Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (see Wikipedia entry) illustrates “our nature in its education and want of education.” It is maybe one of the most famous allegories in literature and philosophy, a precursor to the kinds of mind-games (think brain in a vat) that philosophers like Dennett engage in today [Where am I? is a good example of this genre].

I am not sure I quite buy into the argument being made in the allegory of the cave, or whether there is one “strict” interpretation of it. The other day I stumbled upon a lovely, stop-motion animated, version of the allegory. Check it out below:

The only strange thing in the video was the music they used, particularly towards the end. I sounded very much like an instrumental version of a Bollywood film song… kinda weird. [If you want to hear the actual song this reminded me of go here.]

Incidentally you can find out more about the Plato’s Allegory video by going here.