Allegory Of The Cave

Socratic Dialogue is a method of writing, used mainly by Greek philosophers Plato and Xenophon (both students of Socrates), in which philosophical ideas are propounded through a dialogue between two or more people or characters. It is considered part of the Socratic Method, in which participants act out their own critical thinking by questioning each other and challenging each member’s ideas, in order to collaboratively come to a conclusion. In this case, the participants are Socrates himself, who falls into the role of teacher, and Glaucon, his student. Despite this apparent hierarchy, Socrates frames many of his assertions as questions, inviting Glaucon in as a participant and allowing him the chance to disagree, should he feel the need to. This format also allows Plato to invite the reader into the discussion as a participant, engaging with the questions on their own so that they can stimulate their own thinking on the subject. 

Allegory is a mode of story-telling in which the characters, objects, and actions take on symbolic meaning in order to reveal general truths about life or humanity. As the title of this essay suggests,