Abstract
This article interprets Plato's so-called myth of the cave in the wider context of the discussion of education presented in Books 2-6 of The Republic. the cave is understood here as a depiction of the fact that humans in general are situated in the world of language. The situation of the "prisoners" in the cave is a reflection of the fact that our understanding of the world is not formed by the "world", by nature, or by things themselves, but it is wholly grounded on uncritically adopted attitudes and cultural contents, whose creators and bearers are the same time people like ourselves. the statues in the cave, carried above the wall, thus present our cultural traditions, i.e. that which is carried "behind our backs" and forms, unobserved and by various means, our opinions (doxa). the description of these is presented in the relevant parts of The Republic.
The picture of philosophy as one of a journey to the light of truth and the return that follows, and of a government in the community, is thus, at the same time, an expression of Plato's conviction about the human ability to step beyond this cultural conditioning, and arrive at "real being" - and by this insight to bring, when possible, a radical transformation of culture as a whole.