Eidos

December 29, 2011 5:08 PM

The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato's Allegory in Clay
posted by troll (12 comments total)

I demand a YouTube link of Plato's Allegory of the Cave depicted by means of shadow puppetry! shadow muppetry for bonus points
posted by TwelveTwo at 5:21 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thaaaat's a bit of a gloss.
posted by phrontist at 5:23 PM on December 29, 2011

I like how the prisoner had the Peanuts teacher wahwah voice.
posted by Bromius at 5:27 PM on December 29, 2011

Once a prisoner, the man has become a deus ex machina, a hitman of the mind, a thief wandering in light and shadow, a raider of tombs of ideas.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 5:38 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

A touch simplified and doesn't get directly into the concept of the forms, no. I would have liked to see them compare the freed slave to the philosopher, but the point is mostly made, and the animation and voiceover were very well done. Liked this a lot, thanks.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:40 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

TwelveTwo: It's not shadow puppetry, but it's got Orson Welles
posted by Grimgrin at 6:05 PM on December 29, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure how well Plato's point is made. It is not just that the prisoners see only shadows and hear only echoes, but that they believe them to be reality. When the prisoner is taken from the cave, the adjustment is not just to his vision, but to his sense of truth.

The comparison with the real problem of truth and perception is more direct than this (very nicely made) animation suggests.
posted by howfar at 6:37 PM on December 29, 2011

Did it bother anyone else that the prisoners were chained in an absurd fashion, such that they could easily have turned around?
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:37 PM on December 29, 2011 [2 favorites]

Did it bother anyone else that the prisoners were chained in an absurd fashion, such that they could easily have turned around?

WAKE. UP. SHEEPLE!
posted by howfar at 6:41 PM on December 29, 2011 [3 favorites]

Well, that was creepy.
posted by New England Cultist at 6:42 PM on December 29, 2011

Once upon a time I made a photoshop about Plato's excessive partying.
posted by pwally at 7:00 PM on December 29, 2011

Looks like somebody reads Graham Harman's blog.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 12:29 AM on December 30, 2011