And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying vessels,
which appear over the wall; also figures of men and animals, made of
wood and stone and various materials; and some of the passengers, as
you would expect, are talking, and some of them are silent?
That is a strange image, he said, and they are strange prisoners.
Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the
shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of
the cave.
True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they
were never allowed to move their heads?
And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would
see only the shadows.
Yes, he said.
And if they were able to talk to one another, would they not suppose
that they were naming what was actually before them.
Very true.
And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the
other side, would they not be sure to fancy that the voice which they
heard was that of a passing shadow?
No question, he replied.
There can be no question, I said, that the truth would be to them just
nothing but the shadows of the images.
That is certain.
And now look again, and see how they are released and cured of their
folly. At first, when any one of them is liberated and compelled
suddenly to go up and turn his neck round and walk and look at the
light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he
will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he
had seen the shadows; and then imagine some one saying to him that
what he saw before was an illusion, but that now he is approaching
real being and has a truer sight and vision of more real things--what
will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is
pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name
them--will he not be in a difficulty? Will he not fancy that the
shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now
shown to him?
Far truer.
And if he is compelled to look at the light, will he not have a pain
in his eyes which will make him turn away to take refuge in the
objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be
clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?
True, he said.
And suppose, once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and
rugged ascent, and held fast and forced into the presence of the sun
himself, do you not think that he will be pained and irritated, and
when he approaches the light he will have his eyes dazzled, and will
not be able to see any of the realities which are now affirmed to be
the truth?
Not all in a moment, he said.
He will require to get accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And
first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and
other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; next he
will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars; and he will see
the sky and the stars by night better than the sun, or the light of
the sun, by day.
Certainly.
And at last he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections
of him in the water, but he will see him as he is in his own proper
place, and not in another; and he will contemplate his nature.
Certainly.
And after this, he will reason that the sun is he who gives the
seasons and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the
visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he
and his fellows have been accustomed to behold....
No question, he said.
This allegory, I said, you may now append to the previous argument;
the prison is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun,
the ascent and vision of the things above you may truly regard as the
upward progress of the soul into the intellectual world; that is my
poor belief, to which, at your desire, I have given expression.
Whether I am right or not God only knows; but, whether true or false,
my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears
last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is
inferred also to be the universal author of all things beautiful and
right, parent of light and the lord of light in his world, and the
source of truth and reason in the other; this is the first great cause
which he who would act rationally either in public or private life
must behold.