Plato’s myth of the cave and discussions around it

Abstract

The article discusses Plato’s myth of the cave. The author argues that this myth is to be understood as a symbolic expression of Plato’s pedagogical philosophy. Most commentators pay little attention to the final stage of the Platonic paideia, the return to the cave. This leads to the fact that interpreters do not notice the political sense of Plato’s philosophy of education. The author analyzes the Heidegger’s interpretation of Plato’s myth and objections by P. Friedlander and W. Jaeger.