4. Plato - Metaphysics and Epistemology Plato was a student of Socrates. And to refresh our memory of the claims of Socrates.

one of the fundamental claims of Socrates was that a virtuous person is one who knows the Good. and that this is one of the most important things in our lives. it is of the utmost importance to figure out how one can actually know the Good. so Socrates says the virtuous person has a certain kind of knowledge and Plato wants to understand how we can come to have that kind of knowledge. this is the pro ect that Plato takes up. in other words he wants to give an epistemology or a theoretical account of how knowledge of the good is possi!le. "n order to do that he first must answer the prior #uestion$ how do we know anything% so he starts with the more general #uestion &hat is knowledge% now' " parked my car in the parking lot' do " know where my car is% well argua!ly " don(t know. my car could have !een towed. so " can(t say with certainty that " know that my car is in the lot. )his illustrates an important difference !etween knowing something and !elieving that thing. *elieving something means there is a chance that you are mistaken a!out that thing. - +nowledge re#uires certainty. now Plato interprets this in an epistemological way. he says if knowledge re#uires certainty' then the things that we know can(t change. ,otice that is a metaphysical interpretation' the things that are the o! ects of our knowledge have to !e constant. and that makes intuitive sense. if you want to say that you know something' and that thing is constantly changing then as soon as you say something a!out it the thing will !e different. !ut if that is the truth then the physical world cant !e an o! ect of knowledge. so what we know a!out the physical world we know via our senses. !ut Plato thinks that(s not really knowledge !ecause those things are constantly changing. the physical world is in a constant state of flu-. so' if we are to have real knowledge it must meet the following re#uirements - unchanging - non-physical .that is !ecause Plato takes it as definitional of physical o! ects that they are constantly changing./ - eternal - it also must !e eternal !ecause !eing created or destroyed is a type of change. so Plato says that if we conclude that there are no such things as that - with those 0 #ualities then we will have to conclude that there is no such thing as knowledge. if there are no o! ects that meet that standard then there are no things that we can know. so Plato(s strategy is to look for an area where there is some knowledge already and then try to figure out what is going on there. so one thing Plato considers is geometry and mathematics !ecause they are unchanging' non-physical and eternal.

Theory of the Forms - So num!ers and geometrical shapes e-ist as non-physical' eternal and unchanging o! ects that are the o! ects of knowledge. - we get in touch with these o! ects via the use of reason. so Plato is a rationalist. rationalists are those philosophers who think that real knowledge is ac#uired !y reason and reason alone. so here we see Plato developing a rule where there are two components to reality. on the one hand there are the physical elements of reality' and these things have as their properties change and flu-. coming into !eing and going out of !eing e-isting for a while in !etween. they(re real' they e-ist' !ut also on top of that there is a non-physical element of reality for Plato. whereas we get in touch with the physical world via our senses' we get in touch with non-physical o! ects !y reasoning a!out them. so knowledge can only !e achieved via the use of reason. - these non-physical o! ects are called 1orms. the Greek word that he uses is (eidos( which means idea' !ut not in the way we use the word. when we think of an idea we think of something that is in the mind of the person !ut Plato(s ideas are not in the mind of the person at all. - these ideas or forms' e-ist outside of the mind' outside of time and space. the mind is a!le to (grasp( these forms. The argument for Forms - if there is real knowledge there must !e these non-physical things. - one over many - there are many types of physical trees' !ut the mind is a!le to grasp the (form( of tree to recognise all the different physical forms as trees. what is the form of tree - it is that thing which all and only trees have in common. it is the thing which makes a tree a tree. so in order to know its a tree' you have to grasp this commonality' the commonality is not something that is physical. - the 1orms e-plain why it is that we categorise certain o! ects as male !ut not others. - there is a 1orm for every thing that o! ects have in common. - the o! ects must all have something in common' or why else would we put them in that group together% - !ut they don(t have anything physically in common. if there is something that is physically in common its the kind of thing that isn(t essential to !eing that property. - when you see that an o! ect is' say' a desk' you are grasping the 1orm of that o! ect. - the o! ects are said to (participate( in the form. that is a technical term in Plato(s philosophy and no!ody is really sure what Plato meant !y participation' !ut we are going to !e understanding the term participation as resem!lance. .eg " participate in the 1orm of human' red head' !ut not in the form of dog etc/

- an o! ect can participate in many 1orms at the same time. so the relationship of o! ects to forms is one to many. one o! ect can participate in many forms. so Plato encapsulates these views as The Divided Line which is Plato(s way of summing up these views in a nice and handy representation . .this is in his !ook the repu!lic/ The Divided Line The Good

Metaphysics
2igher 1orms

| |

Epistemology

| Understanding _|_ "ntelligi!le | +nowledge &orld 3ower | 1orms | 4easoning _____________|_____________ Sensi!le 5! ects | Perception 6isi!le &orld __|__ 5pinion | "mages | "magination

)he word opinion for Plato is the state of mind someone is in when they are in touch with the visi!le world through their senses. it is merely the way that we come into contact with the world through our senses. 3owest level of the line are images eg pictures' shadows' reflections' photos' statues. when you are looking at an image and when you mistake that image for the real thing' Plato says the state of mind you are in is imagination. "magination does not mean the same thing as we mean' Plato means something very specific. )hat person is in contact with an image and has mistaken that image for the real o! ect. Sensi!le o! ects - actual physical o! ects. when that is happening and when you think that is the real thing' then you are doing what he calls perceiving. perceiving is the state of mind of a person when they are in touch with an actual physical o! ect and they make the mistake of thinking that(s all there is to the o! ect. 7ou are perceiving the desk !ut you don(t know a!out the desk. notice we haven(t crossed the line !etween opinion and knowledge and we haven(t crossed the line !etween those things that are intelligi!le and those things that are merely visi!le. 3ower forms are the types of things we have already !een talking a!out' num!ers' mathematical o! ects' dogs' ta!les' chairs. so when you are at this level of the line' you are no longer merely perceiving the dog' you are reasoning a!out the dog.

)he difference !etween lower and higher 1orms had to do with the kind of 1orms. 2igher forms are ones that Plato gives a special place to' the 1orm of !eauty' the 1orm of ustice' moral ideals. At the top of the line' Plato puts the 1orm of )he Good. )he Good occupies a special place in Plato(s philosophy. )he Good has the role of making all of these things intelligi!le. So according to Plato its !ecause of the role that )he Good plays' that we are a!le to get in touch with all these things. )he Good is an overarching 1orm. ,otice what he is doing here is !uilding in all the stuff that Socrates talked a!out. Socrates says that the highest goal of a persons life is to figure out what )he Good is' to figure out what all good things have in common. And once one does that' one is in a position to !e a virtuous person' one is in a position to live the right kind of life' one is in a position to truly !e happy' and none of these things are possi!le without this kind of knowledge. *ut we all have to start down at the !ottom and work our way up to the 1orm of the Good. &ell how do we do that% Plato has an answer. )he way you do that is !y studying geometry. Geometry is Plato thinks the first place people come into contact with non-physical ideals. )hinking geometrically' when you prove some fact a!out a triangle' you(re not ust proving it a!out this triangle' you(re proving it a!out all triangles. Plato was so enamoured with this idea that when he started his first college he had inscri!ed a!ove the entrance' let no one enter here who does not understand geometry. The Allegory of the Cave )his is the same information put in a different way. "t(s not a new theory. 2e(s merely saying' the divided line is the way " e-plain my views to philosophy students' the allegory of the cave is the way " e-plain my views to the lay person. So imagine a whole !unch of people in a cave who have !een !orn in this cave. they are chained !y the neck and are only a!le to look directly forward. there is a wall in front of them. !ehind them is a pillar with some fire on it. and there are some people in this cave who are holding up clay o! ects in front of the fire' and these o! ects are producing shadows on the wall in front of the person. so imagine you are chained and can only look forward' not sideways. you see on the wall in front of you these various shadows and they are moving in various patterns. you see a car' dog' cat' shape etc. and these people occupy themselves !y trying to figure out the pattern and figure out which one is going to come ne-t. so these people are stuck in a move theatre type situation where there is things !eing pro ected and those things are not the real o! ects. now these people who are in this position' are going to think these are the real o! ects. now this is a way of dramatically illustrating what Plato calls imagination. they are imagining !ecause they are in touch with shadows' images and they are mistaking those images for the real o! ects. now suppose that someone came and set one of these prisoners free and unchained them and turned them around so that they then saw !ehind them the o! ects which were making the shadows. they would realise oh those things over there' those are not the real o! ects' the real o! ects are the things making the shadows. and this is Plato(s way of showing perception' the people are in touch with physical things. !ut these things are artefacts' they are things made out of

clay' its not a real star or real cat or dog' its a clay star. so they have gone from thinking the shadows were real to realising they are merely images' they moved up to the ne-t level and now they are thinking the clay o! ects are the real things. !ut they are still within the cave. and the cave represents the part of the divided line which is opinion. so now we imagine the person going up a rough rocky ascent out of the cave. this represents the fact that when people first study philosophy and geometry its hard' ust like the ascent is hard. !ut eventually they get out of the cave and they come into contact for the first time with real o! ects. !ut !ecause they have come out of a dark cave into the !right light of the sun its !linding' so people are una!le to look directly at the real o! ects and instead focus on the shadows of the real o! ects. these shadows are the level of the lower forms. !ut you are out of the cave so you do have some knowledge !ut its not of the most important things' the actual o! ects its of this lesser thing' the shadow. !ut once you !ecome acclimatised you will look at the o! ect itself and this represents the higher forms. so the o! ects will !e the 1orm of ustice or piety or morals etc. now once you are out here for a while you are a!le to turn your ga8e on the sun. the sun plays a special role out here. its only !ecause the sun emits light that we are a!le to see anything at all. without the light of the sun' nothing out there would !e visi!le. so the sun represents the 1orm of the Good. so the 1orm of the good is an unifying type of thing' it illuminates the entire landscape. So the 1orm of the Good makes all of the forms intelligi!le. so this is a story that depicts each level of the divided line. !ut in this story there are a couple of things that are not found in the divided line. in the story someone comes in a frees the prisoner. this is Plato(s way of talking a!out what he thinks education is like. the idea is that education is not a!out pouring facts into people or memorising and repeating things' its a!out pointing the mind in the right direction .let them turn around and see !ehind them/ and once they are turned around the intellectual curiosity of the person takes over after that. education is a!out actively engaging the rational faculty and putting it on the right track !ecause people are drawn to the 1orm of the Good like a moth is drawn to a light. this is like Socrates idea that people only do evil out of ignorance' they are all actually aiming for the Good. the other thing that is in the cave allegory !ut not in the divided line is the rough and rocky ascent. and also the idea that once a person has got out of the cave they will realise that they need to go !ack into the cave and free someone else from the world of opinion and guide them up into the world of knowledge. and when they get !ack into the darkness they may have trou!le ad usting to the darkness and may appear like they don(t know what they are talking a!out !ecause they wont recognise the pattern of the shadows. and this is Plato(s way of talking a!out Socrates. Socrates was often made fun of' he was a raggedy dresser' he didn(t care a!out wealth or fame or money. so Plato was suggesting that Socrates was that way !ecause all of the stuff in the cave is kind of irrelevant and Socrates was out in the real world.