigone disagrees and wants to bury her brother in accordance to the will of the gods. And so she does. There is no right or wrong here, just an opposition of opinion on who is right. The truth they believe in is right according to them. Thus proving in this context that truth is more subjective than objective. Which is the opposite of what Plato was arguing in the allegory of the cave. In my opinion truth according to Plato is the pursuit of truth. Although there are stages to truth and because within the stages there is a final one doesnt necessarily mean that a person needs to stop chasing this truth. We will write a custom essay sample on What is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on What is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on What is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Therefore in conclusion one could argue that the final stage is in fact endless. Truth is enlightenment and thus it should be the philosopher kings duty to spread this truth around to people and teach them of this truth that he knows. It could also be argued that we as human beings do not posses the intelligence to understand what truth actually is therefore if we had a greater capacity to imagine, the truth according to us could be different. We are in a sense seeing truth only as we are capable of doing. Maybe Plato wasnt intelligent enough to give a conclusive judgement on truth and maybe none of us are. But we are able to have our own opinions on what truth is even with our possibly limited capacity. This theory could also be worked around Platos allegory of the cave. But whilst Plato thought that there were human beings that could advance out of the cave, we could as a human race be stuck in the middle with no one in the history of the earth ever advancing further. In conclusion to my research the judgement I have reached when tackling the question of what is truth according to Platos allegory of the cave is; that truth is objective and based up on fact according to him. Although Nietzsche argued that untruth could be better than truth making untruth true to those who benefit from it. Platos argument overlooks this analysis. The stages Plato outlines in his allegory of the cave each a step closer to sunlight meaning that there is a gradual build up to the truth. This is in a sense can be seen as a pursuit. The truth exists according to Plato however it needs to be fought for and desired. And in order to be able to know to desire it a life changing event or the experience of an epiphany needs to happen. What we see in front of us is what he believes to be only partial truth. Only once we exit the cave we can see what truth really is. And it is still disputable to whether anyone in the history of the earth really has stepped out of the cave. Bibliography Amir. Allegory of the Cave An Interpretation n. d. http://www. laney. peralta. edu/apps/comm. asp? Q=30570 (accessed 9 January 2011). Andrew, Edward. Descent to the Cave. The Review of Politics (1983): 510-535. Annas, Julia. An Introduction to Platos Republic. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981. Ellen, Tedd. Allegory n. d. http://www. tnellen. com/cybereng/lit_terms/allegory. html (accessed 10 January 2011). George A. R. The Epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. London: Penguin Books, 2003. Langan, Sarah. An Analysis and Interpretation of Platos Allegory of the Cave', updated 12 May 2009, http://www. slideshare. net/guest71fae1/an-analysis-and-interpretation-of-platos-allegory-of-the-cave-1416697 (accessed 9 January 2011). Nietzsche, Fredrich Wilhelm, Hollingdale, R. J. Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the future Friedrich Nietzsche. London: Penguin, 2003. Plato Allegory of the Cave, Video Clip, [n. d. ]. www. Youtube. com, http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=K-Mv1kiqo4s (accessed 12 January 2011). Plato. Republic http://www. math. nus. edu. sg/~matlmc/Allegory_cave. pdf n. d. , (accessed 9 January 2011). Reeve, C. D. C. Philosopher-Kings: the Argument of Platos Republic. Princeton N. J. : Princeton University Press, 1988. Sophocles. Antigone. London: Methuen Drama, 2006. Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Toronto: Bantham Books, 1981. White, Nicholas P. A Companion to Platos Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1979. 1 Tedd Ellen, Allegory n. d. http://www. tnellen. com/cybereng/lit_terms/allegory. html (accessed 10 January 2011). 2 Plato Allegory of the Cave, Video Clip, [n. d. ], www. Youtube. com, http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=K-Mv1kiqo4s, (accessed 12 January 2011): 1:25-1:38. 3 Plato, Republic http://www. math. nus. edu. sg/~matlmc/Allegory_cave. pdf n. d. , (accessed 9 January 2011): 1 4 Plato Allegory of the Cave, Video Clip, [n. d. ], www. Youtube. com, http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=K-Mv1kiqo4s, (accessed 12 January 2011): 1:25-1:38. 5 Plato, Republic http://www. math. nus. edu.sg/~matlmc/Allegory_cave. pdf n. d. , (accessed 9 January 2011): 7 6 C. D. C. Reeve, Philosopher-Kings: the Argument of Platos Republic (Princeton N. J. : Princeton University Press, 1988), 51. 7 Ibid. , 51. 8 Nicholas P. White, A Companion to Platos Republic (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1979). 9 Amir, Allegory of the Cave An Interpretation, n. d. http://www. laney. peralta. edu/apps/comm. asp? Q=30570 (accessed 9 January 2011).10 Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Toronto: Bantham Books, 1981) 11 James Topham, The Death of Ivan Ilyich Review, n.d. http://classiclit. about. com/od/deathofivanilyichlt/fr/aa_ivanilyich. htm (accessed 13 January 2011). 12 A. R. George, The Epic of Gilgamesh: the Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian (London: Penguin Books, 2003) 13 Fredrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, R. J. Hollingdale, Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the future Friedrich Nietzsche (London: Penguin, 2003). 14 Plato, Republic http://www. math. nus. edu. sg/~matlmc/Allegory_cave. pdf n. d. , (accessed 9 January 2011). 15 Ibid. 16 Sophocles, Antigone (London: Methuen Drama, 2006).