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Michael Yu
Professor Jamie Paris
English 110
29 April 2015
Are Philosophers Fit to Rule?
Upon examination of Platos Allegory of the Cave, it becomes apparent that
problems within the context of The Republic remain unanswered and raise new questions
simultaneously. To begin with, Plato comes from an odd point of view. He is a descendant
of the family who had introduced democracy to Athens, yet dismisses it in The Republic
as an anarchic form of society which treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or
not (Plato, 558c). Plato denounces democracy, the existing form of government in
Athens, alleging that it disregards the background and experience of a politician provided
they promise to honour peoples wishes. The irony of Platos perspective is that his ideal
of a perfect society, achieved only by the rule of a philosopher, encounters a very similar
objection upon further analysis of the Allegory of the Cave. Plato discusses the role of the
philosopher as a ruler who will have all the skills necessary to govern properly, stating
that it would be absurd not to choose the philosophers, for in the vital quality of
knowledge they are clearly superior (Plato, 485a). The main argument that arises is
whether Platos philosopher is truly capable of bringing the ideal society to fruition
through the process described in the Allegory of the Cave, and ultimately, if achieving
this society is within the realm of possibility.
It has been argued by many scholars that Plato wrote The Republic for the sole
purpose of expressing his opinion on the state of politics. The allegories are used in the

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context of The Republic as a way to explain how his ideal society would be created and
maintained by the rule of a philosopher. The philosopher, as Plato presents in the
Allegory of the Cave, is represented by one of many men who have been prisoners [in
the cave] since they were children, their legs and necks being so fastened that they
[could] only look straight ahead of them and [could not] turn their heads (Plato, 514a).
Plato paints a picture with words, introducing the conditions that would be necessary for
creating the perfect society. He maintains that the shadows witnessed by the prisoners
during their life in the cave represent the ignorance of our human condition (Plato
514a). Plato suggests that the illusions cast upon the wall are no different from the lives
that all ordinary people live every day. He continues on by imagining the natural response
that would result in the breaking of a prisoners chains. The prisoner, upon exposure to
the source of the light, would turn back and retreat to the thing which he could see
properly, which he would think really clearer than the things being shown him (Plato
515d). What Plato articulates in this passage presents the freed prisoner, who is referred
to as the philosopher, as nothing more than an ordinary human being. The philosopher,
who is summoned by an unidentified force, is naturally unwilling to abandon his entire
existence that has been forged by illusions even when presented with an option to escape
it. If the prisoners have been raised under the same conditions in the cave, it is then
impossible to select an individual from among them to become the philosopher described
by Plato. That is, a ruler with the necessary knowledge and skill to lead the successful
development of the perfect society.
Suppose the ideal circumstances that would lead to the enlightenment of the freed
prisoner occur, and he consequently witnesses the outside world. Plato believes that after

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experiencing reality in its true form, the new philosopher would come to the conclusion
that he is "in a sense responsible for everything that he and his fellow-prisoners used to
see" (Plato, 516c). Here arises another problem. Plato assumes that knowing the truth
would naturally constitute assuming responsibility for it. Upon further investigation
involving another of Plato's verbal illustrations, the Allegory of the Ship, one will
discover that this is an invalid assumption. In the Allegory of the Ship, there exists a crew
composed of a captain, a navigator, and multiple sailors. The captain, who is larger and
stronger than any of the crew, and similarly limited in seamanship (Plato, 448b)
represents Platos view of democratic politicians. They are physically more fit to rule than
the average man, yet lack the skill to be an excellent ruler. The navigator, whom Plato
sees as the philosopher figure, has the appropriate skills to match his profession, in
comparison to the rest of the sailors, who believe that theres no such thing as an art of
navigation (Plato, 488e). While the sailors argue amongst themselves to determine a
successor to the current captain, the navigator looks out beyond the ship at the stars. Plato
uses this allegory to show the present attitude of society towards the true philosopher
(Plato, 489a). He believes that the current system of government is undesirable and
should be replaced by the rule of a more knowledgeable individual: the philosopher.
While it is true that the philosopher presented in both allegories is more knowledgeable
than the others, it does not guarantee that he has the necessary strength to become the
ruler Plato describes. The philosopher may lack the strength to return to the cave, and
would therefore lack the strength to convince the other prisoners, who would say that his
visit to the upper world had ruined his sight (Plato, 517a), of the truth. At this point, a

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significant paradox with potentially devastating contradictions to Platos argument
emerges.
Plato maintains that, The society we have described can never grow into a reality
or see the light of day, and there will be no end to the troubles of states, of humanity
itself, till philosophers become rulers in this world, or till those we now call kings and
rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus
come into the same hands (Plato, 473d). Having established this, what Plato does in both
the Allegory of the Cave and the Allegory of the Ship is provide clear indications of the
role for each character. In the Cave, the prisoners represent ordinary people who come
under the rule of a selected prisoner who has become a philosopher upon witnessing the
world outside of the Cave. On the Ship, the sailors, who also personify the ordinary
people, are in constant chaos struggling to select the next captain, or politician, to govern
the ship. The navigator, who plays the part of the philosopher, is the only one who knows
the correct path for the ship to take. It seems rather contradictory with his view on
democracy, that according to Plato, both the enlightened prisoner and the navigator would
become the rightful rulers of their state. Plato makes a mistaken claim that because the
prisoner has seen the sun, he can assume responsibility for his ignorant peers. In
extension, Plato believes that just because the navigator knows the correct path for the
ship to take, he could steer the ship as well, essentially assuming the role of captain.
Knowledge alone does not make up for his lack of guile to control the unruly crew. The
philosopher may have the highest form of knowledge (Plato, 505b), that is, the
knowledge of the form of good, but this knowledge does not make him an expert in other
professions. Just as a democratic politician voted into office without the necessary skills

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to hold his seat is unfit to rule, a philosopher who has knowledge, yet lacks experience
and charisma to achieve the ideal state, is also unfit to rule.

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Works Cited
Plato, The Republic. Translator Desmond Lee. (London: Penguin, 2007)