SWA#7 Paragraph

       The rhetorical devices used by Plato are crucial to the effectiveness of his argument. Through out the piece he uses rhetorical questions, hypothetical situations and of course allegory. Socrates is famous for developing the Socratic Method in which questions were used to spur a conversation between two individuals involving deep thought. The responses we are given for Glaucon are what cause these questions to be classified as rhetorical. When Socrates asks “If he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away and take in objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive in reality clearer than things which are now being shown to him?” and Glaucon responds simply with, “True” we are then able to see that Socrates wasn’t actually seeking a response from Glaucon but it was intended to make a point. This method is effective because it is forcing the audience to develop his or her own ideas about the allegory, but simultaneously it is almost forcing them to agree with Socrates and take Glaucon’s side. The question itself is a hypothetical situation in which the man from the cave is thrust into the light and is essentially blind. This hypothetical situation corresponds to the allegory that darkness is the dwelling place of the uneducated and light is representative of knowledge. The allegory is used to show how just like one will struggle when attempting to harness the abilities that knowledge brings. At first he is unable to see everything around him, essentially making it hard for him to find his place, but as his eyes adjust he becomes more comfortable with where he is supposed to be. By masterfully weaving together all of these rhetorical devices, Plato is able to persuade his audience to believing in the idea that the transition from the darkness of the uneducated to the light that is intellect is a difficult one. Later on in the piece Plato again uses these rhetorical devices to illustrate that the intelligent also struggle to understand the abilities of the people in the cave.