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Alicia Burton
Ms. Alapin
English 220
23 June 2014
Strive to Know the Unknown
Strive: (v) to make strenuous efforts toward any goal (Dictionary.com).
What does it really mean to strive? Do you think you strive towards things that really
matter? Most people reach out and strive to accomplish tasks every single day whether it be
earning an A on that test, getting that promotion at a job, or completing that first marathon run.
What are some things that you strive for? Is one of them education or to gain knowledge? Most
people do not seek to strive enough for education and learning about the world that surrounds
them. Education falls to the bottom of the list of desires to strive for, but it should not be this
way; it should be at the top of everyones list. Plato talks about this concept in Book VII of The
Republic in a piece known as the Allegory of the Cave.
In the allegory, Plato sets a scene: There are men chained to the ground by their necks,
arms, and legs. They cannot see anywhere but forward. Above and behind the men is a burning
fire which casts shadows on the wall in front of them. The shadows are those of objects and
people walking across a road between the fire and the prisoners. To the prisoners, these shadows
are reality because they are all they have ever known (Plato 175). As the story continues, one of
the prisoners is unchained. He stands and looks into the fire, but it burns his eyes. He is tempted




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to turn around and go back to what is known. Instead, he is dragged from the cave and into the
outside world. After being blinded by the sun, the prisoner is able to most easily make out
shadows, then apparitions of people and things in water, then the things themselves (Plato 176-
178). He then noticed the stars and moon, and began to contemplate the world that surrounds
him. He went back to tell his fellow prisoners, but they could not understand him and did not
believe him because the information was too unreal to comprehend. In fact, they were so
outraged by his efforts to question what they believed that they tried to kill him (Plato 177).
What does this allegory really represent? The answer is knowledge; knowledge comes from
education.
In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato defines education as the art of turning [the souls
organ of learning] around in the easiest, most effective way not implanting sight, which it
already has, but of contriving to turn the organ around to look where it should (Plato 179). He
proclaims that the power of learning inheres in everyones soul, but people need to be able to
turn and look in order to be educated and seek the right desires (Plato 179). The main goal of
education is to pull man from the cave as far as possible and to let him explore and learn about
the objects, people, and scenery that surround him (The Republic). The overall message about
education from Platos Allegory of the Cave in The Republic is that the desire to learn is within
everyone, but one must strive to be educated, turn in the right direction, and apply what is
learned to their lives.
How has the definition of education evolved? Education is the act of learning in every
moment of ones life (Flinchbaugh 2). Whether it be in a classroom, outside at a park, or on the




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job, people always have opportunities to take in new information and learn new things. What is
Darwins theory about survival of the fittest? What kind of dog is so large yet so kind? How do
communication skills improve employee relationships? All of these questions can be answered if
one took the opportunity to learn. According to Plato, the ability to learn and be educated is
within all, however, people must be willing to reorient themselves and turn to what they want to
pursue (Losin 52). For example, suppose there are students majoring in emergency medical
services. These students would have to take courses that applied to their field of study such as
biology, chemistry, and physics. The university may also require them to take courses that do not
directly relate to emergency medicine such as history, psychology, and sociology. These students
would have to take the facts learned in the unrelated courses and be able to apply it to their
career in patient care. The ambulance driver may be able to use information learned in their
history class to help a veteran of the United States Armed Forces feel more comfortable. An
emergency medical technician may use knowledge from their psychology class to assist a
patients anxiety. A paramedic may use the facts about sociology to understand the use of drugs
as a common trend in their area. Part of being educated is learning to apply outside information
and turn it to what is most important. Plato once said engaging in all the subjects weve been
discussing has some relevance to our purposes, and all that effort isnt wasted, if the work takes
one to common ground of affinity between the subjects, and enables one to work out how they
are all related to one another; otherwise its a waste of time (Losin 58). In the Allegory of the
Cave, Plato paints a perfect picture of the educated versus the uneducated, or the ones able to
apply what is learned and those who cannot or choose not to.





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The Allegory of the Cave is applicable to everyday life. The prisoners chained to the
ground and only able to face forward symbolize the uneducated people in the world. When the
uneducated are presented with new knowledge, they often refuse to learn and, therefore, do not
turn in the right direction to pursue learning of the new information. The fire in Platos allegory
represents the knowledge that exists. It is just behind the uneducated and all they have to do is
turn around and look up. The shadows represent the beginning of things to know. They are
something different that can open the mind to what is really out there (Voke). In The Concept of
Philosophical Education, Steiner Boyum states instability and insubstantiality make genuine
knowledge unattainable (Boyum 546). The chained prisoners had no reason to question what
they saw. People often do the same thing. For example, in medieval times, people thought that
the earth was flat. This claim was made because there was no other information that was
available to suggest otherwise. It wasnt until Columbus and other early explorers set out to find
a path to Asia that this thought was questioned. When Columbus did not make it to Asia as
expected, people began to wonder what happened and discovered a whole new land in the
process (Did Medieval People Believe in a Flat Earth?). In The Republic, the freed prisoner
slowly adjusts to what he sees; first, the shadows, then reflections, and finally real objects that
turned out not to be what the he and the other prisoners thought they were (Voke). This
adjustment in perception can be compared to the efforts individuals have to put forth if they want
to be educated. It is a challenging journey which requires a strong foundation that must be built
upon for ones entire life. Finally, the return to the cave represents the sharing of knowledge.
Once someone learns a fact or skill, it is good that he or she shares this knowledge for the good
of the community. This knowledge could lead to more people striving to be educated, which




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could better the world as a whole (Voke). The key to making the world a better place is a lifelong
willingness to learn.
What makes people truly strive to be educated? Interest. Passion. Determination. People
will strive to learn more about topics they are interested in, passionate about, and determined to
seek more information about. For example, if given the choice between an art history course and
a pediatric intensive care course, the emergency medical students previously mentioned would
most likely choose the pediatric intensive care course because it more relates towards their field
of study. In reality, the pediatric intensive care course is most likely harder and would require
much more work than the art history course, but the students would be willing to make the effort
because they are passionate about the subject and recognize the connection to their work and life.
Interests also make people work hard. They will most likely strive for something they truly love
rather than something they hate or find boring. Education should be fun and fulfilling, which
will, in turn, make people put forth the strenuous effort towards the goal of learning
(Dictionary.com). From the moment one is born to the moment they die, people are influenced
by everything around them. From the music they enjoy, to the food they cook, to the books they
read, interests are shaped, influencing the level of education and type of education that people
pursue, if any at all (Losin 54).
Strive to seek information and turn in the right direction. Plato uses the Allegory of the
Cave to show that the will to learn and be educated is within each and every person, but one must
seek and desire it. People start out like Platos prisoners chained to the ground, but the hope is
that they will break those chains and learn something new about their surroundings. From their




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neighbors, to the noises on the streets, to the lessons in the classroom, there are many things to
be learned in this world. The ultimate secret to being educated is to strive. Strive to seek truths.
Strive to answer questions. Strive to learn. As Plato said in his writing The Apology, the life
which is unexamined is not worth living (Flinchbaugh 3). Go and examine everything from the
rock on the ground to the cloud in the sky. Whatever it is, can lead to knowledge, which is
education, which leads to truth
















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Works Cited
Boyum, Steinar. The Concept of Philosophical Education. Educational Theory 60: 534-550.
University of Bergen, Oct. 2010. Web. 11 June 2014.
Bullhead Entertainment. The Cave: An Adaptation of Platos Allegory in Clay. Online video
clip. YouTube. YouTube, 18 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 June 2014.
Flinchbaugh, Kate. The Cave of Education. Agora Journal. Luther College, n.d. Web. 11 June
2014. <http://www.agorajournal.org/2012/Flinchbaugh.pdf>.
Losin, Peter. Education and Platos Parable of the Cave. Journal of Education 1788: 49-65.
Boston University, n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
n.p. The Republic. SparkNotes. n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
<http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/section7.rhtml>.
n.p. Dictionary.com. n.d. Web. 11 June 2014.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/strive?s=t>.
Plato. Republic. Trans. Raymond Larson. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, 1979. Print.
Voke, Heather. Platos Allegory of the Cave: Implications of Education. Philosophy of
Education. 6 Mar. 2009. Web. 11 June 2014.
<https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/vokephilofeducation/2009/03/06/plato%E2%
%99s-allegory-of-the-cave-implications-for-education/>.
Wilde, Robert. Did Medieval People Believe in a Flat Earth?. About.com. n.d. Web. 20 June
2014. <http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/historicalmyths/a/histmyths7.htm>.