Plato's Cave by Ali Chapman

Plato's backround

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 18:22:12 UTC

- Plato was a Greek philosopher - Influenced by Socrates - Was a dualist - believed there was a physical world and a spiritual world - Writings are in diologue

Cave analogy - Symbolism

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 18:26:32 UTC

Cave - Visible world Shadows - Our view of reality Sun - The Form of the Good Prisoners - Humanity (trapped inside themselves) Escaped Prisoner - A philosopher Journey - Quest for true knowledge Outside the cave - The real world Return - Ignorance as prisoners reject the philosophers findiings

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:03:59 UTC

IMPORTANCE OF QUESTIONING EVERYTHING!

Prisoners accept everything at face value

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:08:37 UTC

- Plato rejects empirical knowledge - Appearances can be deceptive

Ordering society

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:11:39 UTC

Believed that the best person to run society was someone who: - broke away from their senses - has no family, possessions or power

Plato's school was to train politicians to be philosophers

The School of Athens painting

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:26:27 UTC

Plato:

Feet - ready to move (everything is changing) Hands - pointing at the Form of the Good Books - holding it upwards (real world is beyond the one we live in)

Aristotle:

Feet - Firmly on the ground Hands - Parallel to the groud Book - Held parallel

EVALUATION

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:36:24 UTC

- No evidence that either world is real - Everyone is convinced they are living in the right world - Believed to be universal - Plato's democracy was very different to modern times - Assumption that people who found true knowledge wouldn't want to return to the visible world - Cave isn't a good representation of the visible world (Doesn't accept the beauty)

Cave analogy

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:47:47 UTC

- Prisoners had been chained up since birth and had never seen anything else. - A fire is present behind the prisoners which projected shadows on the back wall of the cave and provided the only light - One prisoner escapes and discovers the world outside the cave

Each aspect of the analogy symbolises elements of the world.

Essay points

chapmana1 — 2014-12-03 19:53:46 UTC

Cave:

- Represents a world where everyone is held back because they rely on their senses.

Prisoners:

- People who haven't yet discovered true knowledge - Accept everything at face value (Don't question anything) - Convinced what they are looking at is real - Deceived by their senses so they don't believe anything is beyond the shadows

Shadows:

- False version of the truth - Illusion of reality which is created by our senses (Empirical) - Believe the shadows are all that is real

Prisoner:

-Seeks knowledge - Hard journey out symbolises how hard it is to gain true knowledge

Outside the cave:

- Real world - Comes across the sun (Form of the Good)

Return to the cave:

- Tells other prisoners about what he found (Don't believe him and threaten to kill him) - Prisoners are deluded and happy with what they have

Overall analogy:

- Senses are not as reliable as you think - Vital to search beyond our senses if we are to achieve true understanding - Plato believes that a priori knowledge is superior