An Explanation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave

An explanation of Plato’s “allegory of the cave”

Plato was one of Socrates students who later on became a philosopher. According to Plato, our world may be divided into two parts: the intelligible world and the visible world. The intelligible world consists of “forms” such as goodness or mathematic relations while the visible world is based on objects, shadows or reflections. Plato’s thoughts were mostly based on idealism as he believed that the ultimate truth must be non-visible unlike some of the other students who believed in materialism; a perception of the world which values objects more than anything else. Plato is on a constant quest to find the ultimate reality, understand the humans origins and nature as well as their goals. He questions Socrates in order to find what, to him, is a non-visible, never changing, absolute and eternal truth.   In book VII, Plato depicts his idea of ultimate truth and how it may be found through the story of a prisoner who was sequestrated in a cave from the day he was born. This prisoner is freed and eventually finds out about what is outside the cave. Plato’s allegory of the cave illustrates ultimate reality through different levels of truth. How exactly does Plato’s myth of the cave relate to his own worldview?
Plato’s myth starts with prisoners attached in a cave in a way that only allows them to see straightforward. Behind them is a low wall along which people are walking,
carrying objects such as statues of animals and people. Some of these people are also talking. Further behind that wall and the prisoners is a fire that forecasts the shadows of the passers-by and their the artifacts they are carrying on the cave’s wall in front of the prisoners. One of the prisoners is freed and is forced to get out of the cave. In order to exit the cave, one needs to walk through a steep and rocky path. In the outer world, the freed prisoner is first dazzled by the sun and then sees other objects that are reflected in water. He...