Plato’s Allegory of the Cave - Alex Gendler

Translator: Hekim Atay Reviewer: Mehmet Sıddık Dilek

What is reality, knowledge, the meaning of life?

Wateya rastî, zanyarî û jîyanê çi ye?

Big topics you might tackle figuratively

Hinek vana bi mecazî dibînin û

explaining existence as a journey down a road or across an ocean,

hebûnê wek rêwîtiyê dibînin; bi îmga rê an li ser okyanûsê,

a climb, a war, a book, a thread, a game, a window of opportunity,

hilkişînek, şerek, pirtûkek, gefek, pencereke firsenda

or an all-too-short-lived flicker of flame.

ronî an jî pêteke bê dem temirî.

2,400 years ago,

2.400 sal berê

one of history's famous thinkers said life is like being chained up in a cave,

bîrewerekî navdar got ku,

jiyan; bêgaviya zincîrkirina hindirê şikeftekê û

forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall.

temaşekirina sîha li ser dîwaran e.

Pretty cheery, right?

Çi xweş e, ne wisa??

That's actually what Plato suggested in his Allegory of the Cave,

Platon di pirtûka xwe ya navê "Dewlet" ya heftemîn de

found in Book VII of "The Republic,"

ku ji bo civateke îdeal, piştî lekolîna dadî, rastî û bedewî pêk hatibû,

in which the Greek philosopher envisioned the ideal society

by examining concepts like justice, truth and beauty.

bi navê Alegoriya şikaftê

qala vê dike.

In the allegory, a group of prisoners have been confined in a cavern since birth,

Di Alegori de, hinek girtî ji dayikbûna xwe ve di şikeftekê de ne û

with no knowledge of the outside world.

pişta wan li der ve ye, nikarin serê xwe bizivirînin

They are chained, facing a wall, unable to turn their heads,

û haya wan ji derve tune.

while a fire behind them gives off a faint light.

Lê dema hin tişt derbas dibin,

Occasionally, people pass by the fire,

carrying figures of animals and other objects that cast shadows on the wall.

li dîwarê şikeftê de sîha wan çêdibe.

Girtî dibêjin qey ev sih rast in,

The prisoners name and classify these illusions,

nav û katagorî didin wan.

believing they're perceiving actual entities.

Suddenly, one prisoner is freed and brought outside for the first time.

Ji Nişkave girtîyek tê berdan û derdikeve derve.

The sunlight hurts his eyes and he finds the new environment disorienting.

Ronî çavên wî diêşîne û her derê tevlihev dibîne.

When told that the things around him are real,`

Dibêjinê, yên dora te rast in û sîh tenê ji wan çêdibe,

while the shadows were mere reflections, he cannot believe it.

lê ew bawer nake.

The shadows appeared much clearer to him.

Sîh xwerûtir bûn.

But gradually, his eyes adjust

Lê çavên wî hîn bûn;

until he can look at reflections in the water,

dikare li biriqînên avê û

at objects directly,

tiştan,

and finally at the Sun,

û dawiyê, rojê;

whose light is the ultimate source of everything he has seen.

çavkaniya hemû ronahiyê dibîne.

The prisoner returns to the cave to share his discovery,

Girtî, ji bo vana bêje hevalên xwe, vedigere.

but he is no longer used to the darkness,

Lê hînê tariyê nebûye

and has a hard time seeing the shadows on the wall.

û bi zorê sîhên li dîwar dibîne.

The other prisoners think the journey has made him stupid and blind,

Girtiyên din difikirin ku ew gêj û kor bûye

and violently resist any attempts to free them.

û li hember derketina derve disekinin.

Plato introduces this passage as an analogy

Platon evê dişibîne feylesofekî ku gelê xwe perwerde dike.

of what it's like to be a philosopher trying to educate the public.

Gelek mirov di nava nezaniya xwe de bi aram dijîn,

Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance

but hostile to anyone who points it out.

lê kî qala nezaniyê bike, dibin neyarê wî.

In fact, the real life Socrates was sentenced to death

Bi rastî Sokrates jî ji hêla dewleta Yewnan a kevnar ve,

bi derewa xirabkirina civatê, tê bi dar xistin

by the Athenian government for disrupting the social order,

and his student Plato spends much of "The Republic"

û xwendekarê wî Platon jî, di pirtûka "Dewlet" de

disparaging Athenian democracy,

demokrasîya Yewnan a kevnar rexne dike,

while promoting rule by philosopher kings.

pewistiya qralekî fîlosof dibêje.

With the cave parable,

Platon, bi Alegoriya şikeftê dibêje ku,

Plato may be arguing that the masses are too stubborn and ignorant

gel nezan e û nikare xwe îdare bike.

to govern themselves.

Ev çîrok 2.400 sal e bal dikişîne

But the allegory has captured imaginations for 2,400 years

because it can be read in far more ways.

çimkî tê wateyên cuda.

Importantly, the allegory is connected to the theory of forms,

Ya girîng, alegoriya Platon ji gotinên wî yên berê derketiye û

developed in Plato's other dialogues,

zevk û xweşiyên dine yên fîzîkî

which holds that like the shadows on the wall,

things in the physical world are flawed reflections of ideal forms,

wek ew sîhên li dîwar, bi "teoriya ideayê" re têkildar e.

such as roundness, or beauty.

In this way, the cave leads to many fundamental questions,

Lewre şikeft gelek pirsan bi xwe re tîne;

including the origin of knowledge,

çavkaniya zanînê,

the problem of representation,

and the nature of reality itself.

taybetmendiyên rastiyê...

For theologians, the ideal forms exist in the mind of a creator.

Gorî îlahîyatnasa, teşeyên ideal di hişê afirîner de ne.

For philosophers of language viewing the forms as linguistic concepts,

Feylesofên ziman ku teşeyan wek konseptên zimannasî dibînin,

the theory illustrates the problem of grouping concrete things

qala pirsgirêka têkiliya şênberî û razberiyê dikin.

under abstract terms.

And others still wonder whether we can really know

Hinek jî meraq dikin ku gelo dê bizanibin

that the things outside the cave are any more real than the shadows.

tiştên derve ji sîhan rastîtir in an na?

As we go about our lives,

Gelo em dikarin ji tiştên difikirin ewle bin?

can we be confident in what we think we know?

Perhaps one day,

Rojekî, roniyeke biçûk

a glimmer of light may punch a hole in your most basic assumptions.

heye ku fikrên me bigiherîne.

Will you break free to struggle towards the light,

Eger ev bibe destçûyûna malbat û hevalan jî,

even if it costs you your friends and family,

hûn dê derkevin derve, hember roniyê,

or stick with comfortable and familiar illusions?

an hûn dê di nava nezaniya xwe ya aram de bijîn?

Truth or habit? Light or shadow?

Rastî an Xû? Ronî an Sîh?

Hard choices, but if it's any consolation, you're not alone.

Pirsên dijwar, lê dilşabin ku hûn ne tenê ne.

There are lots of us down here.

Ji me gelek hene.