THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE

PLATO ( 4 2 9 - 3 4 7 B C )

Is not the dreamer, sleeping or waking, one who likens

dissimilar things, who puts the copy in place of the real object? - Plato

Opened a school in Athens

“Academy” First university in western history 387 B.C. until A.D. 529

Plato was both a writer and a teacher.

His writings are in the form of dialogues, with Socrates as the principal speaker.

PLATO

PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMSThe visible world is what surrounds

us. It is what our senses perceive. This visible world is a world of change and uncertainty.

The intelligible world is made up of human reason, such as abstract definitions or mathematics. This is the world of reality.

The intelligible world contains the eternal "Forms" (in Greek, idea ) of things.

A literary device in which objects, persons, or actions are equated with secondary, figurative meanings that underlie their literary meaning.

ExamplesAnimal Farm by

George OrwellLord of the Flies

by William Golding

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

District 9

ALLEGORY

WHAT IS THIS?

WHAT IS THIS?

WHAT IS THIS?

WHAT IS THIS?

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION