Plato and Aristotle (Ancient philosophical inflencess
Plato: the Cave, the Forms and the Form of the Good
Incredible introducton-
The theory of the Forms is Plato’s answer to two key branches of philosophical enquiry: metaphysics
(what exists) and epistemology (what we can know). In his book The Republic, he argues through
the mouthpiece of Socrates, that humans rely too heavily on their senses and should not rely on
them for any genuine knowledge about reality. For him, knowledge gained through sensory
experience is merely ‘doxa’ or opinion, and is far removed from genuine knowledge (episteme) of
the truth of the forms. As a ratonalist, he believed that it was a priori knowledge which was superior
and he explained his dualist understanding of reality through his Allegory of the Cave, exploring it in
more detail in the Divided Line and Simile of the Sun. This essay will fnd that, despite some clear
strengths, such as highlightng our need to queston the reliability of the senses, Plato’s theory of the
forms is, ultmately, not successful. The most destructve critcism is from Aristotle ‘s third man
argument which highlights how Plato’s theory of the forms results in a meaningless infnite
regression of ‘worlds’ of forms. Ultmately then, it might be argued that since Plato’s ideas
are flawed, Aristotle’s empiricism could be seen as a much more convincing account of reality.
Plato’s Cave: Understand what Plato means in his analogy of the cave and be able to explain his symbolism:
A.N. Whitehead said: All European philosophy is a “series of footnotes to Plato” [i.e. Plato is quite a
major philosopher to our thinking.]
For Plato, knowledge gained through reasoning (a-priori) is certain.
The Allegory/Analogy of the Cave makes a contrast between people who see appearances and
mistake them for truth, and those who actually see truth.
The Allegory of the Cave =
Imagine prisoners in a cave. They are chained to the foor so that they can only see the wall in front of
them and the shadows of things passing the mouth of the cave. One man escapes out of the cave. It is
a hard journey out of the cave. At frst he is dazzled by the ‘real’ objects which were more real than
the shadows he saw in the cave. He then returns to the cave to tell his fellows, but they reject him.
This suggests people are ‘philosophical ignorant’ and are like prisoners. They can only see the
shadows playing on the back of the cave. They think the shadows are real.
The world outside represents ‘Real’ stuf i.e. the world of Forms. The prisoner who escapes = is
philosophically enlightened i.e. Philosopher-King.
The Symbolism:
The Cave = world of sight/appearances.
Prisoners = us, trapped in this world of appearances who believe this all as true. We are like
prisoners who are being stopped from realising the Real i.e. the Forms. Prisoners are in state
of Eikasia (i.e. lowest level of understanding).
The objects/statles = imitatons of the Forms.
Objects carried by people = those people represent politcians who lead people but don’t
actually know the truth of the Forms or don’t want people to know.
The Fire = the sun of our world
The jolrney olt of Cave = journey of the soul upward into the realm of Forms.
Being dazzled = analogy to the philosopher gradually learning to diferentate between the
Forms and imitatons.
Plato: the Cave, the Forms and the Form of the Good
Incredible introducton-
The theory of the Forms is Plato’s answer to two key branches of philosophical enquiry: metaphysics
(what exists) and epistemology (what we can know). In his book The Republic, he argues through
the mouthpiece of Socrates, that humans rely too heavily on their senses and should not rely on
them for any genuine knowledge about reality. For him, knowledge gained through sensory
experience is merely ‘doxa’ or opinion, and is far removed from genuine knowledge (episteme) of
the truth of the forms. As a ratonalist, he believed that it was a priori knowledge which was superior
and he explained his dualist understanding of reality through his Allegory of the Cave, exploring it in
more detail in the Divided Line and Simile of the Sun. This essay will fnd that, despite some clear
strengths, such as highlightng our need to queston the reliability of the senses, Plato’s theory of the
forms is, ultmately, not successful. The most destructve critcism is from Aristotle ‘s third man
argument which highlights how Plato’s theory of the forms results in a meaningless infnite
regression of ‘worlds’ of forms. Ultmately then, it might be argued that since Plato’s ideas
are flawed, Aristotle’s empiricism could be seen as a much more convincing account of reality.
Plato’s Cave: Understand what Plato means in his analogy of the cave and be able to explain his symbolism:
A.N. Whitehead said: All European philosophy is a “series of footnotes to Plato” [i.e. Plato is quite a
major philosopher to our thinking.]
For Plato, knowledge gained through reasoning (a-priori) is certain.
The Allegory/Analogy of the Cave makes a contrast between people who see appearances and
mistake them for truth, and those who actually see truth.
The Allegory of the Cave =
Imagine prisoners in a cave. They are chained to the foor so that they can only see the wall in front of
them and the shadows of things passing the mouth of the cave. One man escapes out of the cave. It is
a hard journey out of the cave. At frst he is dazzled by the ‘real’ objects which were more real than
the shadows he saw in the cave. He then returns to the cave to tell his fellows, but they reject him.
This suggests people are ‘philosophical ignorant’ and are like prisoners. They can only see the
shadows playing on the back of the cave. They think the shadows are real.
The world outside represents ‘Real’ stuf i.e. the world of Forms. The prisoner who escapes = is
philosophically enlightened i.e. Philosopher-King.
The Symbolism:
The Cave = world of sight/appearances.
Prisoners = us, trapped in this world of appearances who believe this all as true. We are like
prisoners who are being stopped from realising the Real i.e. the Forms. Prisoners are in state
of Eikasia (i.e. lowest level of understanding).
The objects/statles = imitatons of the Forms.
Objects carried by people = those people represent politcians who lead people but don’t
actually know the truth of the Forms or don’t want people to know.
The Fire = the sun of our world
The jolrney olt of Cave = journey of the soul upward into the realm of Forms.
Being dazzled = analogy to the philosopher gradually learning to diferentate between the
Forms and imitatons.
