6/21/2023 0 Comments Plato allegory of the cave![]() ![]() It comes as a surprise that the person who opposed Plato the most was his student Aristotle. As a result, there hasn't been many people that have opposed his fundamental ideas and theories. It is generally considered that Plato's work has been the staple of philosophy ever since its creation. These four realms represent the ontological hierarchy of Plato's metaphysics. The intelligible realm consists of intelligence or pure ideas which includes philosophy and forms, and mathematical reasoning which includes geometry and mathematical forms. The visible realm can be split into the lower region which is belief or objects such as animals and man-made objects and the higher region is illusion which are images such as shadows and reflections. ![]() Each of these two realms can be sub-divided giving us four realms of being and cognition. Plato believed that the closer you were to the intelligible realm the closer you got to truth and reality, therefore, the closer you got to the visible realm, you were least likely to get to the truth and reality. This line is divided into two parts: the intelligible realm or world of the forms, and the visible realm or the world of appearances. Plato's ontological and epistemological view of the universe can be described using a visual metaphor known as the divided line. This is like the criticism Socrates experienced which he had to endure, ultimately leading to his death via execution. However, those that have not experienced this and have not developed a new way of thinking will criticise the individuals who have. This supports Plato's theory of Forms because it shows that an escaped prisoner can understand reality, much like we as individuals can understand our world if we continue to pursue philosophical knowledge. However, upon return, the escaped prisoner is greeted with persecution by the remaining prisoners as being idiotic or speaking nonsense, this was emphasised by the fact that the escaped prisoner had difficulty adjusting to the darkness, this is a metaphor as to when truth has been found, it is difficult to go back to old ways of thinking. Once the prisoner has adapted to the outside world they return, with the knowledge they have gathered with the goal of educating the other prisoners. Whilst in the outside world, the prisoner gets blinded by the sun, the highest of all forms and is also the form of good as it makes things visible. When a prisoner leaves the cave, they will see true reality in the form of the outside world and so have sought true knowledge – this is a metaphor for a philosopher which has access to knowledge. These prisoners would perceive these shadows to be real, and in order to truly understand the shadows, one must escape and make the journey out of the cave. The casted shadows and noises and echoes are coming from objects which they cannot see. Behind the prisoners is a walkway where puppeteers hold up puppets to cast shadows on the cave wall. All they can see is a wall in front of them which is lit by a fire which burns behind them. ![]() In the allegory, the theory of forms is represented by prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads, subsequently meaning that they have not experienced anything beforehand. This is a narrated conversation between Plato's teacher Socrates and his brother, Glaucon. To explain this theory in more depth, Plato hypothesised the ‘Allegory of the cave' story. These are in a hierarchal form, which includes the ‘good' (the highest form), ‘higher forms', ‘lower forms', material objects and images. There are many other forms which exist alongside beauty. Therefore, it has been proposed that we recollect things and apply them to the finite world. Plato also proposed that the recognition of the forms such as beauty in the finite world occurs because our souls have been to the infinite world before we are born into the finite world, this is also known as anamnesis. Essentially, the finite world aspires to reproduce the perfect infinite world. An example of this may be in the form of beauty, which could be reflected in the finite world as a flower. In contrast, the infinite world is one which consists of all the perfect forms that exist, through reflections that are projected into the finite world. Plato proposed that the finite world is one in which we reside, which is imperfect. Within this theory, Plato conveyed the idea of two worlds, the finite world and the infinite world. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |