The Divide Line And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

1130 Words5 Pages
The nature and relation of the visible and intelligible realms of human understating are defined by Socrates in book 6 the Republic by the use of “The Divide Line” and in book 7’s “Allegory of the Cave.” The Visible realm is basically known as the opinion. In order to create an opinion one must know a bit of information and also have the belief that this information is the “truth,” before concluding to form an opinion. Meanwhile, intelligible realms are known as, knowledge which one seeks with reasoning to question what they already know, so they can understand and also acquire new information on what they already do know. The Divided Line splits the Visible realms and the Intelligible realms into four cognitive states, which are opinion, illusion,…show more content…
Plato refers to the illusions and belief as the lowest form of knowledge. The images on the wall that the prisoners inside the cave are looking at are made by the fire. These images are illusions because that is the only world the prisoners inside the cave “know” that exists. The prisoners also have the belief that the images and the cave are the only things in their world that exists to be known as a “real world” for them. The cave and the images projected by the fire are the only things these prisoners can rely on as a source of knowledge. The illusions and beliefs are seen as the lowest form of knowledge because the people inside the cave are not questioning the images or the cave to acquire more knowledge to make sure for themselves if the world they live in is a “real world” or…show more content…
The main goal of this prisoner is to inform the other prisoners know that the intelligible world is outside the cave, and that it is not inside the cave as the prisoners thought. Socrates says, “Haven't you noticed that opinion without knowledge is always a poor thing? At the best it is blind - isn't anyone who holds a true opinion without understanding like a blind man on the right road?” (506c), meaning that an opinion is not valid when it does not have a strong foundation of knowledge to support it. He also is referring to the prisoner that gets out of the cave and compares him to the blind man on the right road because the prisoner needs to reason to understand the intelligible world before he goes back inside the cave to inform the rest of the prisoners. This will allow him to present the “real” world to the prisoners inside the cave with more confidence. Although the rest of the prisoners do not believe him because the only knowledge they have is their opinions and beliefs to the fact that the images on the wall and the cave are the world that is intelligible to them. This makes the prisoner a true Philosopher King since he goes deeper and is not deluded by what seems to be. By becoming a Philosopher King,
Show More
Related

  • Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    2689 Words  | 11 Pages

    The Dividing Line of Plato's Allegory of the Cave Allegory of the Cave by Plato, which can be found in Book VII of The Republic, is among the most well known parables that he has written. This particular allegory calls attention to a vast amount of philosophical concepts that Plato founded throughout the development of The Republic, the most evident of them being the dividing line. The dividing line can best be described as the space amid the world of perceptions in which we exist and the world

    Read More

More about The Divide Line And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

Open Document