I wrote this paper this past quarter on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. I absolutely LOVE this image. We could have written on pretty much any topic relating to Plato, and I chose this one -- the most well generic Plato image ever -- but I had to because it’s so stinking good.

There is so much to deal with this image. I’d almost rather just sit down in discussion and sift through it for hours instead of narrowing in for a more serious literary analysis. But this was a fun write.

In Plato’s Republic, The Allegory of the Cave and surrounding material characterize the nature of education as primarily concerned with a turning of the soul with certain extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors. I find this claim to be plausible given that to be able to live according to human flourishing requires a formation of many parts of the person into harmony with one another and with The Good, and also because the motivating factors to get there require outside help, but also are led by internal commitment.

Before examining Plato’s proposal about the nature of education, we must establish his view of man in its want of education. He illuminates this in the beginning of The Allegory. He posits that humans are in the cave in this state “from childhood”, and are fixed by bonds. (514a) The bonds compel their heads to remain motionless, and so they are only able to see what is in front of them. (515a) These bonds serve as a metaphor for a sort of sedimented messaging that has grown to feel completely normal, and is strengthened through bad habits and continued conditioning by a disharmonious environment. (515a-b) These humans cannot distinguish between what is real and what is apparent — including key definitions like the nature of justice. (515b) They have come to believe that the shadows and sounds they perceive from the cave wall to be real and go about giving them names. (515b) This state is put in contrast with an individual who has completed this full education successfully, and who grasps accounts of the virtues and of Goodness itself. His soul is ordered to such a degree so as to be able to organize the citizens and the city to bring about unity and concord just as the divine intelligence organizes the cosmos.

Objecting to popular opinion, Plato argues that the nature of education is an orienting of the soul toward The Good. Rather than a mere “putting in” of knowledge to the soul as if “putting sight into blind eyes”, education is a turning of the entire self from “that which is coming into being” to “that which is” and, ultimately, The Good. (518c) In the Allegory, he writes of a student turning his head for the first time, and orienting himself and walking toward the fire, and then continuing its journey out of the cave and the other levels of objects outside of the cave, eventually facing the sun straight on. 

This turning is primarily achieved by participating in non-instrumental activities that will provide order in the soul. This being said, Plato also prescribes more practical, instrumental experiences in the process to achieve this end. In the first 35 years of the student’s life, he is led from chains to above ground where he is able to make out shadows, perhaps certain reflections of objects or even some of the objects themselves. (515c-516a) This is achieved through a thorough study in gymnastics, music and math, with a particular focus on math and dialectic in the latter 15 years of this training. Between the years 35-50, while the student is above ground and able to see, his eyes must adjust. (516a-c) Plato prescribes this time to be dedicated to political experience. This indicates that Plato believes there needs to be a certain sort of integration between the ordering of the soul and the actions of the body through putting into practice what one has learned. When a student who has contemplated the forms, particularly of the virtues and also even that of goodness, puts this striving for these good things into practice, their eyes begin to adjust and eventually they are able to behold Good itself, something that is evident as a fruit of their works. This indicates a sort of fulfillment in the turning of the soul toward The Good, able to stand there and behold The Good.

The Allegory and surrounding text seemingly propose conflicting sets of factors that serve as motivators for the student in his journey out of the cave. In The Allegory, Plato depicts the philosopher playing a large role in motivating the education of the student. For one, Plato argues that philosophers, or those who have beheld the sun outside of the cave, ought to go back in and bring others out. (519d) In describing the education process of the students, the allegory depicts a man who is “released” and “heal[ed]” from his bonds and is “suddenly compelled to stand up” and then, again, “compelled” to look at the light, presumably by the philosopher. (515c-e) When confusion and great eye and neck pain causes the individual to flee and turn back to the comforting images, the philosopher must “[drag] him away [out of the cave] by force along the rough, steep, upward way” not letting go before he had “dragged him out into the light of the sun”. (515e-516a) These visceral descriptors seem to illustrate the role of the philosopher as a hard-hearted, determined trainer who motivates the student to education despite the inevitable pain. But on the other hand, later in Book VII Plato posits that “the free man ought not to study anything slavishly” because “no forced study abides in a soul”. With this, Plato adds that those who don’t have the nature of the philosopher will not perform excellently enough and will be dropped from the education process. (537a) 

When considered all together, Plato seems to argue that the motivating force that draws a student to education depends on a few things, including the stage of education. At the beginning, a dramatic intervention is clearly needed to break from the bonds. To do this, the philosopher rattles the student with Socratic questioning leading to aporia, breaking the bonds of sedimented messaging. From then on the student must trust and rely unceasingly on the philosopher for direction as the entire process of education is painful, and confusing from here on out. It is worth mentioning, however, that the student has reason to trust the philosopher because he is clearly distinguished by his ability to see the happenings of the cave 10,000 better than the others in bondage. (520c) After the point when the bonds are broken, the philosopher begins to play the role of guide, directing the student and holding him to a high standard. Through reminding him the importance of pursuing the truth and encouraging him to hold to the highest standard, the philosopher directs, points, persuades – even compels (“ἀναγκάζω”) the student on the highly structured education pathway. But he never forces (“βίαιος”) him. The motivating force that is the cause of him to hold such tasks to the necessarily high standard is an internal drive caused by the student himself, according to his nature, after this rekindling of their natural inclinations. (376e) Whose who do not excel naturally are dropped from the training to whatever part of the city where they belong. Forced study would not even work to turn their souls in these scenarios, and this will help weed out those whose nature is not that of the philosopher king. This process, first of active breaking of bonds through socratic questioning and then of strong guidance but without force, provides the necessary motivation for the student to pursue this education.

Plato’s characterization of the nature of education, specifically as a turning of the soul prompted by various motivators, is an accurate rendering of an education aimed to free a person to live in accordance with human flourishing.

Humans naturally grow up in a state of ignorance, and that they inevitably fall into habits and patterns of life that are not in accordance with their flourishing. This life of ignorance – bound by false beliefs and bad habits – is not in line with our flourishing, and requires a sort of education. Just as there is an order to the cosmos, to the natural world and to human societies, there is an order to humans themselves. Plato saw this, that just as a flourishing natural cosmos is made up of an internal order, so too human flourishing is contingent on internal order.

Plato argues that merely “adding facts” to the human mind does bring them to flourishing. I agree with this for a few reasons. For one, just because a person knows that something is the best thing to do, doesn’t mean they’ll always choose it. So too, if a person knew everything there was to know about the universe, this wouldn’t necessarily render him capable to act in accordance with his best interest. Among other areas lacking, they wouldn’t necessarily desire the goods necessary to bring this to fruition, nor have the discipline of will to make it happen, nor have an aligned internal core – of passions, intellect and will – that work without conflict during this process. There is far more than rational understanding going on in bringing about human flourishing.

Additionally, our senses perceive thousands of stimuli every moment and our thoughts could dwell on a million areas, but the flourishing person has a mind that is formed in a way that they think what they ought when they ought to. Knowing everything is one thing, but a person having a vision that allows them to flourish is quite another.

Beyond his accurate critique that education is more than adding facts, Plato’s conception of education as “turning” also correctly illustrates what true education looks like.

For one, true education requires a formation of the entire self – both the rational and the non rational – turning together in alignment with one another. A person has all parts of themselves firing – their various desires, their intellect, their will, their subconscious actions, and others. It is not about creating them or turning them off, but aligning them to work with one another, in alignment with proper order. 

It is widely accepted in the neuroscience community that our minds, habits, and desires are constantly molded by our experiences and actions. So when a person wrestles with and comes to understand a truth, or acts in accordance with the good, or encounters something beautiful, they are shaped by it. For one, after an understanding, action, or encounter of this sort, a person is often left with a bit of a sense of joy and peace, and sometimes even can look back on the rest of their life after this, and feel like it puts everything into perspective for them. For example, after serving the homeless on the streets, and getting to know a few of them in a morning, for the rest of the day, I tend to see things differently. But beyond this temporary feeling, because of the plasticity of our minds, habits and desires, these thoughts and actions shape who we are, bringing the various parts of ourselves into harmony oriented toward the good.

Secondly, Plato’s characterization of education as a painful experience that needs a guide is also accurate. The turning and aligning of the self is not a process that happens overnight, it is a long journey. One will inevitably go through highs, lows and confusion throughout. Because of this, and because it is hard to understand where the path toward the Good lies and how to align oneself with it, guides become an important piece of the journey. In the academic sense, our guides are thinkers and inventors who have come before us and written about their findings, but they also include our professors and others learned in other areas who can guide our way. Without the help of these guides, our potential to come to realize human flourishing is greatly diminished.

Additionally, Plato recognizes that, once a person is at the point of their education when they are out of the cave and mostly internally ordered, they still need to apply this order in action so as to integrate all these parts together. Just as the eyes of the student adjusts above the surface of the cave to the light of the sun, so too the learned student ought to put his formation into action so as to strengthen its integration and bring about its outward fruits.

Plato also correctly described the motivating factors that bring one to pursue education. Before being educated, the student is tied up in the chains of sedimented messaging and bad habits. The philosopher uses Socratic questioning to break these bonds so as to bring the student into aporia, which will lead them to wonder about the fundamental questions. At other times, chains can be broken from an encounter with something absolutely beautiful, making a person want to pursue this beauty. Once these chains are broken, humans are drawn toward the sunlight because of this uncomfortable sense of aporia and because of the natural human desire to understand the truth, do the good, and encounter the beautiful. This desire is innate, and brings humans to pursue its end for its end in itself, and sometimes also for the sake of something greater. Only then, when a person gives themselves to the education, can it provide a deep turning of themselves in accordance with the good.

As for other motivators, Plato’s warning against forced study, because such “doesn’t abide by the soul”, is also warranted. Anyone can be forced to memorize and regurgitate a set of answers, but in order to be shaped on a deeper level and achieve a greater education, they must enter into and be immersed in the process. Education for Plato is a transformational shift, and such a transformation can’t take place on a shallow level. But when a person enters into this transformative education, it brings all the parts of the self along, forming them all in harmony with one another. 

While some schools today treat this liberating “liberal arts” education as a mere stuffing in of facts, this does not provide a true education. We cannot know everything about every scenario, and having a “blueprint” for life doesn’t sound quite right. Instead of these conceptions of education, a sort of formation and orientation of the self into harmony in accordance with the good, the true and the beautiful is the key to bring a human into flourishing.

I wrote this paper this past quarter on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. I absolutely LOVE this image. We could have written on pretty much any topic relating to Plato, and I chose this one -- the most well generic Plato image ever -- but I had to because it’s so stinking good.

There is so much to deal with this image. I’d almost rather just sit down in discussion and sift through it for hours instead of narrowing in for a more serious literary analysis. But this was a fun write.

In Plato’s Republic, The Allegory of the Cave and surrounding material characterize the nature of education as primarily concerned with a turning of the soul with certain extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors. I find this claim to be plausible given that to be able to live according to human flourishing requires a formation of many parts of the person into harmony with one another and with The Good, and also because the motivating factors to get there require outside help, but also are led by internal commitment.

Before examining Plato’s proposal about the nature of education, we must establish his view of man in its want of education. He illuminates this in the beginning of The Allegory. He posits that humans are in the cave in this state “from childhood”, and are fixed by bonds. (514a) The bonds compel their heads to remain motionless, and so they are only able to see what is in front of them. (515a) These bonds serve as a metaphor for a sort of sedimented messaging that has grown to feel completely normal, and is strengthened through bad habits and continued conditioning by a disharmonious environment. (515a-b) These humans cannot distinguish between what is real and what is apparent — including key definitions like the nature of justice. (515b) They have come to believe that the shadows and sounds they perceive from the cave wall to be real and go about giving them names. (515b) This state is put in contrast with an individual who has completed this full education successfully, and who grasps accounts of the virtues and of Goodness itself. His soul is ordered to such a degree so as to be able to organize the citizens and the city to bring about unity and concord just as the divine intelligence organizes the cosmos.

Objecting to popular opinion, Plato argues that the nature of education is an orienting of the soul toward The Good. Rather than a mere “putting in” of knowledge to the soul as if “putting sight into blind eyes”, education is a turning of the entire self from “that which is coming into being” to “that which is” and, ultimately, The Good. (518c) In the Allegory, he writes of a student turning his head for the first time, and orienting himself and walking toward the fire, and then continuing its journey out of the cave and the other levels of objects outside of the cave, eventually facing the sun straight on. 

This turning is primarily achieved by participating in non-instrumental activities that will provide order in the soul. This being said, Plato also prescribes more practical, instrumental experiences in the process to achieve this end. In the first 35 years of the student’s life, he is led from chains to above ground where he is able to make out shadows, perhaps certain reflections of objects or even some of the objects themselves. (515c-516a) This is achieved through a thorough study in gymnastics, music and math, with a particular focus on math and dialectic in the latter 15 years of this training. Between the years 35-50, while the student is above ground and able to see, his eyes must adjust. (516a-c) Plato prescribes this time to be dedicated to political experience. This indicates that Plato believes there needs to be a certain sort of integration between the ordering of the soul and the actions of the body through putting into practice what one has learned. When a student who has contemplated the forms, particularly of the virtues and also even that of goodness, puts this striving for these good things into practice, their eyes begin to adjust and eventually they are able to behold Good itself, something that is evident as a fruit of their works. This indicates a sort of fulfillment in the turning of the soul toward The Good, able to stand there and behold The Good.

The Allegory and surrounding text seemingly propose conflicting sets of factors that serve as motivators for the student in his journey out of the cave. In The Allegory, Plato depicts the philosopher playing a large role in motivating the education of the student. For one, Plato argues that philosophers, or those who have beheld the sun outside of the cave, ought to go back in and bring others out. (519d) In describing the education process of the students, the allegory depicts a man who is “released” and “heal[ed]” from his bonds and is “suddenly compelled to stand up” and then, again, “compelled” to look at the light, presumably by the philosopher. (515c-e) When confusion and great eye and neck pain causes the individual to flee and turn back to the comforting images, the philosopher must “[drag] him away [out of the cave] by force along the rough, steep, upward way” not letting go before he had “dragged him out into the light of the sun”. (515e-516a) These visceral descriptors seem to illustrate the role of the philosopher as a hard-hearted, determined trainer who motivates the student to education despite the inevitable pain. But on the other hand, later in Book VII Plato posits that “the free man ought not to study anything slavishly” because “no forced study abides in a soul”. With this, Plato adds that those who don’t have the nature of the philosopher will not perform excellently enough and will be dropped from the education process. (537a) 

When considered all together, Plato seems to argue that the motivating force that draws a student to education depends on a few things, including the stage of education. At the beginning, a dramatic intervention is clearly needed to break from the bonds. To do this, the philosopher rattles the student with Socratic questioning leading to aporia, breaking the bonds of sedimented messaging. From then on the student must trust and rely unceasingly on the philosopher for direction as the entire process of education is painful, and confusing from here on out. It is worth mentioning, however, that the student has reason to trust the philosopher because he is clearly distinguished by his ability to see the happenings of the cave 10,000 better than the others in bondage. (520c) After the point when the bonds are broken, the philosopher begins to play the role of guide, directing the student and holding him to a high standard. Through reminding him the importance of pursuing the truth and encouraging him to hold to the highest standard, the philosopher directs, points, persuades – even compels (“ἀναγκάζω”) the student on the highly structured education pathway. But he never forces (“βίαιος”) him. The motivating force that is the cause of him to hold such tasks to the necessarily high standard is an internal drive caused by the student himself, according to his nature, after this rekindling of their natural inclinations. (376e) Whose who do not excel naturally are dropped from the training to whatever part of the city where they belong. Forced study would not even work to turn their souls in these scenarios, and this will help weed out those whose nature is not that of the philosopher king. This process, first of active breaking of bonds through socratic questioning and then of strong guidance but without force, provides the necessary motivation for the student to pursue this education.

Plato’s characterization of the nature of education, specifically as a turning of the soul prompted by various motivators, is an accurate rendering of an education aimed to free a person to live in accordance with human flourishing.

Humans naturally grow up in a state of ignorance, and that they inevitably fall into habits and patterns of life that are not in accordance with their flourishing. This life of ignorance – bound by false beliefs and bad habits – is not in line with our flourishing, and requires a sort of education. Just as there is an order to the cosmos, to the natural world and to human societies, there is an order to humans themselves. Plato saw this, that just as a flourishing natural cosmos is made up of an internal order, so too human flourishing is contingent on internal order.

Plato argues that merely “adding facts” to the human mind does bring them to flourishing. I agree with this for a few reasons. For one, just because a person knows that something is the best thing to do, doesn’t mean they’ll always choose it. So too, if a person knew everything there was to know about the universe, this wouldn’t necessarily render him capable to act in accordance with his best interest. Among other areas lacking, they wouldn’t necessarily desire the goods necessary to bring this to fruition, nor have the discipline of will to make it happen, nor have an aligned internal core – of passions, intellect and will – that work without conflict during this process. There is far more than rational understanding going on in bringing about human flourishing.

Additionally, our senses perceive thousands of stimuli every moment and our thoughts could dwell on a million areas, but the flourishing person has a mind that is formed in a way that they think what they ought when they ought to. Knowing everything is one thing, but a person having a vision that allows them to flourish is quite another.

Beyond his accurate critique that education is more than adding facts, Plato’s conception of education as “turning” also correctly illustrates what true education looks like.

For one, true education requires a formation of the entire self – both the rational and the non rational – turning together in alignment with one another. A person has all parts of themselves firing – their various desires, their intellect, their will, their subconscious actions, and others. It is not about creating them or turning them off, but aligning them to work with one another, in alignment with proper order. 

It is widely accepted in the neuroscience community that our minds, habits, and desires are constantly molded by our experiences and actions. So when a person wrestles with and comes to understand a truth, or acts in accordance with the good, or encounters something beautiful, they are shaped by it. For one, after an understanding, action, or encounter of this sort, a person is often left with a bit of a sense of joy and peace, and sometimes even can look back on the rest of their life after this, and feel like it puts everything into perspective for them. For example, after serving the homeless on the streets, and getting to know a few of them in a morning, for the rest of the day, I tend to see things differently. But beyond this temporary feeling, because of the plasticity of our minds, habits and desires, these thoughts and actions shape who we are, bringing the various parts of ourselves into harmony oriented toward the good.

Secondly, Plato’s characterization of education as a painful experience that needs a guide is also accurate. The turning and aligning of the self is not a process that happens overnight, it is a long journey. One will inevitably go through highs, lows and confusion throughout. Because of this, and because it is hard to understand where the path toward the Good lies and how to align oneself with it, guides become an important piece of the journey. In the academic sense, our guides are thinkers and inventors who have come before us and written about their findings, but they also include our professors and others learned in other areas who can guide our way. Without the help of these guides, our potential to come to realize human flourishing is greatly diminished.

Additionally, Plato recognizes that, once a person is at the point of their education when they are out of the cave and mostly internally ordered, they still need to apply this order in action so as to integrate all these parts together. Just as the eyes of the student adjusts above the surface of the cave to the light of the sun, so too the learned student ought to put his formation into action so as to strengthen its integration and bring about its outward fruits.

Plato also correctly described the motivating factors that bring one to pursue education. Before being educated, the student is tied up in the chains of sedimented messaging and bad habits. The philosopher uses Socratic questioning to break these bonds so as to bring the student into aporia, which will lead them to wonder about the fundamental questions. At other times, chains can be broken from an encounter with something absolutely beautiful, making a person want to pursue this beauty. Once these chains are broken, humans are drawn toward the sunlight because of this uncomfortable sense of aporia and because of the natural human desire to understand the truth, do the good, and encounter the beautiful. This desire is innate, and brings humans to pursue its end for its end in itself, and sometimes also for the sake of something greater. Only then, when a person gives themselves to the education, can it provide a deep turning of themselves in accordance with the good.

As for other motivators, Plato’s warning against forced study, because such “doesn’t abide by the soul”, is also warranted. Anyone can be forced to memorize and regurgitate a set of answers, but in order to be shaped on a deeper level and achieve a greater education, they must enter into and be immersed in the process. Education for Plato is a transformational shift, and such a transformation can’t take place on a shallow level. But when a person enters into this transformative education, it brings all the parts of the self along, forming them all in harmony with one another. 

While some schools today treat this liberating “liberal arts” education as a mere stuffing in of facts, this does not provide a true education. We cannot know everything about every scenario, and having a “blueprint” for life doesn’t sound quite right. Instead of these conceptions of education, a sort of formation and orientation of the self into harmony in accordance with the good, the true and the beautiful is the key to bring a human into flourishing.