The Cave Analogy Flashcards
The escapee
Philosopher or a man who has been enlightened his desire for knowledge makes him leave the cave and his desire to spread knowledge leads him back into the cave
The cave
Represents the visible world around us and our universe. We take it as the real world because we haven’t know anything different
The prisoners
Humanity, who is unable to understand the words of men who are “enlightened”
The chains
Human thoughts and desires which constrain us and keep us from achieving our true philosophical potential
The shadows
What we perceive as the whole of our reality. All empirical knowledge. The particles-objects of our world which are a form of reality but aren’t true reality.
Plato was a
Rationalist- knowledge can only come through though not experience
A priori
Reasoning supported by theory not evidence
Why did he write the cave as an allegory
It represents real events and world views which Plato wanted to express
What book did Plato write the cave allegory in?
The republic 7
Eikasia
The state of mind the other prisoners are in. Lowest level of understanding based on artificial understanding, guesswork and observation
Empirical knowledge
Option which is gained through the senses
Outside
The eternal and immutable world, true reality. The world of the forms and ideas
The sun
Enlightenment or the perfect form of the good
The journey out of the cave
The struggle for knowledge and battle against bodily desires
Return to the cave
Socrates’ attempt to explain his ideas and philosophy
What was platos point of the cave allegory
You have I distinguish between the two realities: that of empirical knowledge and that of a priori knowledge which is the truest reality. Those who escape from the world of empirical knowledge can know the truth which is in the world of the forms
What does the cave represent
A world where people don’t fully understand reality because they rely on empirical knowledge instead of a priori knowledge
It is an absolutist argument and therefore
In platos mind can’t be disproved
Criticisms
There ain’t any proof that there is a cave or an outside world
Criticism
How do we prove who is living in the empirical world and who is living in the try world because everyone thinks we are living in the true reality
Aristotle’s criticism
Disagreed in his book nicomanchean ethics. Didn’t agree that the truest form of an object over and above the particle form
What is opinion gained through
Sense, or empirical knowledge
What is true knowledge gained through
Philosophical reason and is certain
Who should lead or society
Someone who has studied philosophy and is her fire enlightened to the true reality
