Plato (428-348 BC), a great philosopher and student of Socrates who lived in Ancient Greece, Athens is using a humble story in order to express profound meanings that reveal his deep knowledge of human nature and condition. His account is commonly referred to as the “Allegory of the Cave,” whereby the word allegory encapsulates a concealed meaning. Ηuman affairs seem to haven’t really changed so much in terms of time or epoch and human society in large keeps evolving in circles that come and go. This story’s relevance to our contemporary circumstances is painfully surprising. The location of the cave could be geographically anywhere in the world, in any society or place from your office, company, factory or even a family or wherever violence, persecution and suppression are practiced. People in chains totally captivated and overly manipulated into becoming mere puppets are nowadays everywhere and human rights violations are taking place in many parts of the world and not only in Plato's cave in Athens more than 2,500 years ago.
He stigmatises the system's practices that violate the fundamental values like freedom, human rights, human dignity, etc. However, compared to our time, modern age slavery exists almost everywhere, disguised in different forms of abuse which bypass legal restrictions but are apparently widely applied. Modern time slavery appears everywhere, and we hear how it is practiced in countries of the Far and Middle East, Africa but also in the Western societies. Let us only think of the position of the woman in many of those societies and feel shame and disgrace about such practices. Of course, ignorance, Socrates would say, is an insurmountable evil which operates in our lives even today, but there is a lot to be done to change the situation that affects women's rights and not only. Women are unprotected and men's world powerless. Consequently, let us take and utilize the essence of this story’s implications not only in moral philosophy, but above all in education and education that undoubtedly begins at home and within the family unit.
The cave might imply different concepts like: Hell, prison, ignorance, forced labour, gulag, captivity, evil or totalitarian regime, fascism, nazism, dictatorship or communism. The trapped and chained people in the cave have a totally distorted image of reality, yet they believe that what they see or hear is true, while it is a lie, a propaganda, an illusion, a deception and a chimera. The two opposing realities are faced directly as darkness and brightness. Plato’s cave is a symbolic representation of human reality and its potential possibility to open a window to brightness or unlock a door to break free. A thin wall separates two distinct worlds: the world inside the cave and the world outside. What is indispensable here is the light which is missing inside the cave, the truth which is chained inside the cave. Βe aware of political or ideological intrigues (authoritarian regimes) that deceive people's view of the reality into blindness and lack of proper judgement.
Plato’s main concern is to educate, to liberate our minds, to open windows and break our chains. Get out into the light and face it. Scatter your darkness and blindness. Dare it, since it’s scary stepping out of your comfort zone, or shell because it requires a major mindset shift. Get away from your prison and walls into the real life and freedom. There is no other choice, and it’s up to you to act now. In this cave God is absent, however He is in the hearts of the chained people. Yet, you will always find Him, in light, truth and goodness.
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