58 Moral Philosophy: Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and WrongWhen he explains to those still chained that what they under
stand to be reality is nothing more than a world of shadows, and
that outside the cave there exists the real world of light and color
and three dimensions, they not only refuse to believe, they laugh
and revile him. The moral, then, of the “Allegory of the Cave”
is that no one can be taught to understand reality; one must
discover it for himself. And it is a difficult task; one must
understand that the senses deceive, the familiar is difficult to
discard, and one must be willing to venture forth into a strange
and foreign world in order to know.
In addition to his theory of ideas, Plato believed in the doctrine
of Teleology. A teleological view of the universe maintains that
every thing has a purpose. Nothing comes into being for no
purpose, and conversely, everything has a purpose, including
man. What is man’s purpose, then, and how does Plato come to
determine what the end is? Plato contended that there are
scientific ideals, and ethical ideals. The scientific ideals are
found in math, numbers and proportion. The ethical ideals are
found, less precisely, in the concepts of justice, temperance, and
courage. It is in these ethical ideals that Plato sees the teleologi
cal end of man. Plato concludes that the teleological end of man
is virtue. But why should a man be virtuous, and how does one
become virtuous?
Each of us, says Plato, is composed of three basic elements—
reason, spirit, and appetite. Based upon what we already know
about Plato, it should be easy to discern the hierarchy that he
assigns to each. How each individual develops each of these
three elements in their proper proportion and relation determines
his character. The teleological end of reason is wisdom. The
teleological end of spirit is courage. And the teleological end of
appetite is temperance. The man who develops wisdom, cour
age, and temperance in their proper proportions is a just man, and
the just man is morally virtuous. Later, when we discuss Plato’s
political philosophy, we will see how this concept of justice
applies to the state. But for now, we will try to understand how
justice, properly proportioned, is architectonic.
An analogy will help to understand the idea of architectonic
justice. A man wants to build a magnificent home and to that end
hires the best craftsmen he can find. The best framer, roofer,
painter, door-maker, window-maker, cabinet-maker, etc., etc.