Explain the Allogory of the Cave in Plato's Republic

a) Plato believed that the world we live in is in fact not a true reality. He believed that this material world is a world made up of shadows of the true forms. These true forms exist in the spiritual realm and are the perfect forms of a thing. For example there are many different types of trees in the material world, but the one thing that all these versions of a tree have in common is that they all resemble the perfect form of a tree. Plato also referred to the material world as the shadow world which is due to his allegory of the cave. He insisted that that the world is made up of our memories of the true forms, as according to Plato before we were born we lived in the spiritual world and after we die we will return there. Plato said that there are two different types of knowledge; A priori knowledge, which means knowledge that is innate, and A posteriori knowledge, which is knowledge that you learn. He believed that due to our A priori knowledge we remember the perfect form of a thing and part of the material world is made up of imitations of these things.

Plato thought that the thing that all the true forms have In common is that they are perfect, which must mean that there must be a form of perfection itself. This form is referred to as the form of the good and is regarded as the absolute truth and form of perfection. He believed that it was the duty of every philosopher to try and find truth in its purest form. He thought that to find the truths of the universe and our existence you would have to completely ignore your senses and use reason to discover the logical truth. He insisted that are senses deceive us, and make us believe that what they take in every day is our reality, so thought to be a philosopher you would have to ignore these distractions.

Plato knew that a lot of the general public would not except his theory because the world of the senses appears to be so enticing and real. This was why Plato came up with his allegory of the cave...