Plato’s Conception of Knowledge

Plato uses the allegory of the cave to illustrate the four stages of existence and knowledge ranging from images and imaginings to forms and dialectic. In the allegory, prisoners are chained inside a cave in such a way that they cannot move their heads to see behind them and can only see what is directly in front of them. They have lived in the cave all their lives. Behind them is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a low wall, behind which men pass along carrying miniature statues and figurines of various objects and animals as if conducting a puppet show. All the prisoners can see are the shadows that the statues and figurines cast.

The shadows represent the first stage of existence and knowledge—images and imaginings. The prisoners give names to the shadows—the animals, vessels, and other objects—without understanding that there are objects that are creating those shadows. Here Plato is beginning to demonstrate the difference between the visible world and the intelligible world. The prisoners see the shadows of objects but cannot see the objects. This part of the allegory represents imagination. An example of this level of knowledge would be a person defining courage by noticing a courageous character from art or literature, Harry Potter for instance, and saying that that is courage (SparkNotes Editors).

In the allegory, one of the prisoners is released and can look around the cave. After his eyes adjust to the light of the fire, he can see the objects that were creating the shadows, objects that previously he had been unaware of. In terms of existence, the prisoner has now gone beyond images into visible things (Schles). In terms of knowledge, he now sees the objects as more real than the shadows but does not yet understand that there is a world that exists outside the cave. This part of the allegory represents belief. An example of this level of knowledge might be a person who defines courage by taking an example from real life, a soldier for instance, and saying that that is courage (SparkNotes Editors).

Next, the prisoner is dragged out of the cave and into the world above ground. He is initially dazzled by sunlight and can only look at shadows and reflections, but eventually, he sees real trees, houses, boats and other objects. In this examination of reality, he then understands these objects to be even more real than the statues and figurines he saw in the cave. This part of the allegory represents thinking as well as a shift from the visible world into the intelligible world. A person at this stage of knowledge may define courage by actually giving a definition of courage (SparkNotes Editors). Plato believes that visible objects cannot be knowledge, but can only represent knowledge. He introduces the allegory by speaking of mathematicians who draw figures such as triangles and diameters, pointing out that the mathematicians are thinking not of the figures they are drawing, but of the concepts that the figures represent. Similarly, in the allegory, the statues and figurines are not real things but only represent real things. For Plato, forms—unchanging, absolute, and eternal ideas such as beauty or redness—are the only real things, the only things we can know about (SparkNotes Editors). Things in the visible world are only representations of things in the intelligible world, and the intelligible world can be accessed only through thinking.

Writing on this subject, Ken Schles gives the example of chairs. Chairs come in various shapes and sizes, yet we can recognize chairs because our mental image of a chair stands apart from any particular chair. It is this understanding of “chair-ness” that is knowledge, not the chairs that we see. As Schles states, to see or recognize something is not enough to know it (Schles). We can use our senses to perceive the world around us, but we cannot gain the knowledge of what the things we see represent without thinking.

Back to the allegory, once the prisoner’s eyes have adjusted to the sunlight, he then looks toward the sun and understands that the sun is what allows him to be able to see the objects around him. Here the sun represents the form of the good—what Plato calls “that which imparts truth to the known and the power of knowing to the knower” (Cunningham 71). In terms of knowledge, this part of the allegory represents understanding. For Plato, nothing can be fully understood without understanding the form of the good. A person understanding courage from the level of thought may be able to give a definition, but that definition is only a hypothesis, or an opinion, because the person does not understand all the terms within the definition. But a person who understands the form of the good would be able to give a definition while understanding each term in the definition since they would be working from what Plato terms “first principles.” Once the form of the good is understood, then everything is understood, as the form of the good illuminates all things (SparkNotes Editors). The dialectic, the investigation of ideas, is a method that can be used to reach the highest level of understanding.

In the allegory of the cave, Plato illustrates that knowledge consists of forms, which are unchanging, eternal, and absolute ideas. These continued to be powerful themes in Plato's writing. We can only ever have opinions about physical objects because those objects only represent knowledge and cannot be knowledge in and of themselves. The only things we can know are forms, and the ultimate form, the one that allows the understanding of all other forms, is the form of the good. We must use the dialectic to gain access to this highest level of understanding.

Works Cited

Cunningham, John. Western Philosophy: An Anthology. Second edition. Blackwell Publishing, Ltd, 2008.

Schles, Ken. allegory of the cave: the dialectic of the image is thus. 24 July 2011. http://kenschles.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/allegory-of-the-cave-the-dialectic-of-the-image-is-thus/. 23 February 2014.

SparkNotes Editors. Book VII. 2002. https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/section7.rhtml. 23 February 2014.

—. Important Terms. 2002. https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/republic/characters.html. 23 February 2014.