Political Science

Political Science

Understanding the Theories Let’s talk about these theories. If you’re struggling, just think of movie Cast Away, if you have seen it. In it, Tom Hank’s character is stranded on an island alone for a long time. In his solitude, he gets so lonely that he names a volleyball Wilson and speaks to it as if it was a friend. Although at first it is only something to do, eventually Wilson becomes real to the character. So much so, that he even mourns Wilson’s death when the volleyball is taken away by a wave. Imagine spending your life this way, knowing only the reflections on the wall. What would happen once your chains are removed and you are taken kicking and screaming into the light of the sun? Can you see why you may be afraid to enter this new and unknown world, where your shadows are taken away from you and revealed to be just images of other objects? Let’s now turn this allegory into a story about the state. Think of this way: The individuals chained to the floor of the cave represent the people of a state. In this chained position, they are only allowed to know what the state, represented by those walking behind the caved individuals and creating the shadows on the wall, wants them to know. Of course, this changes once the people are taken out of the cave, thus rising above the state and learning the truth for themselves in the outside world. Can you see this representation? For example, image a country where the state controls all media outlets, and censors any news coming into and out of the country. Can the people truly understand the true picture without all the information? In real life, Socrates was put to death by the state because of his apparent corruption of the youth and a lack of belief in the gods, which plays into Plato’s allegory. As in the story, if you rise too far above the others in the cave (as Socrates did) you can become a challenge to the state, or at least a state that likes to control the knowledge of its citizens. Can anyone tell me why this is?