Vol. 2026 No. 5 (2026)
Articles

The role of rational intellectuals in political life: a perspective through the Cave Metaphor

PDF
  • Sato Himari,
  • Tanaka Minato
Sato Himari
Keio University (Mita Campus),2 Chome-15-45 Mita, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
Tanaka Minato
Meiji University (Suruga Dai Campus),1-1 Kanda-Suruga Dai, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 101-8301, Japan

Published 24-09-2026

Keywords

  • cave metaphor,
  • philosopher,
  • rational intellectual,
  • political life

Copyright (c) 2026 Cambridge Arts and Humanities Research

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

 The "Cave Allegory" is an important metaphor in Plato's *The Republic*, which elucidates Plato's theory of Forms, addresses the question of why a "philosopher-king" could be possible, and explains the emergence and sustenance of an ideal state. Starting from the philosophical implications of the Cave Allegory, this article analyzes the role played by philosophers—namely, rational intellectuals—in political life and examines the significance and limitations of their activities within political life. This analysis not only aids in understanding Plato's entire political philosophy but also offers valuable insights into the responsibilities and roles that rational intellectuals should undertake and play in contemporary political life.

PDF

References

  1. Zeller, E. (1996). Outlines of the History of Greek Philosophy. Shandong People’s Publishing House.
  2. Wang, D. (2008). An analysis of Plato’s theory of Forms. Journal of Harbin University, (5).
  3. Strauss, L. (2011). What Is Political Philosophy? (Li, S., et al., Trans.). Huaxia Publishing House.
  4. Bao, L. (2010). On the History of Classical Political Philosophy. People’s Publishing House.
  5. Plato. (1986). The Republic (Guo, B., & Zhang, Z., Trans.). The Commercial Press.
  6. Heidegger, M. (2008). On the Essence of Truth: Plato’s Cave Allegory and Theaetetus Lectures (Liu, X., & Zhao, W., Trans.). Huaxia Publishing House.
  7. Zeng, Y. (2005). Philosophy and politics: An interpretation of Plato’s political philosophy. Journal of Xiamen University (Arts & Social Sciences), (4).
  8. Liu, H. (2009). Politics and philosophy in Plato: The interplay of justice and wisdom. Journal of Guangdong University of Technology (Social Sciences Edition), (6).
  9. Tannenbaum, D., & Schultz, D. (2008). The Inventors of Ideas: An Introduction to Western Political Philosophy (Ye, Y., Trans.). Peking University Press.
  10. Li, S. (2011). Friendship and Justice: An Introduction to Western Classical Political Philosophy. Jilin University Press.
  11. Strauss, L., & Cropsey, J. (2009). History of Political Philosophy (Li, H., et al., Trans.). Law Press China.
  12. Strauss, L. (2006). The political philosopher Leo Strauss: The revival of classical conservative political philosophy. In Natural Right and History (Gan, Y., Ed.; Peng, G., Trans.). SDX Joint Publishing Company.