Plato Flashcards
In the allegory of the Cave, what does the cave represent?
The sensory world we live in.
In the allegory of the Cave, what does outside the cave represent?
World of the Forms.
In the allegory of the Cave, what do the shackled prisoners represent?
Most human beings who are ignorant and never question - in a state of eikasia (the lowest form of ignorance)
In the allegory of the Cave, what do the puppeteers represent?
Those who manipulate the masses e.g. governments, media.
In the allegory of the Cave, what do the shadows and echoes coming from the puppets represent?
What humans hear and see which they take on face value and don’t question. It is knowledge through the senses which he called opinion.
In the allegory of the Cave, what do the games the prisoners play represent?
Society’s game of making people value things which are not important e.g. power, money.
In the allegory of the Cave, what does the escpaed prisoner represent?
Socrates/anyone who questions society.
In the allegory of the Cave, what does the escaped prisoner’s journey represent?
The journey of philosophical enlightenment. Englightenment of the soul - very difficult. This is true knowledge.
In the allegory of the Cave, what does the escaped prisoner trying to get the other to see the truth and their hostility, killing him represent?
People don’t want to be challenged as it makes them insecure. They will kill people who threaten their stability.
What does the allegory of the Cave imply about this world?
This empirical world was not true reality. It was forever changing. It is in time and space. One can never have true knowledge in a changing world.
What does Plato say about innate knowledge?
We have innate knowledge of concepts such as equality. This innate knowledge comes from the world of the Forms/Ideals. This world is timeless, spaceless and immutable. The innate knowledge comes from our souls which existed in the world of the Forms before being born in our bodies. We must use our minds to access this knowledge as the body drags the soul down and makes it forget the forms.
What examples does Plato give for innate knowledge?
The slave boy who was sent to find two equal sticks and found them. The slave boys who worked out a maths sum with no education. How we understand justice even though it does not exist in this world.
What does Plato say about the Heirarchy of the Forms?
The Form of the Good is at the top, giving purpose to all other forms. Underneath this were forms such as beauty, justice, mercy, wisdom and courage and these come from goodness. He is unclear on this but sometimes he seems to think there were also forms for every day things such as a table, human, dog, tree.
What does Plato say about perfect goodness?
Perfect goodness doesn’t exist in this world but can be accessed through philosophical reasoning.
What evidence supports Plato?
Chomsky’s universal grammar, Descartes’ wax example, slave boy example, Piaget - development of the mind. Near death experiences (Moody)/remembering past lives (Stevenson). Cycle of opposites. Evidence in today’s world of manipulation.
