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192140 https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.2.N.192140 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 2024-05 72 pages Donovan, Jaxon Klein, Shawn de Marneffe, Peter Barrett, The Honors College Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch School of Politics and Global Studies Text It is my position that Kendrick Lamar takes a journey over the course of his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” (TPAB) that is similar to the journey taken by the prisoner up and out of the cave described by Socrates in the Republic. Using the structure and ideas of the Republic, I will provide a novel interpretation of the album that highlights Lamar’s transformation and development. The general lesson that I have learned by connecting these two works is that becoming a better person is a difficult and continuous process but also a fulfilling one. First, I will provide some points of context from the Republic and TPAB that are relevant to my argument. Second, I will identify the three stages of the cave prisoner’s ascent out of the cave and Lamar’s escape from Compton together. Third, I will split up the three stages into their own three chapters and show how Lamar’s three-staged journey is similar to the cave prisoner’s. To do this, I will propose shadows, statues, and forms present in TPAB. In each chapter, I will demonstrate using Plato’s tripartite model of the soul how each stage corresponds to one of the three stages of Lamar’s metaphorical metamorphosis on TPAB: caterpillar, cocoon, and butterfly. In the third chapter, I will bring everything together to show how a Platonic understanding of TPAB allows us to better understand the process of Lamar’s self-realization. In my conclusion, I will end with summary of what I have accomplished and the personal thoughts and lessons I have learned from assembling all of this. Philosophy Plato's Republic To Pimp a Butterfly Kendrick Lamar The Philosophy of Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly"