Allegory of the Cave by Plato

Allegory of the Cave by Plato was my favourite thing (and the only one I could remember) I learned at Philosophy in high-school. So, I wanted to read it again. It’s part of Plato’s Republic.

 It was hard to decide what to say about this book, because it’s not what it says on the cover. My copy is from 2016, published by Lightning Source, but instead of Book VII and VIII, where is the imaginary dialog between Plato’s brother Glaucon and Socrates, my copy has Book IV. Interesting, but not what I was expecting.

If you are not familiar with the Allegory of the Cave, is about people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. These people watch shadows projected on the wall from things passing in front of a fire behind them. They give names to these shadows and that is their reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall do not make up reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

I couldn’t give a star rating because the book is not what it said it would be. Book VII is available online though and I’m going to read it like that.