who leave the cave to find reality, and then return to share what they have learned with those still in the cave. These are the people who have attained the wisdom to realize that there may be something beyond what they are already experiencing. They leave the cave and see reality. Those who remain in the cave, content to view the shadows on the wall, are the other two classes of people in the Republic: the moneymakers and the warriors. They view what seems to be reality, but they will never know what truly is reality and what merely seems to be reality. Because they have never left the cave, they have not experienced reality, only what seems to be reality. These people put all of their faith into the philosopher/rulers since they are the only people who have access to the good, true reality. In Book V of the Republic, Plato discusses forms versus images. The people in the cave, the citizens of the Republic, are content with images that seem to be real, and never arrive at true knowledge. They watch the shadows on the wall and assume that they are the real forms because they do not know any better, and have never seen the actual people whose shadows create the images. They never see the pure, unfiltered form of which the image is only a copy. Socrates states to Glaucon that “with the just, and the unjust, the good and the bad, and all other forms: each itself is one, but by their partnership in actions, bodies, and one another, they show up everywhere and each appears to be many” (Plato 476a). Forms are unchanging. Images, however, are changing. Forms are not exhibited in tangible, unchanging objects…instead they are simply known in the mind. For example, there may be something beautiful, just, or holy. However, “is there one of these many beautiful things that won’t also appear ugly? Or one of the just or the holy that won’t also appear unjust or unholy” (Plato 479e)? Both Gla...
