AS: OCR Philosophy Revision notes (all you need to know)
- Created by: atlantathompson
- Created on: 03-05-15 16:15
Ancient Greek influences on philosophy of religion
PLATO: THE ANALOGY OF THE CAVE
The Analogy
- People chained up to a cave, far underground
- Chained in such a way can only face the wall
- Only light in the cave comes from fire
- Wall behind the prisoners
- Fire located behind the wall
- Behind the wall people walk carrying statues on their head
- Chained prisoners only see the shadows of the statues
- Prisoners believe the shadows are reality because it is all they see
- They assume any voices they hear are from the shadows
- One prisoner is freed
- Struggles to see at first, in a confused state
- Becomes accustomed to the light and sees the shadows
- Out of the cave into the sunlight, stumbling, would be blinded
- Gradually he would become adapted to the ‘real’ world
- He’d look up and realise the role of the sun – supporting life/seasons
- Once in the situation would not want to return
- Out of duty would return to the other prisoners
- In order to teach them about reality
- From light to darkness struggles to see again
- Prisoners hear his story and observe he can see little
- Convinced that it is bad to leave the cave
- Kill the freed prisoner and threaten to kill any other prisoner who flees
Features
Represents
Significance
The Cave
Illusory World
Showcases that what we think is reality may not actually be reality at all
· Plato says that people do not see the Forms clearly, only the illusory physical world which is considered reality
Prisoners
Those who cannot see beyond their senses
The prisoners need to be set free
· Plato believed that the physical world imprisons a person by stopping them from seeing the Forms – true reality
Shadows
Images of the Forms
Only imitations or copies and yet the prisoners believe them to be real
· Plato believed that we need to seek knowledge beyond what our senses tell us
People carrying the Statues
Politicians & Philosophers
They themselves have no more idea about reality then the prisoners
· Plato criticised those people for leading others when they did not know the truth themselves
Struggle of the prisoner to escape
Need to be taught how to see the Forms
The idea that one needs to rewire the way they process their senses
· Plato believed one needed to be taught how to understand the forms as it meant rejecting the physical world
Sun
Form of Good
Analogy showcases how the Sun is a source for all things
· Plato believed that the Form of Good was the form from which all forms come from
Duty
Teachers of the Forms
The freed prisoner wants to share his discovery with his fellow…
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