Free Essay

Explain Plato’s Teaching About Reality in His Analogy of the Cave?

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By nicole1234
Words 996
Pages 4
The Analogy of the Cave was used by Plato, who was a classic Greek philosopher, in his work of ‘The Republic’ to illustrate “our nature in its education and want of education”. The Analogy of the Cave is a fictional story created by Plato’s teacher ‘Socrates’ and Plato’s brother ‘Glaucon’. The Analogy of the Cave is related to Plato’s theory of the Forms - Plato believed that behind every concept (e.g. beauty) or object (e.g. a flower) in the visible world, there is an unseen reality, which he calls its Form. There is, for example a form of beauty and a form of a flower. The forms may be seen as ideal blueprints for the particular earthly examples of beauty or flowers, and so on, which Plato calls particulars. Plato’s analogy of the cave:-
Three prisoners had been chained deep inside a dark cave for their entire lives. They were chained so tightly that all they had ever seen or experienced was the grotesque shadows that were cast on to the wall from a fire that was burning behind them. This was the only reality they had ever known. Then one day, a prisoner was set free. He was blinded at first by the bright sun shine and he was amazed to see a completely new reality of people, animals, and objects casting the shadows in to the cave. He hurried back to the cave to tell the other prisoners the news but to his dismay, the prisoners did not believe his story of the world outside the cave. The shadows were the only reality the prisoners had ever known, and therefore to them, that was all that would ever exist. The prisoners represent ordinary people(like us) who have not yet discovered true knowledge. They have been misled by what they see in to believing that there is nothing beyond shadow play, which for them is the full extent of reality. In the same way, our senses convince us that is nothing beyond what they experience. However, our mistakes is as serious as the prisoners’ and just as obvious to those who know the truth. The shadow play represents the illusion created by our senses. Just as the shadows seemed real to the prisoners, exhibiting order and structure, so the sights and sounds that we experience seem real. They are both, however, equally mistaken because the senses cannot access reality. Plato emphasises the misconception of the illusion by describing shadows of artificial objects cast by flickering firelight; nothing could be further removed from reality. The cave represents the visible world, where the shadows (representing appearances) seem more real than truth itself. It also, however, represents the human body, which imprisons the soul. Just as a cave gives rise to the shadow play, so the body provides us with illusions from our senses. Since these illusions seem more real than reality, the body stops the soul from looking for true knowledge. The journey out of the cave in to the outside world represents the philosopher’s discovery of true knowledge. The prisoner had to loosen his chains and escape from the cave before he could see reality. In the same way, the philosopher must free himself from the illusion created by his senses by using his mind to gain knowledge. Plato emphasises that this journey is painful and confusing because it involves rejecting everything that he has ever known. Like the prisoner, we are amazed and frightened by reality, which is so much greater than our reflections of the forms. The beauty of a painting for example, is illusory and only a poor approximation of the Form of Beauty ; this is why the Forms are sometimes called Ideals.
The forms are primarily different from the visible world in that they are not made of or dependant upon physical matter. As the source of all knowledge, the Forms must be totally consistent; that is, eternal and unchanging. They are therefore immaterial, which is why they cannot be detected by our senses. Although different from the visible world, the Forms nevertheless relate to it. Unlike the Forms, the particulars depend on physical matter and are changeable and imperfect. Plato believed that the only reason why we can recognise and classify things in the visible word is because of the resemblance they bear to the Forms, vague though this is. For example, cats come in different colours, shapes, sizes and deformities. For Plato, their distinguishing feature is the fact that they all share something of the Form of the cat. Since we have some awareness of this in our minds, we can recognise their identity. The same is true with concepts like equality; we recognise two shapes being equal because we have some awareness of the Form of equality. This raises the question of how we can be aware of the Forms when they are beyond our senses. Plato answers this by arguing that each and every human has an immortal soul that had access to the Forms before it was implanted in the body. We therefore have an innate knowledge of them that can be developed through rational thought, which enables the soul to recall its memories. Plato believed that the different forms are all connected to each other in a fixed order of importance. Most important of all is the form of the Good, which is central to existence of the whole universe. It is the principle of order, which structures the other Forms, giving each one its own nature. Without this Form, there would be no ideal of beauty or justice and so on.
As the sun gives life to all things and illuminates them, enabling us to see them for what they are, so the Form of the Good gives rise to all knowledge, enabling us to recognise the other Forms. The highest task of the philosopher is to gain knowledge of the Good, for this will lead to full understanding and rational behaviour.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Tells Us Nothing About Our Word. Discuss (10 Marks)

...To explain the way in which Plato’s analogy of the cave could tell us something about reality, one could use the example that all human beings have a sense of “justice”. It of course differs between different cultures in its detail but it is present everywhere. The allegory provides explanation for this, the concept of perfect “justice” is present in the Realm of the Forms. Hence, as our soul is eternal humans through the use of anamneses have an imperfect reflection of what “justice” should be. This not only explains why all humans present this concept, even with no previous teachings of it. But also provides insight into why different cultures have a contrasting view of justice, such as the use of torture. As our understanding of the form of “justice” can never reflect perfectly, humans as a whole can never all agree on means of justice. This can be applied to any innate concepts humans portray, such ; “evil”, “beauty” and “morality”. Explaining some unclear aspects of our world. However, Plato’s theories have been heavily criticized over time, even showing flaws Plato never addresses. The third man argument developed by Aristotle directly challenges the Realm of the Forms. The argument asserts that for something to be a perfect form, it must have all the attributes of the being. Therefore, since it has all the attributes of the being, it would have to be the being not just a perfect form of a being. Simply put, if a man is a man because he partakes in the form of man, then...

Words: 367 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Plato's Middle Period Epistemology

...Plato's Middle Period Metaphysics and Epistemology 1.0. The Background to Plato’s Metaphysics The author Silverman, Allan (2014) of this article titled Plato’s Middle Period Metaphysics and Epistemology wrote about how Plato first began to annotate his own points on metaphysics and epistemology. As we all knew, Plato’s definition of things are heavily influenced by his teachers Heraclitus (c.540 B.C.-480-70) Parmenides (c.515 B.C.-449-40) and especially Socrates (470 B.C-399). However only remnants of the writings of Heraclitus and Parmenides and also nothing left of Socrates. The only evidence that we ever had is Plato’s depiction of his teacher that is the dialog he wrote in his writings about Socrates’s views. Sometimes, it is as if it was Socrates’s writing not Plato because of the many things about Socrates he wrote. Some had said that it was his own views but instead he used Socrates as the speaker. This article also wrote about Plato’s predecessors’ views of the concept that influences his definition of Metaphysics and Epistemology which are Being and Forms. Firstly, Parmenides which he said there is one and only in this world and that is being. The truth is it never change and will never be. Sadly, there is not much we could conclude from Parmenides’s point of view. His concept of being has become Plato’s based of doctrine of Forms. As contrast to Parmenides’s definition of physical world, Heraclitus is the advocate of change. He said that the ordinary objects...

Words: 4378 - Pages: 18

Free Essay

Plato: a Guide to Education

...Daniel Vicinanzo Plato’s Republic: A Guide to Education The Republic of Plato is a dialogue in which Plato’s teacher Socrates outlines his ideal city. The dialogue first sets out to answer one very important question: what is justice? The story begins with Socrates in the presence of several people, both friends and enemies, to whom he poses the question, ‘What is justice?’ Socrates then goes on to strike down every theory proposed and offers no definition of his own. This brings about the discussion of the ideal city. During this discussion, it is decided that the citizens of the city will be divided into three classes: the auxiliaries, the producers, and the guardians. The guardians are to be a class of citizens above the rest. They will be the defenders and rulers of the city and, therefore, must be the best of the best. This essay will summarize the education that Socrates advocates for the guardians of his city, and then discuss analyze the education of the guardian class in relation to that of Socrates’ own Socratic method to see if Socrates truly believes in the city he is creating. The first mention of the guardians’ education comes after Glaucon wishes to make the city far more luxurious, as he has begun having too much fun making up his own city and cannot imagine his ideal city as austere as the one Socrates has been describing. When Socrates begins adding some of these...

Words: 2787 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

A.) Aristotles Theory of the Four Causes B.) “Aristotle’s Theory of the Four Causes Is Convincing” Discuss.

...a.)  Aristotle’s Theory of The Four Causes. Aristotle argues for and explains the four causes in his books ‘Physics’ and ‘Metaphysics’. He claims that there are only four causes (or explanations) needed to give evidence for change in the world. A complete explanation of the change of any object will use all four causes. These causes are; material, formal, efficient and final. Aristotle understood that each of the four causes was necessary to explain the change from potentiality to actuality.             The material cause is the substance of which something is made out of; "That from which, as a constituent, an object comes into being." The human bodies ‘material causes’ are cells, skin and tissue. A computer’s ‘material cause’ would be its pixels and electronic components. Aristotle used the example of a bronze sculpture or a silver saucer. Bronze or silver, in this case, would be the material cause. The material cause is also a question scientists try and answer when they examine a specimen; they discover what it is made from. The material cause explains the general properties of an object. For example, the human body needs oxygen because its cells need oxygen, and a computer needs electricity because the electronic components need electricity to fuel them. Finally, the material cause can be split into two sectors: proximate matter and prime matter. Proximate matter is matter that has some working properties, such as cells and electronic components. Prime matter has no...

Words: 1432 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Ethics and Related Philosophies

..."custom, habit". The superfield within philosophy known as axiology includes both ethics and aesthetics and is unified by each sub-branch's concern with value. Philosophical ethics investigates what is the best way for humans to live, and what kinds of actions are right or wrong in particular circumstances. Ethics may be divided into three major areas of study: * Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their truth values (if any) may be determined * Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action * Applied ethics draws upon ethical theory in order to ask what a person is obligated to do in some very specific situation, or within some particular domain of action (such as business) Related fields are moral psychology, descriptive ethics, and value theory. Ethics seeks to resolve questions dealing with human morality—concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime. II. PHILOSOPHIES A. SOCRATES Socratic method Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method or method of "elenchus", which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the...

Words: 4459 - Pages: 18

Free Essay

Not an Essay

...AS Philosophy & Ethics Course Handbook 2013 to 2014 [pic] OCR AS Level Religious Studies (H172) http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/hss/rs/index.aspx OCR AS Level Religious Studies (H172) You are studying Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics and will be awarded an OCR AS Level in Religious Studies. The modules and their weightings are: |AS: |Unit Code |Unit Title |% of AS |(% of A Level) | | |G571 |AS Philosophy of Religion |50% |(25%) | | |G572 |AS Religious Ethics |50% |(25%) | If you decide to study for the full A Level you will have to study the following modules at A2: |A2: |Unit Code |Unit Title |(% of A Level) | | |G581 |A2 Philosophy of Religion |(25%) | | |G582 |A2 Religious Ethics |(25%) | Grading | ...

Words: 13036 - Pages: 53

Free Essay

Theology Revision

...Theology Revision Plato Plato lived in Athens in the 5th and 4th Centuries BC He was the student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle He was a dualist- believed in the body and the soul He believed the soul was more perfect than the body He believed that societies should be run by philosophers He believed the physical world is a pale imitation of the world of the forms The allegory of the cave The prisoners- normal people of society The prisoner who escapes- philosophers, people that thirst to know the real truth The people casting the shadows- the leaders of society- shaping the world without knowing the truth The shadows/statues- what people believe is reality, what they are told to believe, things people deem to be important The cave- a world without knowledge, the physical world/the body The fire- controlled, dim light- limited knowledge. An imitation of the form of the good The journey outside- a difficult journey, acquisition of knowledge The sun- illuminates the true world- form of the good The journey back into the cave- the desire to educate and inform others of the truth The world of the Forms Forms Plato uses the word ‘form’ to describe the true essence of material objects in the world This idea of the ‘form’ exists in a non physical (yet more real) realm that can only be understood by the mind. This is called the world of the forms Plato believed that the forms were interrelated and hierarchical The highest form The ultimate principle...

Words: 5746 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Philosophy & Ethics

...ignorance – nobody chooses to do wrong deliberately. • Therefore, to be moral you must have true knowledge. The problem of the One and the Many Plato was trying to find a solution to the problem that although there is underlying stability in the world (sun comes up every morning), it is constantly changing (you never step into the same river twice). 1. An old theory about this problem is that we gain all knowledge from our senses – empirically. 2. Plato disagreed with this. He said that because the world is constantly changing, our senses cannot be trusted. Plato illustrated his idea in the dialogue, ‘Meno’: Socrates sets a slave boy a mathematical problem. The slave boy knows the answer, yet he has not been taught maths. Plato suggests that the slave boy remembers the answer to the problem, which has been in his mind all along. So, according to Plato, we don't learn new things, we remember them. In other words, knowledge is innate. Plato’s Theory of the Forms Plato believed that the world was divided into: 1. Reality and; 2. Appearance |REALITY |APPEARANCE | |An intelligible world |A visible world | |A world beyond the senses |A world of senses | |A world of true knowledge |A world of opinions | [pic] [pic] ...

Words: 17188 - Pages: 69

Premium Essay

Smith and Wessen

...PHIL 127: History of Ancient Philosophy Socrates and His Mission When is a Question Philosophical? Philosophical questions have answers. (A question that has no answer is not a question; it just masquerades as one.) But a question is philosophical for a particular culture at a particular time when no means of answering it are available – or, none of the prevailing methods have any authority. A problem is a philosophical problem when the way to go about answering the question is in question. An issue is a philosophical issue when the right way to settle the issue is at issue. A Philosophical Crisis If the claims in the previous paragraph are true, then 5th century Greece was in a philosophical crisis. It was a crisis in morality. In our culture we think of morality as being concerned with rules. Here are some rules – You should not kill. – You should not steal. – Don’t hit people. – Lying is wrong. – It’s wrong to promise to do something and then not do it. – You should not covet your neighbors wife, or his ox or his ass or his male or female slave, or anything that is your neighbor’s. – You should not lie with a man as with a woman. – Thou should not wear fabric woven of wool one way and linen the other. – Do (imperative) unto others as you would have them do unto you. – Help (imperative) other people who are in need when you can do so at no great risk or cost to yourself. Why do we think of morality as consisting of rules? This question is important...

Words: 28769 - Pages: 116

Free Essay

The Decline and Fall of Literature

...The Decline and Fall of Literature November 4, 1999 ANDREW DELBANCO E-mail Print [pic]Share [pic] [pic]In Plato’s Cave[pic] by Alvin Kernan A couple of years ago, in an article explaining how funds for faculty positions are allocated in American universities, the provost of the University of California at Berkeley offered some frank advice to department chairs, whose job partly consists of lobbying for a share of the budget. “On every campus,” she wrote, “there is one department whose name need only be mentioned to make people laugh; you don’t want that department to be yours.”1 The provost, Carol Christ (who retains her faculty position as a literature professor), does not name the offender—but everyone knows that if you want to locate the laughingstock on your local campus these days, your best bet is to stop by the English department. The laughter, moreover, is not confined to campuses. It has become a holiday ritual for The New York Times to run a derisory article in deadpan Times style about the annual convention of the Modern Language Association, where thousands of English professors assemble just before the new year. Lately it has become impossible to say with confidence whether such topics as “Eat Me; Captain Cook and the Ingestion of the Other” or “The Semiotics of Sinatra” are parodies of what goes on there or serious presentations by credentialed scholars.2 At one recent English lecture, the speaker discussed a pornographic “performance artist”...

Words: 9854 - Pages: 40

Premium Essay

Four Pillar of Education

...prominent media company. I asked my classes for advice on how to address several edits, dealing with sources, transitions, terminology, and structure. A few days later, I directed my budding writers to the much-improved final draft. This easy but worthwhile activity helped more of my students feel comfortable receiving criticism, and not view it as an affront. As a result, they improved their writing by taking the time and care to consider and respond to reader insight. I want my students to feel secure in the knowledge that nobody is beyond criticism (even their teacher), and that the bigger challenge is developing the good sense to acknowledge and successfully respond to feedback. Along those lines, I also offer the suggestions below about teaching writing: 1. Writers are the Best Writing Teachers To teach effective writing, we must be effective writers ourselves. We can't teach what we don't know, and when it comes to writing, it's important to continue honing our craft. If you haven't engaged in much formal writing since college, you will remain a less effective writing teacher. No matter what subject you teach, try...

Words: 10753 - Pages: 44

Premium Essay

Good Life

...mTELECOURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR The Examined Life FOURTH EDITION author J. P. White Chair, Department of Philosophy Santa Barbara City College contributing author Manuel Velasquez Professor of Philosophy Santa Clara University This Telecourse Study Guide for The Examined Life is part of a collegelevel introduction to philosophy telecourse developed in conjunction with the video series The Examined Life, and the text Philosophy: A Text with Readings, tenth edition, by Manuel Velasquez, The Charles Dirksen Professor, Santa Clara University. The television series The Examined Life was designed and produced by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, Netherlands Educational Broadcasting Corporation (TELEAC/NOT), and Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company (UR) Copyright © 2007, 2005, 2002, 1999 by INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications, 150 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 300, Pasadena, California 91105-1937. ISBN: 0-495-10302-0 Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Lesson One — What is Philosophy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

Words: 78103 - Pages: 313

Premium Essay

Philo

...Business Ethics (Supplementary Lecture Notes) Mr. Joel C. Porras “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actios, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, they beconme your destiny.” ANONYMOUS Preliminary Notions: A. Etymological: The word ethics comes from the Greek word “ethos” ,meaning : custom, a habitual way of acting character, a meaning that the Latin terms “mos” , “moris” also connote. Among the Greeks , “ethics” meant what concerns human conduct/human action. B. Descriptive: Largely a concern of cultural anthropologists and sociologists. Its task is to describe how some person, members of a culture or society address all sorts of moral issues, what customs they have, and so, how they are accustomed to behave. C. Met-ethics: Concerns itself with the meanings of moral terms: like good and bad, right and wrong, duties and rights, etc. Hence the concern is with the understanding of the use of these terms, their logical forms and the objects to which they refer. Sometimes the concern of meta-ethicist is even more fundamental: What is the possibility of moral philosophy. D. Normative: Ethics is normative, not in the way that logic is, namely. With regard to the correctness of our thinking, but with regard to the goodness of our living, the right orientation of our existence. It is a practical science, not simply because it treats human action,...

Words: 17119 - Pages: 69

Free Essay

Kieser

...adopted it as an auxiliary text in a dozen dIfferent departments. Why? Perhaps it was the user-friendly way that Please Understand Me helped people find their personality style. Perhaps it was the simple accuracy of Keirsey's portraits of temperament and character types. Or perhaps it was the book's essential messag~: that members of families and institutions are OK, even though they are fundamentally different from each other, and that they would all do well to appreciate their differences and give up trying to change others into copies of themselves. Now: P"IS' IllIIrstalllll H For the past twenty years Professor Keirsey has continued to investigate personality differences-to refine his theory of the four temperaments and to define the facets of character that distinguish one from another. His findings form the basis of Please Understand Me II, an updated and greatly expanded edition of the book, far more comprehensive and coherent than the original, and yet with much of the same easy accessibility. One major addition is Keirsey's view of how the temperaments differ in the intelligent roles they are most likely to develop. Each of us, he says, has four kinds of intelligence-tactical, logistical, diplomatic, strategic-though one of the four interests us far more than the others, and thus gets far more practice than the rest. Like four suits in a hand of cards, we each have a long suit and a short suit in what interests us and what we do well, and fortunate indeed are those whose...

Words: 35927 - Pages: 144

Premium Essay

Myun

...Metaphysics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:navigation, search This article is about the branch of philosophy. For the work of Aristotle, see Metaphysics (Aristotle). |Philosophy | |[pic] | |Branches[show] | |Aesthetics | |Epistemology | |Ethics | |Logic | |Metaphysics | |Social philosophy | |Political philosophy | |Eras[show] | |Ancient | |Medieval | |Modern | |Contemporary | |Traditions[show] | |Analytic | |Continental | |Eastern | |Islamic | |Marxist | |Platonic | |Scholastic | |Philosophers[show] | |Aestheticians | |Epistemologists...

Words: 48829 - Pages: 196