Plato uses the allegory of the cave to explain his understanding on the effect of philosophy.
“The allegory states that there exist prisoners chained together in a cave. Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners are people carrying puppets or other objects. This casts a shadow on the other side of the wall. The prisoners watch these shadows, believing them to be real.
Plato posits that one prisoner could become free. He finally sees the fire and realizes the shadows are fake. This prisoner could escape from the cave and discover there is a whole new world outside that they were previously unaware of.
This prisoner would believe the outside world is so much more real than that in the cave. He would try to return to free the other prisoners. Upon his return, he is blinded because his eyes are not accustomed to actual sunlight. The chained prisoners would see this blindness and believe they will be harmed if they try to leave the cave.”
He claims that what we see around us is just our subjective perception of reality. However a person with deep understanding of philosophy and wisdom would be able to able to break free from this and understand objective truth. That person would have true understanding of good and bad. These would be people who would not be interested in material goods. They would rule by wisdom, and not use manipulation or charismatic speech to keep themselves in power. Their rule would be a result of a sense of civic duty and not a lust for power. He also believed that women could be rulers because they would also be able to be philosophers. This however was an unpopular opinion at that time.
source: www.studiobinder.com
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