Allegory of the Cave

In Plato?s "The Allegory of the Cave," he suggests that there are two different forms of vision, a "mind?s eye" and a "bodily eye." The "bodily eye" is a metaphor for the senses. While inside the cave, the prisoners function only with this eye. The "mind?s eye" is a higher level of thinking, and is mobilized only when the prisoner is released into the outside world. This eye does not exist within …

…shadows and distorted images that only the "bodily eye" is able to see. This is the world of sensory perceptions that all the prisoners believe is reality. As one prisoner emerges from the cave, he gradually realizes that there is a much higher reality than that which is physically experienced. After getting used to the light of the outside, his "mind?s eye" opens and he understands that the cave was simply an imperfect reality.