Out of the Shadow Lands: Into the Light of the Liberating Sun.
Plato's cave allegory ( Chapter 7 of The Republic) begins with the character of Socrates addressing Glaucon. He describes prisoners dwelling in a dark underground cave. These ' individuals' have been imprisoned since childhood, with legs and necks chained, facing forward at one spot without freedom of movement. They can only perceive the wall in front of them. Between the prisoners and the roaring fire behind them, there is a walkway with a low wall, from which puppeteers - carrying figures,vessels & statues ( made of wood and stone)- cast shadow plays on the wall. Consequently, the prisoners perceive the mere impressions of things. They don't see each other and hear nothing but echoes reverberating from the cave walls. Here, in my opinion, Plato describes symbolically the predicament in which humankind habitually finds itself mired in and proceeds to propose a solution.
Interestingly, those who discover the 'truth'( i.e those who escape the claustrophobic confines of the cave) know that they will invariably be labelled as fools, liars and agitators by those still infatuated by the illusions/ shadows within the cave on their return. The shackled prisoners, unable to verify the enlightened rescuer's claims will attack, perhaps kill them ( think of Socrates himself,Christ, Gandhi, M.L.K to name but a few) and actually continue to support those who oppress them...such is the scale of their ignorance! With this in mind the prescient Plato ( via Socrates) states:
“It is the task of the enlightened not only to ascend to learning and to see the good but to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honours, whether they are worth having or not. And this they must do, even with the prospect of death.”
― Plato, The Allegory of the Cave
Socrates discusses, in some detail, the ascent out of the cave & its distractions/ illusions.Once freed, the individual would be confronted with the light of the 'Sun'. Although blinded initially, he/ she would eventually perceive it as the source of all things( i.e Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Justice). Socrates ponders upon the denial that the prisoners would face if made to discern what was real from from what was shadow( i.e, if the escaped prisoner was to pass on his/ her new found knowledge to them). If they were dragged out of the cave into the severe light of the sun, they would invariably retreat quickly back into the cave for sanctuary/security/ familiarity.
Nevertheless, if the process was perhaps more gradual, the prisoners might be able to slowly adjust to their new surroundings - beginning by discerning shadows, then reflections in the water, then objects in the outer world, then finally the sun itself and its true nature.
For Plato education is akin to this. He believed that we learn most effectively when we are directed by a teacher/ mentor towards what is 'real and important'. Thus the role of the 'progressive/ enlightened' educator is to aid the student ( like the prisoner in the cave analogy) in re orientating their new perspective rather than simply provide them with copious amounts of information. The key factor for Plato is that although we are guided, we have to be allowed to apprehend things for ourselves.
Perhaps the freed prisoner, in the role of a progressive educator, could eventually help others to see things more clearly in order to critically analyse and confront the hegemony of the status quo. The cave could represent, 'The first stage...where most spend their lives, seeing only shadows and hearing only echoes.' ( Weldon, 2017)
In our contemporary era, the freed prisoner ( Gramsci's organic intellectual?) perhaps perceives that the images on the wall (now represented by television...consider the popularity of soap operas & 'Reality' shows... ,the internet, the so called ' free press', faux nationalism, faux identity politics, traditional orthodoxies etc.) are only opinions/ perspectives that purport to be true/ factual but are clearly not. Liberated by the outer light he/ she might realize that the mainstream media does not report the 'News' in an objective manner, but merely casts shadows to entertain/ deceive/ indoctrinate/ manipulate viewers (i.e. the shackled prisoners within the cave - metaphorically speaking.)
In my opinion, Plato's cave allegory is particularly relevant in modern times.Currently, many rampant consumers seem to be increasingly swayed by the raft of images constantly flashing on their screens. With this in mind, I think it is high time that, as a society, we recognize the egregious effects caused by the flooding of our collective senses with endless, banal imagery ( predominantly via advertising) that we cannot avoid. It seems that, the deceiving actors - advertisers, politicians, journalists, celebrities etc. ( ' puppeteers' in the cave) often relay confusing information. From my perspective, they clearly seek to work on our perceptual apparatus as well as capitalize on our over reliance on convention. Ultimately,it could be argued, they would prefer that we remain passive; hypnotized via a 'wall' of imagery which manifests itself in myriad ways e.g the ever shifting face of billboards, building hoardings computer screens, television sets, smart phones, magazines, bus/ coach stops and so on ad nauseum.The spectacle is everything from sports to musical extravagances. The National Lottery, here in the U.K, offers a spurious form of hope. We are all, in many ways, indicted in maintaining this glossy, counterfeit universe, even though it ultimately serves to normalize/ legitimize our subordination. In stark contrast, Plato via his cave allegory calls us to become authors of our own values and not be mere tools of the powers that be. The prisoners in the cave have been manipulated into believing that the hegemonic system (providing for them & ruling over them) is the only one in existence. For the past forty years the neo liberal agenda has held sway over Western populations. Are we in danger, like the prisoners, of limiting our potential hopes and dreams due to the current system of control?
Indeed, the puppeteers ( perhaps the more modern terms - 'projectionists' or ' symbol manipulators' would be more apt) could represent the current corporate sponsored, globalizing, capitalist forces. Hence, in many ways, we like Plato's fabled prisoners are trapped in a deluded world of distortions and shadows. In order to escape the clutches of the powers that prevail, perhaps a more critically engaged analysis of mass, mainstream media is called for.We now have access to a wide variety of alternative sources of information via modern technology.They provide a plethora of different perspectives which can broaden our horizons On the other hand, sometimes we have to sift through a great deal of junk to discover the rare jewels of knowledge & wisdom!
For that reason, I think it is vitally important, now more than ever, to learn to critically analyse and deconstruct media rather than simply avoiding it. I know that the renowned intellectual and political activist, Noam Chomsky provides fascinating frameworks and schema as to how this can be achieved. Indeed, such an approach could be perceived as a progressive move towards, ' seeing the light' , so to speak. Perhaps, it could radically challenge the seemingly all too pervasive powers of profiteers and their dominance of the present socio - cultural landscape. Chomsky, unlike Jean Baudrillard, the post modern cultural theorist, (who discusses, in great depth, the notion of ubiquitous simulacra - empty signs/ brands that signal the obliteration of the original ' reality' ) still holds on to the concept of collective escape from the 'Shadow Lands' rather than the quiet desperation of solitary resignation.
Those 'prisoners',who erroneously perceive reality as being truthfully reflected on walls, ( or, nowadays, screens) are, in many ways, under the control of the allegorical puppeteers and their ilk. To use Marxist terminology,they are perhaps in a state of 'false consciousness' ( i.e locked in a way of thinking that prevents them from perceiving the true nature of their social, cultural or economic situation.) The puppet masters, up to the present day, could be regarded as those individuals & institutions(i.e ' traditional intellectuals', governmental policy makers & administrators that internalize the norms of the status quo & support prevailing orthodoxies - Gramsci); that control the distribution of knowledge as well as the values, norms, perceptions, beliefs, sentiments and prejudices that support and define them.
According to Chomsky, it is is a moral imperative that, ' The responsibility of intellectuals, " is " to speak the truth and to expose lies,"( A Special Supplement: The Responsibility of Intellectuals, NYRB, February 23, 1967.)
To conclude, given the current lay of the land - socially, politically & perhaps spiritually, I'm particularly drawn to George Orwell's prescient, perceptive comment:
' In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.'
Surely, Plato's cave allegory calls us to forego our superficial social & cultural masquerading, as well as our deep seated lethargy/ complacency, and instead struggle towards enlightenment. Surely, it calls us to move beyond the desperate search for fleeting material acquisitions ( 'commodity fetishism') in order to discover what it means to be fully human.Surely, it call us to educate ourselves and others by employing our innate curiosity and developing our faculties for critical thinking. Surely, we should never be content with passively accepting dubious diktats issued from above!
Essentially, I feel that we should be concerned with a committed move from the darkness of distortion & the emptiness of illusion to the liberating light of wisdom and virtue - to perhaps discover the true nature of being.
Award-winning poet- rep'd through 3.0 Agency
6 年Linda I agree with you, but Plato and his philosophy in my mind is limited. We have to all take into account that for Plato women were not even considered sentient human beings. As to being awake, I think most people think they are, but are NOT. There are too many things hitting them all the time. Media, daily drama, politics etc. For most, it is easier to just let it all wash over them rather than to engage.
Award-winning poet- rep'd through 3.0 Agency
6 年I agree with what is presented here, however, it comes back to two things, one which unfortunately holds us back while the other asks us to move forward. That is the outer and inner struggles (challenges) we, as a collective, and as individuals face. The outer struggles are the things which cause us, if we are sentient beings with even a dollop of compassion, to move forward and push back against the mirage. Whilst, the inner struggles, those things which happened to us as individuals, relationships with family, friends, and co-workers demand of us to grow inwardly. These two things push and prod in a never-ending competition for which is the greater challenge to overcome. In many ways, while they thwart us, they are asking us to be better than we are. At the greatest crises in our lives, there are beings in this world such as the immigrant children being torn from their families, housed in dog kennels, whilst being subjected to physical and sexual abuse, who cry out to our collective consciousness to stand up and do something. Yet, the man or woman who is homeless himself, is sifting through the dumpster behind Burger King and does not seem to care. He is just trying to find the next meal out the remains of someone else’s. The woman who works three jobs to support her two children and her husband, who also works three jobs, is not thinking about the immigrant children, she is figuring out how she will afford gas to get to jobs. She is worried about paying rent and buying enough food to last the week. It is not a matter for them of caring or not caring, it is about survival. They may have had cable, and cell phones, but many cut back by discontinuing cable in order to afford their monthly cell bill. Then, they skip paying their gas and electric for one month and pay it the next so their rent check won’t bounce. It is a shell game in which you swap one bill for the other and hope it all works out in the end. Then, there are the scars from childhood, many of which were birthed by the generation before them in a cyclical pattern of abuse that consists of physical, sexual, and emotional. The pattern of behavior is learned, and unless someone is aware enough to stop it, it continues without the family as a whole ever moving beyond. Into this one must add the backdrop of media, politics, etc. which float like so much noise, hovering just far enough above the familial unit that they are half-aware of it, and just close enough, that they are affected by it. Given this, it is no wonder that most people cannot and do not have means to step back from the drama of which they play their part. To them, as always, they are the central character in the play. But, to the ones actually controlling the production, they are not. They are in fact props to be moved at will, by the machinations of the those in charge. Orwell, in his prolific tome 1984 understood this and penned a tale which is salient and sadly in many ways in which we under the Führer we now have, have surpassed in terms of the evil that has been done in his name. To this, we must add, that the complete decimation of the education system is what has made this possible. For it is through and by the slow erosion of that, that a society of sheep has been created. This was no accident. A people who have been taught merely the barest of tools cannot usurp their masters, or even hope to equal them. They can only serve and by that do what they bred to do. Those in charge, view the people beneath them as less than human, which is how they justify the treatment of them. If you can convince yourself of this false premise, then you can without care, do as you will. The question then remains, how do we as a society climb out of this pit? How do we not merely open the eyes of masses not for a moment but for good? It will be a slow process, but in my mind, it needs to start simply with a return to basic etiquette. People need to be SENSITIZED and INCENTIVIZED to care for one another. They need to find their moral compass and begin with the basic premise of treating others with civility. This may sound simple, but in practice, it is not. With a humanity that has been so anesthetized into apathy that a politician can brag he could shoot someone and no one would care, or a candidate who openly professes he is a pedophile and has raped his wife and small infant, it is clearly a time for a change. This is not merely about waking up, it is about coming back to what it means to be human. If we can get back what once was, the rest will follow.
Global Education Consultant I Certified Trainer I Inspector I Founder of O.R.B.I.TS. Approach I Award-winner of Global Business Excellence in Education I Personal and Professional Development Specialist
6 年Very expressive of a topic that was made to be so complex for the purpose of mass control. Thank you very much for sharing. Yes,,,unfortunately, cave dwellers still exist despite all history role models, new age movements and self-improvement resources available worldwide. Media has been playing the greatest role and smart phones and social apps have made the process easier. It is so saddening to see young generations get carried away by ads and games, that are shaping their presence and future.. Their willingness and false enchantment are paving their paths, making it even worse. During my literature teaching years, one of my favorite books that highlighted control and planned suppression of knowledge was Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 that portrayed an age when books were banned and burned. Living in ignorance brought false settlement and unhappiness. I wonder if we could be that salamander that can survive fire of ignorance of how the world is going. At certain levels schools can help, along with parents in the upbringing of a mature future generation. But this is another topic that is very wide, critical, and needs more discussion. To eliminate the darkness, all we need is switch on the light because when light is present, darkness simply cannot "be". If every father and mother keeps their children out of the programming web, there could be a better life. But as long as as people are followers with blindfolds, the cycle will viciously exist.
Retired Educator
6 年I think Plato would have gone mad if he anticipated the amount of simulacra the modern world would present to distract contemporary individuals.? And though we have become somewhat more sophisticated than Plato's original "cave dwellers" at discerning between the truly dangerous false illusions vs. the merely mistaken ones, I agree that we are mesmerized by illusion.? Thanks for this essay, Dominic, on the role of the teacher as a mentor that could gradually guide the bedazzled cave dwellers toward the "truth".? Yes, I agree that critical analysis of media is absolutely essential in our age, but I wonder, as Mahnaz has suggested, if the path to the truth might occasionally be an introspective one.? Perhaps teachers could teach students that as well.? Thank you for this essay!
LEARNING MADE EASY: Versatile Educational Service
6 年Thanks so much for your perceptive comments Mahnaz..much appreciated! I completely agree with you about the ' battle of vices and virtues we confront every now and then.' Plato recognized the need for individuals to use reason and not be excessively attached to worldly desires. In order to learn effectively, one must be active and patient. One must avoid sloth like passivity. It is painful to learn. It not only requires concentration but stamina, sacrifice and perhaps moral courage. I feel that T. S Eliot sums up our modern predicament and people's predilections for myriad distractions in his powerful poem ' Marina' ( 1930.) " Those who sit in the sty of contentment meaning Death. Those who suffer the ecstasy of animals meaning Death."