In the Republic, Socrates uses several images in his arguments as metaphors to explain a larger and more significant statement. The allegory of the cave is used to demonstrate that philosophers are unfairly persecuted by those who are not philosophical, as they are indispensable because they are the only ones in the city capable of seeing the world through the realm of the intelligible, and therefore are able to see the truth (Plato 189). The philosophers in the cave can see more of what is projected before them, unlike the others chained to the wall. They are able to leave the cave and see the real world which represents the intelligible realm (194). They do not praise what is false, but they have seen the truth and know how to distinguish between the two (161). Non-philosophical individuals see the world through the realm of the visible which, unlike the realm of the intelligible, is subject to change and inconsistency. They have never seen or experienced the realm of the intelligible and therefore do not know its value. For this reason I am unable to understand philosophers who see through the realm of the intelligible. In the allegory, when the philosophers are brought back to the cave after being exposed and adapted to the light, they are blind in the darkness and can no longer see the images on the wall. Images are exclusively what non-philosophers see and have ever seen, and therefore they deem philosophers useless because they are unable to see the only things they know exist (195). The philosophers, however, are satisfied, because they have seen the truth and what is real, and cannot return to participating in the lie (196). Their ability to see into the realm of the intelligible makes them valuable beyond... middle of paper... philosophical, they are thought to have a radical and irrational way of thinking, when in reality it is the most rational and more advantageous in the government of the just city (169). Their way of seeing what things are is essential to knowing what justice, the foundation of the city, truly is. They are also crucial to the training of future philosophical guardians because they are the only ones who possess the knowledge and wisdom needed to be passed on to the next generation to maintain a just and successful city, just as the only ones who are capable of bringing forth the new philosophers from the cave are those who are accustomed to it and are capable of seeing its importance. Even though philosophers are ridiculed and deemed useless to society, they are actually integral to the success of the just city.