PHILOSOPHY 199The Divided Line The Allegory of the Cave
Anoesis(understanding) The Sun (the form of the good)
Intelligence of the forms, having
understanding of ultimate reality of the
form of the good, the ground of all
hypotheses and assumptions.
Grown accustomed to the light, the eyes
can view the sun. As the sun gives
visibility to the objects of the sensible
world and the power of seeing to the mind,
so the good gives the power of knowing to
the mind.
Bdianoia(reasoning)
Mathematical intelligence dealing with
underlying realities but in a deductive way
that is uncritical of assumptions.
The prisoners released from the cave must
accustom their sight to the new reality and
begin by looking at shadows and
reflections of real things.episteme(knowledge)
Above the Line Outside the Cave: sunlight
Below the Linedoxa (opinion) Inside the Cave: firelight
Cpistis(belief)
True opinion informed by knowledge but
held on trust. Common-sense views of
things without understanding of first
principles underlying the mutable world of
sense impression and experience.
Freed slaves turn towards the fire and see
the objects that cast the shadows. These
objects (still artificial) are believed to be
real.Deikasia (illusion)
Shadows and reflections taken to be real.
Second-hand opinions and impressions.
Poetry and the images of art belong to this
realm. So does the teaching of the sophists,
who simply make a science out of common
opinion.
Fettered slaves view shadows of objects
cast by firelight as real.
The state of ordinary men and women.The upward road to truth through philosophic enlightenment
FIGURE 42 The elements of Plato’s thought in the Republic