Would Plato think that Plato's Allegory of the Cave is a representation of his own metaphysical problems?

Some context before we begin: this is for a class on political philosophy, where we have to write essays on topics that aren't assigned but tangentially related to what we're discussing that week. This week we had to write on Plato's _Apology_ and _Crito_, and in the lecture notes the prof included a schematic of how the different operating systems in Plato's universe are interrelated by their metaphysics. This got me thinking about the Allegory of the Cave and how it relates to the broader ideas that Plato is trying to advance in The Republic.<br><br>Here are a few different points I'd like to make and contrast them to Plato's own ideas:<br><br>1. **Perception of reality**<br><br>In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato is trying to show how our perceptions of reality can be distorted by our perception of the world. We're born into a cave system where all we know is the flickering light of the world outside and the cave, with the prisoner's heads being fixed in a position to stare at the wall. From their perspective, the world they see is "real", as it is all that they have ever known. Upon the prisoner's ascension into the "real" world, the prisoner sees that what they once thought of as reality is actually just a pale immitation of the true reality. Plato sees this experience as a way of teaching us about how to approach true reality, and the ascended prisoner must now go back into the world to teach the other prisoners the truth of the world above.<br><br>However, the question of perception is a thorny one in ancient Greek philosophy. From Parmenides' idea that the world we see is an illusion to Heraclitus' idea that change is the only constant, it's clear that there are significant issues with the idea of perception in Greek philosophy. Let's take Heraclitus for example. If we apply his idea that change is the only constant to Plato's metaphysics, then the world outside of the cave is not actually a fixed realm that is higher than the cave. The world is constantly changing due to the laws of cause and effect, the same laws that had to come into effect for the prisoner to be led out of the cave in the first place. The laws of motion that effect the world outside of the cave are also the same laws operating inside of the cave; why must the prisoner leave the cave at all? If the cave is subject to the same laws of motion as the outside world, then the entire story is for naught as the two worlds are not separate in the way Plato has described them.<br><br>2. **Of Shadows, Light, and Mirrors**<br><br>In the story of the Allegory of the Cave, the world outside of the cave is full of bright, colourful things that exist in a realm of pure definition. But don't forget that the story of the Allegory of the Cave can only be told by observing the shadows on the wall, not the true forms of how they appear outside of the cave. When the prisoner ascends to the outside world, what they see are exactly the same sorts of shadows they saw on the wall back in the cave. The only real difference is that the shadow is now being cast by the object itself, and not the puppet. So, if the world outside of the cave is simply a shadow of the true form, how can that be higher than the cave if both the cave and the outside world are simply tasked with casting a shadow of true forms?<br><br>This is besides the point that the way Plato uses light in his story is not the way it works in reality. Light does not simply disappear when there are shadows; shadows are created by the manipulation of light by an object. The way that the shadows are described in the cave system is not analogous to how light is used in the story of the allegory. What makes the light in Plato's world so different from the light we see in our world? If light is simply a tool of higher forms, why does Plato have such a hard time describing the higher forms by any means other than describing them in terms of light and shadows? This is the exact same problem that Kant has with Plato's ideas, and it's something that has stuck with me in my own criticisms of Plato's metaphysics.<br><br>3. **The Joy of Returning Home**<br><br>Finally, the question of the prisoner who has ascended into the outside world having to return to the cave to tell the other prisoners is a thorny one. If the world above is so much better than the world below, why should we ever have a reason to return to the world below? Plato is describing a world that is so fundamentally disconnected from the world we see that there is no reason to be in both of them. The prisoner who has ascended into the outside world has seen the true beauty of the outside world, and has seen the misery that the world below is. Why should he be forced to return to that world?<br><br>If Plato's higher realm is actually higher than the world we see, then it should be impossible to return to the world below from the higher world for the same reason that the world outside of the cave is so vastly different from the world inside of the cave. The prisoner should not be tasked with returning to the world below; they should be happy to stay in the higher realm and leave the misery below to rot. Anything else is simply inconsistent with the metaphysics that Plato has described.<br><br>If we look at all of these issues together, it's clear that Plato's metaphysics as described in the Allegory of the Cave have a few fundamental issues. The question of perception of reality is one that is contentious in Greek philosophy, and the use of shadows in the Allegory of the Cave is not consistent with how shadows work in reality. Finally, the prisoner should never have to return to the world below.<br><br>So, would Plato think that his own metaphysics are represented by the problems inherent to the Allegory of the Cave?