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Sutaria 1
Yash Sutaria
Kelly Evans
DISC 1312
13 September 2014
The Process of Enlightenment through Courage in Plato’s Allegory
An enlightened leader is an individual who has seen reality and shares his profound
wisdom with others. “The Allegory of The Cave”, Plato’s extended metaphor, exemplifies how
the path to becoming an exceptional and enlightened leader requires an immense amount of
courage. Courage entails doing what is necessary to better oneself and others, even if it requires a
potential sacrifice. An individual therefore needs courage to become an enlightened leader
by venturing beyond his comfort zone and challenging the status quo and societal norms.
Coming out of one’s comfort zone is distressing and cannot be achieved without courage.
In other words, trying something that one has never experienced is an intimidating task.
Undertaking this endeavor is the first step to becoming an enlightened leader. Plato highlights the
unwillingness to leave a feeling of contentment when Plato describes the prisoner as being
“reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he’s forced into the
presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the
light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now
called realities” (Plato). Although Plato describes the prisoner as being in agony, he is now one
step closer to becoming enlightened. The prisoner displays courage by sacrificing his comfort to
see the light.
Sutaria 2
Anyone who does not have the inner courage to come out of his comfort zone has no
chance of becoming an enlightened leader. When an individual is not open to discover the light,
he becomes accustomed to believing everything he hears. This type of person is content with
being spoon-fed what someone else tells him is the “truth”. He lacks critical thinking skills and
therefore his beliefs are not entirely his own. He does not have the strength to see reality and is
limited to “darkness”. Plato associates this lack of courage with ignorance when he states “But
then, if I am right, certain professors of education must be wrong when they say that they can put
a knowledge into the soul which was not there before, like sight into blind eyes” (Plato). Plato
metaphorically states that one who is not open-minded enough to have the bravery to leave his
security blanket is blind and naïve and therefore is unable to see the light.
Exploration is the process of doing something one would not normally do and using it to
