Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave serves as a timeless metaphor for the journey from ignorance to knowledge and truth. It parallels the experience of leaving Mormonism in profound ways. Just as the freed prisoner emerges into the light, grappling with the shock of a broader reality, those who leave the church often confront unsettling truths that challenge their prior worldview. Both the freed prisoner and those undergoing a faith crisis face resistance upon returning to share their discoveries. Those still in the cave, or within the church, often reject their insights, perceiving them as threats rather than enlightenment, highlighting the tension between clinging to familiar beliefs and embracing transformative truths.

As in all of Plato’s dialogues, the hero of the dialogue is Socrates, who is his mentor. In this allegory, Socrates explains to Plato’s brother, Glaukon, that humans are allegorically like prisoners confined in a cave and bound so they can only see shadows cast on the wall The prisoners are unaware that these shadows are mere reflections of a far greater reality until one of them leaves the cave, is enlightened, and returns to what he expects a welcome and fascination with his experience but instead is rejected by his peers.

According to the allegory, we all resemble captives who are chained deep within a cave and do not yet realize that there is more to reality than the shadows they see against the wall. It tells of a few people imprisoned in a cave, facing a wall, and seeing dancing shadows of objects cast by a fire behind them. These shadows form their only perception of reality. They know nothing of the world beyond the cave or these shadows. Until one prisoner escapes or is set free. He encounters the sunlight outside for the first time, and is initially overwhelmed and disoriented. However, as his eyes adjust, he realizes that the shadows he once believed to be reality were merely illusions. This newfound awareness compels the prisoner to return to the cave and share his insights with the other prisoners. But his friends are unable to comprehend or accept this truth, and they react with hostility, rejecting his ideas and him.

Here’s a simple 8-bit style explanation of the Allegory that delves somewhat into the Plato’s philosophy of reality he uses the allegory to express:

This allegory profoundly parallels the experience of leaving the Mormon Church and navigating a faith crisis. For many who grow up in the church, the teachings and doctrines serve as the “shadows” on the wall—comfortable, familiar, and accepted as absolute truth. These “shadows” include foundational beliefs such as the divine origins of the church, prophetic infallibility, and the exclusivity of Mormonism as the one true faith.

When someone deconstructs these teachings, often through exposure to historical inconsistencies, doctrinal contradictions, or personal experiences, it can feel like stepping out of a cave. The initial stages of this journey are usually overwhelming, even painful—akin to the prisoner being disoriented and blinded by the sunlight. Former believers often describe this as a period of groundlessness, disorientation, grief, and loss, as they grapple with the realization that the “shadows” they once completely trusted were incomplete or misleading representations of truth.

Returning to the church (or cave), to share these insights with those still inside mirrors the allegory’s challenges. Efforts to explain the broader perspective are often met with confusion, dismissal, and even outright hostility. Devout members view the individual as deceived or dangerous, reinforcing a community dynamic that prioritizes conformity over exploration. In both Plato’s allegory and the process of faith deconstruction, courage and resilience are central themes. It takes immense bravery to leave the comfort of the cave—or the certainty of a religious framework—and confront the unknown. It also requires strength to face the rejection that often follows attempts to share one’s newfound understanding.

There are many parallels between navigating a Mormon faith crisis and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave!

The Shadows vs. Church Teachings

In the Cave: The prisoners see shadows cast on the wall and accept them as the full reality, having never seen the objects or light causing the shadows.
In Mormonism: Members often grow up accepting church teachings (shadows) as the ultimate truth, without questioning their origins or context. These “shadows” include correlated church histories, sanitized narratives, and the emphasis on faith over critical inquiry.

The Escape from the Cave

In the Cave: A prisoner is freed and encounters the light, which is initially overwhelming. They struggle to comprehend the new world outside the cave.
In a Faith Crisis: Those who begin to question Mormon teachings often feel disoriented and emotionally overwhelmed as they confront uncomfortable truths, such as historical issues (e.g., polygamy, the Book of Abraham), doctrinal inconsistencies, or harm caused by the church’s policies.

Blinded by the Light

In the Cave: Exposure to the sun blinds the freed prisoner, symbolizing the discomfort of adjusting to a more truthful reality.
In a Faith Crisis: Individuals often experience a painful adjustment period when they encounter evidence that challenges their lifelong beliefs. This could include cognitive dissonance, fear of being wrong, or mourning the loss of certainty and community.

Returning to the Cave

In the Cave: The freed prisoner, now understanding the true reality, tries to return to the cave to help others see the truth.
In Mormonism: Those who leave the church and attempt to share their findings with believing family or friends often face resistance or hostility. Active members may dismiss their insights as “anti-Mormon lies” or accuse them of being deceived by Satan.

Hostility from Those Still in the Cave

In the Cave: The remaining prisoners reject the freed individual’s testimony, viewing them as deluded or dangerous.
In Mormonism: Former members who speak out may be labeled as “apostates” or accused of trying to destroy faith. The church often portrays those who leave as offended, lazy, or sinful, creating an environment where open dialogue is difficult. The church even complains that those who leave might leave the church but can’t leave the church alone. They would rather those who escape do not return to their friends to share the newfound enlightenment and reality.

Ignorance as Comfort

In the Cave: The prisoners find comfort in the shadows because it is all they know, and the outside world is perceived as frightening or incomprehensible.
In Mormonism: Many members prefer not to question the church’s teachings, fearing loss of community, eternal consequences, or the destabilizing effects of doubt. This echoes the idea that “ignorance is bliss.”

Courage to Leave

In the Cave: It takes bravery to leave the cave and face the unknown.
In a Faith Crisis: It requires immense courage to question lifelong beliefs, face potential ostracism, and reconstruct one’s identity outside of Mormonism.

The Role of Evidence

In the Cave: The freed prisoner sees the objects causing the shadows and eventually the sun itself, representing evidence and ultimate truth.
In Mormonism: Those who deconstruct their faith often cite evidence like historical documents, scientific discoveries, or logical inconsistencies that contradict church teachings. This evidence, once seen, is difficult to ignore.

The Call to Freedom

In the Cave: The allegory ultimately emphasizes the importance of seeking truth, even when it is difficult or unpopular.
In a Faith Crisis: Many who leave Mormonism describe their journey as one of liberation, breaking free from dogma to find personal authenticity and truth.

These parallels highlight the universal struggle between comfort in ignorance and the courage to pursue truth.

The Allegory of the Cave Isn’t Perfect

The allegory of leaving the cave may not be a perfect match for someone leaving the church though. There are some real differences to keep in mind, first off the intent of the allegory is to set up Plato’s discussion about realms, which seem more akin to a heaven of sorts, than the world when leaving the church.

John Larson says as much in his Mormon Expressions episode. He says Plato’s Cave is about how this material world is an illusion, and the real world (or the world that is more real) is the higher realm of ideals. So while it might describe the experience of leaving the church, its original intent was more in line with Mormonism than secularism. It serves as an argument in favor of rejecting empirical information that we gather through our senses. It’s a rejection of empiricism in favor of believing in an unseen world.

The cave is this brilliant sort of allegory, but we all, all of us secularists get it dead wrong. And Plato would call us to the carpet for it. The allegory of the cave is that there are a group of people who are chained to a cave. And they’re inside this cave and it’s dark and dim. And all they can see is the inside wall of the cave. And they’ve been there their whole life. They’ve never seen anything else. Behind them is a fire. And there are some people who have puppets who are playing in front of the fire and they’re casting shadows. They can hear the noise, you know, bouncing off the cave. And they can see the shadowy puppets dance around on the cave. And to them, that’s reality. In the alleyway of the cave, one of them breaks free. Do you remember how he breaks free? I don’t think that it spells it out. It’s just kind of just a spontaneous thing just turning around and recognizing his shackles for the very first time. So this individual- His, hers, excuse me. Yeah, yeah. He or she climbs out of the cave and first is presented by the light and can’t see, blinded by this outside real world. But then once, and I believe in the allegory it’s a man, so once he gets acclimated, he looks around, he can see what’s happening, because he’s no longer chained to the cave and looking at the inside of the cave. He can see the puppets and he can see the fire and he can see the shadows. And he goes to all of his fellow captives and says, wait a minute, you’re looking at an illusion. You’re not looking at reality, you’re looking at a shadow cast of reality. Come with me, and I’ll show you, I’ll show you what the reality is, and I can break you free from these chains. You can get out from here and stop perceiving the world in this corrupt way. Of course, everybody else says, ah, fuck off, we’re having fun watching the puppet show. And that’s the allegory…
So we like this allegory, those of us who left the church, because we like to pat ourselves on the back and feel like we’ve broken through the chains. But what Plato was trying to say is that the world we live in, the things that we see are corrupt. Plato is not an empiricist at all. And empiricism is the root of science, which was really built on Aristotelian philosophy, the idea that we can observe the world and then discern things. Plato would say you cannot believe your senses. You cannot believe what you’re seeing because the forms themselves are the source of knowledge and the source of truth. And the forms themselves are not informing your eyes and your ears and your brain. That’s all corrupt. This world is a degenerate place. And for Plato, he would say, if you want to draw conclusions about this world, you can’t stare at the cave. And what is the cave wall? It’s this world. So for Plato, those of us who leave the church and say, hey, look around us, look at science, watch Cosmos, the series, and you’ll know. Plato would say, that’s all just shadows on the wall. That what’s real is these forms out there.
And who has access to the forms? People who have access to the forms are the guy who broke the chains. What would a Mormon call the guy whos broke the chains? The prophet, right? The one that has been told about, the one person that can come down. So for Mormonism and other Christian philosophies, you cannot believe what’s going on around you. When you go to the museum and you see dinosaur bones, these are shadows on the wall of the cave. And only those who have been freed from empiricism in some sort of mystical sense are the ones who can touch the… Now, Plato didn’t really involve a lot of mysticism. I think there were probably cults or whatever they came after, but I don’t think he was advocating very much that there’s mystics who can touch the forms better.
The Cave is a cool allegory and Mumford and Sons did a nice song about it. But you have to understand what Plato was really saying. And I think what’s key for us, especially as we have left the church to try to communicate with people in the church, we see this and we see, oh, this is so apparent. If they can just hear the allegory of the cave, they will know. They’ll leave the church. But what I’m trying to tell you is, you flip it 180 degrees and it works exactly the same. They’re going to see you as the one who’s chained and that you sort of breaking your chains from the church and starting to drink booze and kiss girls and stuff, you’re going to be just, that’s your chaining to the wall of the cave. That’s why we have to be careful about recasting the world in our own current view and saying, why isn’t this obvious to everybody? Why can’t everybody in the church see that this is obviously true? Because the cave shows, the allegory of the cave shows that we tend to ignore disconfirming evidence. And we think it’s just bogus…
In the cave, it doesn’t matter which situation you’re talking about, but Plato points out that if you try to go back into the cave, you’re not going to be well received. In fact, they’ll try and kill you for coming back in. Trying to go back and in trying to have these conversations more than likely most of the time it’s not going to be received very well, but people will unshackle themselves from whichever system they’re in whenever it happens to happen.
So that’s why I would fundamentally disagree with this concept of the cave. I think it’s kind of a weak analogy. And we use it kind of in a way that makes us sound, because what we’re really saying is, ha ha, we broke out of jail, you dicks, you’re still stuck in there. It’s sort of a pat on your back way of saying, No, I’ve seen what’s outside the cave, but if you buy the analogy, it doesn’t necessarily work. You can just reverse it.
John Larsen, Mormon Expression Episode 257: Mormonism and Plato
https://johnlarsen.org/podcast/Archive/MormonExpression257.mp3

Plato’s allegory primarily addresses the distinction between perception and ultimate reality. For Plato, the shadows in the cave symbolize the world of appearances, while the outside world represents the realm of the Forms—eternal, unchanging truths understood through philosophical reasoning. The journey out of the cave reflects the philosopher’s ascent to knowledge and enlightenment, an often painful process that challenges deeply held assumptions.

The process of leaving the Mormon Church can parallel the allegory in many ways, but it shifts the focus from metaphysical philosophy to a transformation in belief systems and worldview. For many, leaving the Mormon Church involves questioning long-held doctrines, cultural practices, and community dynamics, akin to realizing that the “shadows” they had been taught to accept as absolute truths were shaped by a particular framework, not an ultimate reality.

Plato’s allegory is rooted in the pursuit of universal truths and the distinction between the sensory and intellectual realms. In contrast, leaving the Mormon Church involves reassessing subjective experiences, cultural norms, and community narratives, often leading to a more personalized understanding of truth. Plato envisions a singular, higher truth (the Forms), but for those leaving Mormonism, the “truth” discovered outside the cave may vary greatly. Some adopt new religious beliefs, while others embrace agnosticism, atheism, or spirituality, reflecting the diversity of paths available in a pluralistic society.

Both Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and the experience of leaving the Mormon Church illustrate the profound challenges and rewards of a paradigm shift. In both cases, the journey requires courage, resilience, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty in the pursuit of authenticity and deeper understanding. The allegory reminds us that ignorance can be comfortable, but growth and enlightenment come through questioning and seeking. Once we’ve accumulated knowledge, we can’t go back to ignorance, no tradebacks. For those undergoing a faith crisis, sharing their story is an act of defiance against the suppression of truth. Platforms like wasmormon.org provide a space for individuals to voice their journeys, helping others find the courage to step out of their own caves. By shining a light on the shadows, these stories foster greater understanding and pave the way for collective liberation from illusion.

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