The Allegory of the Cave’s Implication on Modern Education
Author
Fengyi Zhang
*
1
1 United World College Changshu China
Corresponding Author
Fengyi Zhang
Keywords
education, implication, “Allegory of the Cave”, symbolism, The Republic
Abstract
In "Allegory of The Cave" from Plato Aristocles' book The Republic, Plato presents a dialogue between Glaucon and Socrates, which discusses proper pedagogy through a cave metaphor. The cave metaphor is a scenario that involves the actions of few prisoners trapped in a cave; they "are very much like us humans" [1]. In the allegory, there are symbolic elements like shadows and sunlight. By interpreting these elements in the rest of the essay, it explores the implication of the cave metaphor to modern education: a gradual pedagogy should be preferred above sudden exposure to higher-level knowledge. I will first discuss symbolic meanings of significant concepts in this allegory then tie the cave metaphor back to education in society to see why a gradual pedagogy should be valued in the education realm.
Citation
Fengyi Zhang. The Allegory of the Cave’s Implication on Modern Education. LNEP (2021) LNEP ICEIPI 2021: 354-356. DOI: 10.54254/lnep.iceipi.2021238.
References
[1]: Plato, Emlyn-Jones, C.; Preddy, W. (2013). Republic. Harvard University Press.
[2]: Shershow, Scott C. (1995). Puppets and “Popular” Culture. Ithaca.
[3]: Annas, Julia. (1981). An Introduction to Plato’s Republic. Oxford.
[4]: Howland, Jacob. (1993). The Republic: the Odyssey of Philosophy. New York: Twayne Publishers.
[5]: Killian, Jeremy. (2012). That Deceptive Line: Plato, Linear Perspective, Visual Perception, and Tragedy. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol.46, no.2, pp.89-99.
[6]: Bloom, Allan. (1968). The Republic of Plato. New York.