compared to something else which is similar, but what that something else is, is left unstated. An allegory is accordingly defined as an incomplete simile—tlıe reader must supply what is similar to tlıe events described. What, then, is the Allegory of the Cave to be compared with? The people in the cave are living out theit lives in semidarkness, chained by their necks and legs, unable to turn around, never knowing that what they see before them on the wall of the cave are only shadows. They are in bondage, but unaware of it. They remain ignorant of them. selves and reality. With whom may they be compared? Each historical generation since Plato's time has been taııtalized by the question, how does the Allegory of the Cave apply to our time, to our society? To what may the cave be compared in our lives? The question tantalizes us too: What is the relevance of the Allegory of the Cave to our present world? With what in our lives may it be compared? THE CAVE PLATO'S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE PLATO DESCRIBED HOW THE HUMAN MIND ACHIEVES KNOWLEDGE, AND INDICATED WHAT KNOWLEDGE CONSISTS OF BY MEANS OF; (1) HIS ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE (2) HIS METAPHOR OF THE DIVIDED LINE, AND (3) HIS DOCTRINE OF THE FORMS. THE CAVE: PLATO ASKS US TO IMAGINE SOME MEN LIVING IN A LARGE CAVE WHERE FROM CHILDHOOD THEY HAVE BEEN CHAINED BY THE LEG AND BY THE NECK SO THAT THEY CANNOT MOVE. BECAUSE THEY CANNOT EVEN TURN THEIR HEADS. THEY CAN ONLY SEE WHAT IS IN FRONT OF THEM. BEHIND THEM IS AN ELEVATION THAT RISES ABRUPTLY FROM THE LEVEL WHERE THE PRISONERS ARE SEATED. ON THIS ELEVATION THERE ARE OTHER PERSONS WALKING BACK AND FORTH CARRYING ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS INCLUDING THE FIGURES OF ANIMALS AND HUMAN BEINGS MADE OUT OF WOOD AND STONE AND VARIOUS OTHER MATERIALS. BEHIND THESE WALKING PERSONS IS A FIRE, AND FARTHER BACK STILL IS THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAVE. THE CHAINED PRISONERS CAN LOOK ONLY FORWARD AGAINST THE WALL AT THE END OF THE CAVE AND CAN SEE NE...
