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Dra Tywytat Gyma

Analysing The Allegory

of the Cave
L.O.> To analyse why Plato holds his
beliefs and evaluate their implications.

Objective Hierarchy:

Starter
Recap
What

the story and meaning.

do we think? Do we agree?
Why/why not?

Lesson Outline
Starter
Main

Task
Plenary
Reflection
Why

does he think this?

See worksheet 1.1
Analyse and Evaluate

Key Questions
What

is Plato telling us in the

story of the cave?
What are the reasons for
agreeing with Platos position?
Why might we disagree with
Platos position.
What alternatives are there to his
position?

Learning Outcomes
What

you should be able to do by the end of

the lesson

All

of you will be able to describe Platos

beliefs about metaphysics, epistemology
and politics.
Most of you will have drawn the divided line
and labelled it to explain Platos beliefs.
(Including examples).
Some of you will have offered a reasoned
opinion on whether or not we should seek
release from the cave.

 Main Task
What

does Plato believe?

Metaphysics
Epistemology
Politics
Why

does he believe these

things?

Should

he believe these things?

What Does Plato Believe?

Metaphysics.
consists of two different realms.
The real world is non-physical
and it is where the pure, perfect
or real versions of everything
are.
The physical world we live in only
contains imperfect copies,
shadows or reflections of
reality.

What Does Plato Believe?

Epistemology
Our senses deceive us and cannot be
trusted. Especially when it comes to
concepts like beauty and justice.
There is no knowledge in the physical
world, only opinion.
We can only discover and recognise
things in this world because we are
remembering our pure experiences of
them from the realm of the forms.

What Does Plato Believe?

Politics
Philosophers should be in charge
because they are the only ones
with true knowledge of important
concepts, especially justice.
Some normals (prisoners!) may
be very good at recognising the
shadows, but this will always be
secondary to real knowledge.

The Divided Line

Plato,

in his dialogue The Republic Book 6

(509D513E), has Socrates explain, through
the literary device of a divided line, his
fundamental metaphysical ideas as four
separate but logically connected models of the
world.
The four models are arranged into a first pair
for the visible world, and a second pair for the
purely intelligible world. The models are
described in succession as corresponding to
increasing levels of reality from common
illusion, to belief, to reasoning, and then to
philosophical understanding.

The Divided Line

Segment

Type of knowledge

Type of object

DE
(highest)

Philosophical understanding
(noesis)

Ideas (Forms),
especially the Idea
(Form) of the Good

CD

Mathematical reasoning (dianoia),

including theoretical science

Abstract mathematical
objects, such as
numbers and lines

BC

Beliefs about physical things

(pistis), including empirical
science

Physical objects

AB
Opinions, illusions (eikasia)
"Shadows" and
things we of
can
(lowest)AC contains things we can see. CE contains
"reflections"
know. We cant know anything we see, due
to the objects
physical
unreliability of our senses and peoples supposed expert
knowledge. (Socrates was constantly showing people up as
not knowing the very thing they were supposed to be
experts on, thats why they killed him).

Why Does He Believe

This?
He

believes this because it

enables us to have absolute
answers to questions and it
enables objective truth to exist.
It solves a number of
philosophical problems.

Identity over time

Paradox of learning
How do we know what justice is?
What makes different dogs all the
same thing?

Leave me in the cave

Is it better to know the truth,
even though it may make you
unhappy?
It is
better to
be
Socrates
dissatisfi
ed than a
fool

ignorance is
bliss

Understanding Check
Why

does Plato believe we

should seek philosophical
understanding? (What would be
the practical benefits?)

Do

you agree with him? How

could we argue for being left in
the cave?

Progress Check
Objective
To analyse why Plato holds his beliefs and
evaluate their implications.
Outcomes
All of you will be able to describe Platos beliefs
about metaphysics, epistemology and politics.
Most of you will have drawn the divided line
and labelled it to explain Platos beliefs.
(Including examples).
Some of you will have offered a reasoned
opinion on whether or not we should seek
release from the cave.

Homework
Make

sure you have read all of the What is Real

chapter. (The other sources will help as well)

Come to the next lesson with the following written

down:
1. One thing you are confident that you
understand.
2. One thing you think you get but are not totally
sure of.
3. One thing you definitely need explaining.
4. A deeper question about what the theory
means or might lead to.

Plenary
What

is real?
How is truth known?
How should society be organised?
Who is the best leader?
Will the argument stand up?
Answer these questions from your own
point of view and from Platos. Where
do you agree/disagree with him and
why?

Specialist Vocabulary
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Politics
Rationalism
Empiricism
Ideas
Forms
Noesis
Dianoia
pistis
eikasia

Self/Peer Assessment
In

your book, highlight or emphasise where you

have demonstrated each learning outcome:

All

of you will be able to describe Platos beliefs

about metaphysics, epistemology and politics.
Most of you will have drawn the divided line and
labelled it to explain Platos beliefs. (Including
examples).
Some of you will have offered a reasoned opinion
on whether or not we should seek release from
the cave.
How

did the Code Word relate to Todays

lesson?

To the future...
What

didnt we learn today, and

what would we need to know
before we took an exam?

What
How

could you Google?

can what you learnt today

be applied to your own life?