Plato's Allegory of the Cave Free Reading Passage: Philosophy in the Classroom

If you want to teach philosophy with young people, use this free reading passage that introduces students to Plato's famous story of the cave. The resource includes a retelling of the story of Plato's allegory of the cave (from The Republic) in plain language. In this story, Plato imagines a world where one man wakes up and questions what is real and what is not real. Have your students read this story with you and record the gist.

*This resource is optimized for distance learning. The product includes an editable Google Docs link. Modify this resource for use on Google Classroom and other classroom management sites* Also includes free Easel activities.

This resource includes the following features:

• The text of the story is included in this resource
  • The story is retold from the source material in easy-to-understand English. Great for a class read-and-share. Or, have students pair-read the text and then have a whole-class discussion.
• Bonus Resource: 5 Philosophy Resources for Students and Student Sample Work
• Bibliography
  • I use the bibliography as a further reading resource for my students. Assign your curious scholars a research assignment or have students do projects based on books, links, and other material related to Plato they may find interesting or exciting.

Suggested Uses:

1. Humanities Course on Ancient Greece
2. World History Course on the History of Ideas
3. Literature Course
4. Ethics Course — See how I used this resource in an Ethics class with 8th graders!
5. Introduction to Philosophy Course
6. Student Advisory Course on Drug and Alcohol Abuse
7. A Lesson on Truth
8. A lesson on Appearance and Reality

Discover More of My Philosophy in the Classroom Series

• Download the full version of Stones of Erasmus popular Plato's Allegory of the Cave lesson!
• Want Google Forms with your Plato? — get it here.
• See companion lesson "The Ring of Gyges" - on the uses and misuses of justice from Plato's Republic.
• 5-product Philosophy in the Classroom bundle — Includes this resource plus Ring of Gyges, Nietzsche, Empiricism and Rationalism, and an activity to Discuss any Moral Problem.

Check out my website to follow me on my journey: stonesoferasmus.com. I often blog about books, teaching, art, and cherished journals and rants.