Final answer:
Socrates, in Plato's Republic, does indeed compare ordinary citizens to prisoners chained inside a dark cave, mistaking shadows for reality, with this scenario being true according to the Allegory of the Cave.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement is true. In Plato's The Republic, Socrates presents the Allegory of the Cave to his student Glaucon. In this allegory, he compares ordinary citizens to prisoners who have been confined in a cave all their lives, chained in such a way that they can only see the shadows projected on the wall in front of them, which they believe to be reality.
These prisoners, he suggests, would resist the enlightenment of one who has escaped and seen the true source of the shadows—the sun, which represents knowledge. This resistance illustrates how difficult it can be for people to accept truths that differ vastly from their long-held beliefs. The allegory is a profound illustration of the journey toward philosophical understanding and the struggle that comes with confronting ignorance with knowledge.