Plato put forward the metaphor of "cave" in the dialogue of the seventh volume of the Republic. Regarding this metaphor, the author has the following thoughts:

I. Understanding of "Cave Theory":

I simply summarize the ontology of this metaphor as the following figure:

Images-People and dolls outside caves-Firemen

It can be seen that prisoners are at the end and bottom of the whole process, and they are just the objects of being fooled. According to Plato, they have the ability to think, but sadly, what they can recognize is not the real highest existence, but the image formed after processing and evolution, so they regard this image as a reality. In the cave, they will never know the behavior of people outside the cave, let alone know that fire is the starting point and the ultimate of everything. The only thing they can perceive about fire is the image on the cave wall.

There is another part of Plato's metaphor, that is, a man who broke away from the shackles saw the fire through difficulties, and at this time he was incompatible with the original group-the prisoner in the cave. Among old friends, he is already an unacceptable and even killed alternative.

Plato explained this metaphor like this ... Now we must apply this metaphor as a whole to the above-mentioned things, comparing crypt cells to the visible world and comparing fire to the ability of the sun. If you associate the ascent from the crypt to the upper world with the ascent of the soul to the knowable world, you will understand my explanation correctly, because you are eager to hear my explanation. As for whether this explanation itself is right or not, only God knows. But in any case, I think that in the known world, the concept of goodness is the least easy to see, and it takes a lot of effort to finally see it. Once we see it, we can certainly draw the following conclusions: it is indeed the cause of all right and beautiful things, that is, the creator of light and light source in the world, and it is itself the decisive source of truth and reason in the sensible world; Anyone who can act rationally in private or public life must have seen the idea of goodness. "

Therefore, Plato regards "the idea of goodness" as a source, just as fire (used to describe the sun) is the ultimate idea for people to enter the ideal country. Plato interpreted "the idea of goodness" as: "It is indeed the cause of all correct and beautiful things, that is, the creator of light and light source in the world, which itself is the decisive source of truth and reason in the sensible world; Anyone who can act rationally in private or public life must have seen the idea of goodness. "

To get rid of the fool of the known world and become a "rational" person, we must get rid of the bondage and approach the "good idea", which is the conclusion we got from Plato's metaphor of "cave".

Second, some thoughts on the "cave theory":

Here, I want to understand this metaphor like this:

The so-called "good idea" is Plato's reference to the symbol "fire". What really determines human rationality and people's understanding of the knowable world should be human nature itself. In fact, we can vividly explain this view in the form of "cave theory". "Firelight" is human nature. People who play with puppets can influence the expression of "knowable world" in their own way. The images on the cave walls are all kinds of realistic existence presented to people. The prisoner in the cave is undoubtedly fooled and played by reality.

I want to reiterate my point of view: Plato's metaphor for the fire of "the idea of goodness" is compared to human nature in my understanding, that is, human nature. Human nature is the source of the possibility of human existence and development. The core of human nature is desire, China Journal Full-text Database.

The history of mankind is actually the history of desire. As two philosophical papers about human primitive desires, survival desire and sexual desire have become the driving force of human development. Human nature is the core of human existence and development. Good and evil are two aspects of human nature, which are both opposite poles and an integral whole. They are unity of opposites, which together constitute the whole of human nature. Only when the two coexist, human nature will not be exhausted, and talents can have a foundation for existence and development. Because their opposing forces provide each other with unlimited development potential energy at the same time. Can be simply interpreted as:

Evil people (human nature = good+evil) → good.

As mentioned above, human nature is the core of human existence and development, and desire is the inexhaustible motive force for human development, from which we can draw a conclusion that the performance of human nature is the pursuit of desire. Desire can also be divided into good desire and evil desire. As for whether people's two original desires are good or evil, I can't decide yet. )

Throughout the history of western literature, (the ancestors of westerners are all "normal children", so western literature is a reliable basis for investigating the development of human nature), from ancient Greek and Roman myths and epics (Greek myths and epics are always impressive ode to "man", and she is "a producer of human nature") to medieval urban literature, knight literature and heroic epics (church literature is an extension of politics, so let's not say it for the time being). In Dante's Divine Comedy, we can see that in the harshest era of ideological bondage, people's desires are still singing in the dark (although the singing is a bit ethereal), and the creation of poems, novels and plays in the Renaissance. (Shakespeare's plays represent the vast and profound soul of human universe and the highest and deepest expression of human desire), and even classical plays (although classical creation is influenced in form). But Moliere and other plays still show the significance and value of human existence), novels, poems and drama creation of the Enlightenment (after Shakespeare's To Be or Not to Be, Goethe put forward the proposition of "Ascension and Descent", another sword? From the beginning to the later creation of romanticism, realism, modernism and post-modernism, people can be seen leaping onto the literary stage and acting on the vivid images of people's hearts. Do they show a desire for good or evil?

Literature is a historical and philosophical thesis of the mind, and the mind is the place where people have sex. Since the development of literature has become the development of human desire, it proves that desire is the existence and expression of human nature.

To sum up, human nature with desire as the core is the highest truth and ultimate idea of human beings. Plato can't avoid the reality that good and evil coexist in human nature. In his further explanation of the "cave theory", he mentioned: ... assuming that this part of the soul has been tempered since childhood, it always seems to release a heavy burden, which is inherent in this changing world and entangled in people by sensory indulgence such as gluttony that controls the vision of the human soul, so that it can only see the following things. Assuming that the burden has been removed and the same part of some people's soul has been distorted to the truth, they will have the same keen eye when they look at the truth, just as they look at what they are facing. It can be seen that Plato affirmed the existence of "evil" in the human soul while establishing the existence of "good idea". Therefore, human nature has become an abstract existence in which good and evil blend and interact.

To sum up, Plato's "Cave Theory" regards "the idea of goodness" as the motive force and ultimate of the existence and development of human society, which is an important part of his aesthetic theory system. He regards reason as the highest existence and "good idea" as the foundation and goal of establishing an "ideal country", which is already a great pioneering work worthy of cheering in his time. But today we must realize his limitations and explain the foundation and ultimate significance of human existence and development more comprehensively and accurately, that is, the existence and development of human nature.