Plato

Question 1

What is the analogy of the cave?

Answer 1

Refers to Plato’s belief that we do not live in the real world, but the world of appearances and the real world is the world of forms. Our world is just an imitation of the real world. We must abandon our empirical evidence/ senses and use reason in order to understand the real world.

Question 2

What is the analogy of the cave?

Answer 2

Refers to Plato’s belief that we do not live in the real world, but the world of appearances and the real world is the world of forms. Our world is just an imitation of the real world. We must abandon our empirical evidence/ senses and use reason in order to understand the real world.

Question 3

What do each aspects of the analogy of the cave represent?

Answer 3

. Cave- the world of appearances
. Sunlight- ultimate good illuminating the truth
. Puppet masters- politics, media controlling us
. Trapped prisoner- us narrow minded
. Chains- material possessions restricting us
. Shadows- imitations of the real forms
. Escaped prisoner- philosopher

Question 4

Is there a form of the bad?

Answer 4

NO. Badness of just a great distance form the ‘Form of the Good’

Question 5

What is the form of the good?

Answer 5

The ultimate form. Necessary for full understanding as all forms are good.
Without the form of good there would be no ideal form of e.g. justice…

Question 6

What is a priori and a posteriori reasoning?

Answer 6

A priori- knowledge based on reasoning
A posteriori- knowledge based on past experience

Question 7

What is the world of forms?

Answer 7

Inhabited by spiritual souls and true beings. The real world with goodness.

Question 8

How do our souls relate to the world of forms?

Answer 8

They naturally belong on the realm of forms, in forms, then they are trapped into our bodies and born into this world leading to forgetfulness. Our souls have already caught a glimpse of the essence of forms- we recognise certain forms (we all have different glimpses of forms to each reflection)

Question 9

What is empiricism?

Answer 9

Belief that we do not gain knowledge through senses because they are constantly changing and cannot be trusted.

Question 10

What did Socrates say about the slave boy?

Answer 10

Socrates gave a slave boy a mathematic problem and he knew the answer before being taught any maths- he remembers answers in him mind from the realm of forms (knowledge developed through rational thought)

Question 11

What is the hierarchy of the forms?

Answer 11

• Ultimate form of good (sun)
• Truth. Beauty. Justice (3 key recognisable forms of concepts- universal qualities)
• concepts and ideals
• physical living objects (inferior to truth, universal qualities superior to physical)
• inanimate objects

Question 12

How do you find the form of good?

Answer 12

. You cannot be told it- it is ultimate
. You cannot find it through senses- it is abstract
. Cannot be changed or inverted- it is external

KNOWN THROUGH REASON (questioned by philosopher until reason used)

Question 13

How do you find the form of good?

Answer 13

. You cannot be told it- it is ultimate
. You cannot find it through senses- it is abstract
. Cannot be changed or inverted- it is external

KNOWN THROUGH REASON (questioned by philosopher until reason used)

Question 14

What did Plato say the form of good is?

Answer 14

The goal at the end of questioning

Question 15

What is the theory of innate knowledge?

Answer 15

The theory that learning is the process of recollection

Question 16

What did Plato say is the most important form?

Answer 16

GOOD. All ideal forms have this in common- the source of all others
The further away from ‘good’ the paler things become, you will see less clearly

Question 17

What are strengths for the analogy of the cave?

Answer 17

• good argument to why there are imperfections (shadows)
• true reality lies beyond our senses

Question 18

What are the weaknesses of the analogy of the cave?

Answer 18

• no proof of another world or that this world is not real
• elitist (only philosophers know the truth and can rule- intelligence)
• even if someone finds the real world doesn’t mean they’ll prefer it and come back to preach it to others

Question 19

What are strengths of the theory of forms?

Answer 19

• why we can recognise same elements in things
• why there are imperfections (shadows)
• encourages questioning things to learn
• why we recognise certain things without being told (e.g justice)
• why we value certain values (close to goodness)

Question 20

What are weaknesses of the theory of forms?

Answer 20

• in another universe- no proof (empirical)
• infinite regression
• good is subjective
• unlikely everything in existence has an ideal form (e.g cancer)
• not clear how our world relates to world of forms
• been relying on senses for ages- useful
  . No obvious conclusion of logical reasoning