Comparing Plato's Allegory Of The Sun And The Good

Socrates points out that this allegory corresponds to the earlier discussion about the good. Hence, it relates to the analogy of the sun and the analogy of the divided line. Socrates describes analogy of the sun as "a child of the good and most similar to it". He begins with saying that there are things which we can see and feel (visible realm) and there is the good itself, something we can only think about (intelligible realm). He continues, saying that eyesight requires light in order for object to be seen. Light comes from the sun, hence, sun gives a possibility for objects to be seen. Socrates compares the relationship between sight and the sun to the intellect and the good. Good gives power to things that are known. So, just as sun enables

Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” is one of the most well-known metaphors in philosophy. This metaphor is meant to illustrate the impact and importance of education on the human soul. Plato describes how it is essential that we conquer the stages of ignorance through education, to lead us to the Ultimate Good or Enlightenment. The scene begins dark as he describes the first stage as

To Socrates the sun is the visible realm of the good compared to the intelligible realm. The sun is the source of light, which would be the visibility in the visible realm, which then would connect to the Good being the source of intelligibility. The sun is responsible for giving us sight, since that the Good gives us the capacity for knowledge The job of the sun is to allow the eye to have sight and to be able to see visible things (Republic VI 508a5). This is then tied to how the truth illuminates the good like the sun makes things visible to all (508d5). Knowledge and truth are very similar bit not the good and same goes for light is like the sun but not the sun. The sun and the good are something much greater. At first the sun blinds the man. He is not yet ready to be in the sun and must take more time to get familiar with the sun, eventually he does understand the sun and power it holds (561a1-516b10). He explains how the sun represents a form of the good which can only be seen by toil and trouble. This

1)The two competing paradigms Materialism and Rationalism between ancient Greek philosophers could be narrowed down into two categories. The two concepts related back to the main question; what concept is primary? Physical or conceptual.

The allegory of the cave is Plato’s explanation of the bases of enlightenment.The allegory details the deep struggles that philosophy endured while trying to display the truth of closed-minded individual. The allegory was written well before it’s and raised many thought provoking questions as well as discussion on the true meaning behind it. The allegory of the cave has numerous uses of rhetorical devices, whether it being symbolism, rhetorical question and even metaphors.

What is philosophy? Today when the word “philosophy” is spoken, it provokes thought in most people. Philosophy is often associated with the wisest ones from the past such as Aristotle and Plato. In fact, the word itself originates from the Greek word “philosophia,” directly translating into the “love of wisdom.” Ancient Greek philosophy covered an extensive amount of subjects such as science, the analysis of common political and social life, along with religious affairs (Adkins and Adkins, “Philosophy, Ancient Greek”) . Ultimately, Ancient Greek philosophy is a complex system of thought shaped by pre-socratic thought, sophist thought, hellenistic thought, and the thought of highly esteemed figures.

Plato is known as the most progressive and fruitful philosophers of his time. He created the practice of questioning everything, and he illuminated the knowledge ignored by the majority. His ideas were rejected, despite his intentions of expanding knowledge and creating a more clear vision of the world. However, his students of philosophy, Aristotle and Glaucon were the most prominent of those who chose to learn from him. Plato engaged in dialogue with these two in particular, and he used one of his conversations with Glaucon to exemplify the message that people did not want to be enlightened in the "Allegory of the Cave", a section of his book Republic. Through the use of counterpoints, metaphors, symbols, and paradox, Plato was able to accomplish presenting a paradigm where humans find it difficult to accept the reality of enlightenment over the comfort of a simpler fantasy they have always known in the “Allegory of the Cave.”

Plato’s view of the good is shown through one of Plato’s writings, “The Allegory of the Cave”. In telling his allegory, Plato’s main character Socrates tells Glaucon to picture a cave that contained prisoners who have been kept there for their entire lives. All of the prisoners are chained down so that they can’t move around or escape the cave and are limited to only looking at the wall that is in front of them. The puppet showmen perform in front of the prisoners by using puppets that appear as humans and animals while their shadows are projected onto the wall because they are performing in front of a fire. The prisoners believe that the images on the wall are real, because it’s all they’ve ever known to believe is real. Plato is conveying how you should bring those who are misled “out of the cave” (away from ignorance) and into the real world (into wisdom). “The business of us who are the founders of the State will be to compel the best minds to attain that knowledge which we have already shown to be

Plato like Socrates believed that reason not the experience of the sense led to genuine

In succession, arrives the subsequent and conclusive metaphor Plato generates as an armory for his discussion on goodness. This metaphor is referred to as The Allegory of the Cave and works to propagate a vivid vision of life according to the value of goodness, knowledge, and truth. Plato has one imagine an existence of limitation. Accordingly forcing one to view the methods of limitation prominent in their current circumstances and the influence of philosophy on the human condition as a whole. Socrates establishes this likeness through the statement, “They’re no different from us… do you think they’d see anything of themselves and one another except the shadows cast by the fire on to the cave wall directly opposite them?” With this rhetorical technique one must put their own status adjacent to one of a person who is bound in a cave of darkness and lead to believe this is the totality of life. Nevertheless, as the allegory unfolds, an individual is provided the opportunity to experience light and expand their horizons multifold. At first the individual cannot comprehend the expansion and explosion of light, but then as reality dawns a sense of confusion ensues for what to do next, how can one explain this to

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave describes ignorance and the process of enlightenment. The cave symbolizes a

In Republic, Plato (trans. 1968) relays his thoughts on learning through the perspective of Socrates, a greek philosopher. Socrates uses an allegory of a cave in order to explain how humans learn throughout the different stages of life and discovery. The allegory begins in the dark where a group of humans are bound in a sun deprived cave so that they can only look straight ahead towards a wall (Plato, trans. 1968). Unbenounced to them, there is a fire which casts shadows of statues of real entities found in nature. But because the prisoners can only see what is projected

Plato and Aristotle view knowledge and the process whereby it is obtained. They both point out that many epistemological concepts which they believe where knowledge comes from and what it is actually. Most of them have been astonished me in certain ways, but I found that rationalism and "wisdom consists in knowing the cause which made a material thing to be what it is" make the most sense to me regarding the nature of knowledge. As the following, we will discuss about why these two philosophical viewpoints are superior and the others are inferior.

When gained, one’s idea of knowledge proves to be illuminating and beneficial to his or her mind’s purity. Plato believes that “in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual.” It is wholesome knowledge that provides truth, and truth, in turn, provides understanding. The “light” that Plato describes as a result of having knowledge is a symbol of purity, clarity, and truth; it provides an intellectual illumination of reason and awareness of all things good and beautiful. Accordingly, what Plato criticizes as “darkness,” or ignorance, the Schaibles perceive as their own from of truth and wisdom. The

Plato’s theory of knowledge claims that knowledge is only achieved in what is eternal and unchanging. True knowledge is distinguished from all else by its unique nature of being perceived by intellection and without hypothesis. Throughout the Republic, Plato attempts to explain through several images of speech and conceptual examples the essence of what is and what is not true knowledge. Plato’s model of education is reflective of his belief that the purpose of education is to point towards knowledge of the form of the good and the formation of a good soul. How is knowledge achieved? Music and gymnastics in the process of working towards positive formation of the soul