AS: OCR Philosophy Revision notes (all you need to know)

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…