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Jacquelyn Valerio
September 19, 2014
English 120
Alpine
Platos Message of Knowledge and Soul
Plato definitely had more than one possible interpretation of an intended message
regarding education in the allegory of the Cave. Plato uses Socrates, as the narrator and main
character in the reading. This tells Glaucon the importance of education, how it can improve a
persons nature, and explain how those people who are uneducated and restricted of the world,
the ways in which it works, are trapped in the dark. In my opinion this implies that knowledge is
light and the sense of capture is dark, and the only way in which a person can truly be liberated is
through education. Another important message about education is that the way in which he
mentions that there is such a thing as too much knowledge, or too much desire for knowledge,
this is something Plato does not always see as a good thing. Most people see knowledge as being
important and enlightening peoples minds and with this there is an extremely strong religious
link, showing that Platos primary message is that education of the soul and of the conscience is
the only way in which people will ever truly be able to reach the light and complete freedom.
Something which is definitely important to point out is Platos consistent use of the word
soul as opposed to the human who possesses the soul. He seems to put an obvious emphasis on
the idea of the soul being educated, in order for it to be led in the right direction. This would
imply some kind of religious suggestion, particularly when combined with the light and dark
imagery that is regularly mentioned throughout the reading. The reason that he thinks education
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is important is not necessarily because of it improving the mind, but rather, that the soul will be
able to point in the right direction, and will therefore lead the body into the light, or as the
reader could understand it, a better way of living. According to A.S Ferguson in the essay
Platos Simile of the Light , Plato shows that the people in the cave, and the cave itself ,
represent humans and the things that can be seen in the light are somehow divine (Ferguson,
17). Using this as a possible interpretation, would suggest that the education that Plato is talking
definitely does have a more religious meaning. With the imagery of the men being chained and
bound suggests that while humans are educated, they are limited unless they are following the
route which God intended them to take.
Continuing with the idea that Plato is deeply concerned with religious education in this
allegory, it would seem that the chains which are described in the text are perhaps representative
of the facts rather than the feeling. The idea that things that cannot be seen are not real seems to
be something that Plato is critiquing. With this in mind, the force which acts upon the prisoner to
free him and make him look at the fire and statues could be the conscience and soul. In other
words he wants to be able to find a way up or out into the light so that they may be able to be
exposed to the good, which would ultimately mean them living a better life. The message
which Socrates, and therefore Plato, is trying to put across is that to justly be able to truly be
educated, humans must ignore their rational thoughts and open their mind to the idea that there is
a superior, stronger force that is outside of the earth that they can see and touch.
Plato also strongly points out that although it is important to be educated and to be able
to be spiritually open minded, once you have achieved this education - which it is possible to say
could also be seen as belief in a higher power - it is important that you do not continuously strive
to be in the light but instead go back to the cave, and attempt to help the other prisoners. In the
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reading, it is philosophers like himself that are the people to do this, because it is they who have
had their eyes opened to the good. Although he is saying that they must help others achieve
enlightenment, there also seems to be a certain level of contradiction in this statement as it is a
philosophers job to continuously question and think about the ways of the world, which would
suggest that they sometimes linger - as Socrates puts it - in the light rather than taking on the
labors of the common man. It appears as though all stages within the cave are important, and
that as humans, we must go through ignorance and darkness in order to be able to appreciate
and really achieve enlightenment and lightness. Something which is brought up by Dale Hall in
his essay Interpreting Platos Cave as an Allegory of the Human Condition is that it is natural
and unavoidable that humans are placed in the darkness (Hall, 75). This would definitely tie in
with the idea that as humans, we are bound by our constraint to always have solid proof for our
beliefs. This makes it difficult for us to believe in something that could maybe not exist, and that
we must go through a transition to be able to open our minds to something that may not be able
to be proved necessarily, but will guide us to a better way of living. There definitely seems to be
a sense of superiority in the way that Plato makes Socrates speak. He's declaring that
philosophers have already been able to achieve a certain level of light and good within their
lives and that they can therefore, to an extent, have a certain amount of power among those who
have not yet been freed from their chains.
In conclusion, Platos main message about education in his allegory of the Cave is not
about education in the academic sense, but rather about the idea that the soul is the only way in
which people can really achieve a good life. He is placing importance on the idea of the human
attempting to let go of their own limitations and to allow themselves and their minds to be freed
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and to believe in something beyond the physical world. All this in order for their souls to point in
the right direction and be led from the dark into the light.









Work Cited:
A.S. Ferguson. Platos Simile of Light. Part II. The Allegory of the Cave, The Classic
Quarterly Vol 16 (Jan, 1922)

Dale Hall Interpreting Platos Cave As An Allegory Of The Human Condition,
Apeiiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science Vol 14 (December 1980)