Plato’s Similes: Sun, Line, and Allegory of the Cave
Simile of the Sun
Socrates discusses with his friends the meaning of justice and how to achieve a fair state with fair citizens. All design work leads to the Ideal State.
The simile of the sun explains the Idea of Good.
Socrates tells Glaucon that the Idea of Good is like the sun, referring to the sun as the “Stem Well.”
The sun causes knowledge because sunlight reveals things.
The sun causes existence; without sunlight, there is no life.
Conclusion: The Sun
The sun causes knowledge and the existence of things.
It is the cause of knowledge thanks to well-known ideas.
Existence is due to the light of good ideas.
Conclusion: The Well
The Well is the cause of knowledge and the existence of ideas.
Simile of the Line
This simile, narrated by Socrates, illustrates the degree of knowledge concerning the degrees of being.
An apprentice philosopher must go through four levels of understanding to become a philosopher-king.
There are two general forms of knowledge:
- Opinion (doxa): visible world
- Science (episteme): the intelligible world
Each level of knowledge relates to an object of knowledge (degree of self) and a scientific discipline to reach it.
Doxa: First Degree of Knowledge – Imagination
The first level of knowledge studies images (indirectly). There is a scientific discipline for this.
Second Degree: Belief
The second degree of knowledge studies things, both natural and artificial. The scientific discipline that studies this is PHYSICS.
Episteme: Third Degree of Knowledge – Thought
The third level of knowledge studies mathematical objects. The scientific discipline that studies this is MATHEMATICS.
Fourth Degree: Intelligence
The fourth degree studies the ideas of knowledge. The scientific discipline that studies this is DIALECTIC.
Conclusion: Four Levels of Consciousness
- Imagination (Eikasia)
- Belief (Pistis)
- Thought (Dianoia)
- Intelligence (Noesis)
Myth of the Cave
Socrates explains the difference between education and a lack of education.
The myth describes human beings as slaves living in a cave since birth, bound and unable to move.
They only see strange shadows on the wall passing in front of them and hear noises from conversations.
The slaves believe that the shadows they see are real.
However, the shadows are produced by a fire that illuminates figures carried by porters.
What if one of them got out and said that what they had seen in their life was all lies?
With the departure of one of them, the soul goes to the intelligible.
The freed slave knows reality: IDEAS.
At first, the slave will find it hard to believe and their eyes will hurt if they look at the light or sun. They need to get used to it.
First, they look at the shadows (IMAGINATION), then the carriers as reflected in the water, and then to their works (BELIEF).
Then, they leave the cave and observe the night and the stars (THOUGHT).
Finally, they will be able to look directly at the sun (GOOD). This is INTELLIGENCE.
So, they understand that they were wrong before and will return to the cave to rescue their comrades, but must be careful because if they do not believe them, they might want to kill them.
Conclusion:
- The cave is the world of things, and the exterior is the world of ideas.
- The freed slave learns to know the ideas, including the most sublime: the Idea of Good.
- To create an ideal state, citizens have to educate citizens.