Platon⎥Höhlengleichnis
Summary
TLDRDie Geschichte vom Höhlengleichnis von Platon ist eine der bekanntesten und zugleich komplexesten Gleichnisse der Philosophiegeschichte. Sie stellt Fragen nach Wirklichkeit, wahrer Erkenntnis, philosophischer Bildung und der Verantwortung der Philosophen. Das Gleichnis beschreibt das Leben in der Höhle, die Aszende aus der Höhle und den Rückkehr des Philosophen. Es illustriert, wie Menschen von einer falschen Weltsicht befreit und schließlich zur Erkenntnis der Ideenwelt aufsteigen, insbesondere der Idee des Guten. Platon betont, dass Philosophen eine pädagogische Verpflichtung haben, um anderen zu helfen, aus der Höhle zu kommen und zu einer besseren, wahrer Lebensweise zu finden.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Die Allegorie von der Höhle ist eine der bekanntesten und zugleich komplexesten Gleichnisse der Philosophiegeschichte und thematisiert Realität, wahres Wissen, philosophische Bildung und die Verantwortung der Philosophen.
- 📚 Die Geschichte findet sich im siebenten Buch der 'Politeia' Platos, nach der Sonne und der Linien-Allegorie, und dient zur Darstellung seiner Ideenlehre und deren ethischen Konsequenzen.
- 🕳️ In der Allegorie werden die Menschen in der Höhle als gebundene Wesen beschrieben, die nur Schatten und Echos wahrnehmen und diese für die Realität halten, weil sie nichts anderes kennen.
- 🔥 Die Höhle steht für die Welt der sinnlichen Wahrnehmung, während die Idee der Guten die höchste Idee darstellt, die allen anderen Ideen und damit allen Dingen in der sinnlichen Welt Existenz und Erkennbarkeit verleiht.
- 🧗♂️ Der Prozess des Erkennens der Ideen und insbesondere der Idee der Guten erfordert eine Abkehr und Wendung der ganzen Seele von der Welt der sinnlichen Täuschungen hin zur Welt der Ideen.
- 🤔 Die philosophische Bildung und Erkenntnis scheinen nach der Gleichnis nicht ohne äußere Hilfe möglich zu sein, und Philosophen sind als Lehrer notwendig, um Menschen schrittweise von der Unwissenheit zum wahren Wissen zu führen.
- 🌟 Die Erkenntnis der Ideen und schließlich der Idee der Guten ist ein schmerzlicher und anstrengender Prozess, der durch philosophische Bildung und Ausbildung ermöglicht wird.
- 🛡️ Der Philosoph, der die Wahrheit erkannt hat, sollte nach Platon in die Höhle zurückkehren und denen helfen, die noch gefesselt sind, und sie von der tatsächlichen Realität überzeugen.
- 🏛️ Die Allegorie der Höhle ist auch mit Platos Ethik und politischer Philosophie verbunden und zeigt, dass die Erkenntnis der Idee der Guten Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung von Tugend und damit für das Glück des Individuums und des Staates ist.
- 🌱 Platos Forderung, dass Philosophen, die die Idee der Guten erkannt haben, in der Polis handeln und ihr Wissen über das Schöne, Wahre und Gute teilen sollten, betont die Verantwortung der Philosophen für Staat und Gesellschaft.
Q & A
Was ist die Hauptidee der Allegorie von der Höhle von Platon?
-Die Hauptidee der Allegorie ist die Unterscheidung zwischen wahrer Erkenntnis und Täuschung sowie die Notwendigkeit einer philosophischen Bildung, um die wahre Realität zu erkennen.
In welchem Werk Platons findet man die Allegorie von der Höhle?
-Die Allegorie von der Höhle befindet sich im siebten Buch der 'Politeia'.
Wie stellt Platon die Beziehung zwischen den Ideen und der Welt der Sinneswahrnehmung dar?
-Platon verwendet die Allegorie, um zu zeigen, dass die Welt der Ideen über der Welt der Sinneswahrnehmung steht und dass die Ideen ewig und wahr sind, im Gegensatz zu den veränderlichen und täuschenden Sinnesempfindungen.
Was repräsentieren die gefesselten Menschen in der Höhle?
-Die gefesselten Menschen repräsentieren die unphilosophisch gebildeten Menschen, die nur Meinungen haben und keine echte Erkenntnis因为他们不了解真理。
Was passiert mit dem Gefangenen, wenn er aus der Höhle befreit wird?
-Der befreite Gefangene muss sich an das Licht und die neue Realität gewöhnen, was anfänglich Schmerz und Verwirrung verursachen kann. Er erkennt, dass die Schattenbilder, die er in der Höhle gesehen hat, nicht die wahren Realität darstellen.
Was ist die Bedeutung des Aufstiegs aus der Höhle in der Allegorie?
-Der Aufstieg aus der Höhle symbolisiert den Prozess der philosophischen Bildung und die Erkenntnis der Ideen, insbesondere der Idee des Guten.
Wie ist die Rolle des Philosophen in der Allegorie von der Höhle dargestellt?
-Der Philosoph ist derjenige, der die Wahrheit erkannt hat und die Pflicht hat, zurück in die Höhle zu gehen und anderen zu helfen, um sie von ihren falschen Meinungen zu befreien.
Was zeigt Platon mit dem Phänomen der Schatten in der Höhle?
-Die Schatten in der Höhle zeigen die Täuschungen und die Welt der Meinungen, die die Menschen für die Realität halten, ohne dass sie die wahre Welt der Ideen kennen.
Wie ist die Idee des Guten in der Allegorie von der Höhle zu verstehen?
-Die Idee des Guten ist das höchste Prinzip, das allen anderen Ideen und damit allen Dingen in der sinnlichen Welt Existenz und Erkennbarkeit verleiht. Sie wird im Allegorischen Bild des Sonnenlichts dargestellt, das alles beleuchtet und ermöglicht, die Dinge zu sehen.
Was sagt die Allegorie über die Verantwortung der Philosophen für die Gesellschaft aus?
-Die Allegorie betont, dass die Philosophen, die die Wahrheit erkannt haben, eine Verantwortung haben, ihre Erkenntnisse für die Gesellschaft und den Staat einzubringen, um eine gute und glückliche Lebensweise zu fördern.
Wie sind die drei Parabeln von der Höhle, der Sonne und der Linie miteinander verbunden?
-Die drei Parabeln sind miteinander verbunden, indem sie verschiedene Aspekte der Erkenntnistheorie Platons darstellen. Die Parabel der Sonne stellt die Idee des Guten als Quelle der Erkenntnis und Wahrheit dar, die Parabel der Linien teilt die Arten der Erkenntnis und ihre Objekte in verschiedene Bereiche ein, und die Parabel von der Höhle illustriert den Prozess der Erkenntnis, der von der Welt der Sinneswahrnehmung zur Welt der Ideen führt.
Outlines
🔥 Platonische Höhlengleichnis
Das Platonische Höhlengleichnis aus dem siebenten Buch der 'Politeia' ist eine der bekanntesten und zugleich komplexesten Gleichnisse der Philosophiegeschichte. Es stellt Fragen nach Wirklichkeit, wahrer Erkenntnis, philosophischer Bildung und der Verantwortung der Philosophen. Das Gleichnis soll verdeutlichen, wie Menschen die Ideen erkennen können, insbesondere die Idee des Guten, und welche ethischen Konsequenzen aus dieser Erkenntnis resultieren. Plato möchte zeigen, dass wahre Erkenntnis nur durch einen grundlegenden Wandel des Denkens und des Lebens erreicht werden kann. Dies ist ein schwieriger und anstrengender Prozess, bei dem der Mensch zunächst von seiner bisherigen falschen Weltsicht befreit und dann als erleuchteter Philosoph die Pflicht hat, andere Menschen von ihrer falschen Weltsicht zu befreien.
📚 Der Prozess der Erkenntnis
Plato beschreibt im zweiten Absatz den Prozess der Erkenntnis als mühsamen Aufstieg aus der dunklen Höhle. Der aus den Fesseln Befreite muss erkennen, dass die Schattenbilder nicht real sind und dass er bisher nur künstliche Projektionen für die Wahrheit gehalten hat. Um die Ideen und vor allem die Idee des Guten zu erkennen, muss der Mensch die Welt der täuschenden sinnlichen Wahrnehmung - die Höhle - verlassen und schrittweise in die Wahrheit - die geistige Welt der Ideen - aufsteigen. Diese Einsicht kommt nicht plötzlich, sondern in Stufen. Die Seele entfernt sich allmählich vom Alltagswelt der bloßen Meinungen. Die schrittweise Erkenntnis der Wahrheit wird durch philosophische Bildung und Ausbildung - in Griechisch paideia - ermöglicht, die Menschen zu den höchsten Ideen, der Idee des Guten führen kann. Die Erkenntnis der Ideen und schließlich die Idee des Guten als das Prinzip alles Seienden erfordert eine Befreiung und Umwendung der ganzen Seele (periagôgê psychês) - weg von der Dunkelheit der sinnlichen Welt hin zur Lichtwelt der Ideen.
🌟 Die Rückkehr des Philosophen
Der dritte Absatz beschreibt die Rückkehr des Philosophen in die Höhle. Nachdem er die Wahrheit erkannt hat, sollte er in die Höhle zurückkehren und denen helfen, die noch gefesselt sind. Er muss versuchen, den anderen Gefangenen die tatsächliche Realität zu vermitteln. Nach der höchsten Einsicht, dem Wissen um die Idee des Guten, muss der nun philosophisch Gelernte seine pädagogischen Pflichten erfüllen und die philosophisch Ungebildeten aufklären, um sie zu Wissen und so zu einem guten und glücklichen Leben zu führen. Plato fordert von Philosophen, dass sie eine 'politische' Verantwortung übernehmen und ihre Erkenntnisse über das Schöne, Wahre und Gute, auch wenn sie mit Spott und Verachtung konfrontiert werden, der Polis teilen. Die Rückkehr der Philosophen ist für die Funktionsfähigkeit des Staates und für das Glück des Einzelnen notwendig. Diejenigen, die zurückkehren, können die Höhle nur schwer navigieren, da sie viel dunkler ist als draußen. Der Philosoph scheint weltfremd, trifft auf Missverständnis und Spott, wird als Bedrohung wahrgenommen und riskiert sogar sein Leben.
🎓 Philosophie und pädagogische Verantwortung
Im vierten Absatz wird die Verbindung zwischen dem Höhlengleichnis und den vorhergehenden Gleichnissen von Sonne und Linien hergestellt. Das Höhlengleichnis stellt eine Reihe von vier Wissensstufen dar, die auf ontologisch unterschiedlichen Objekttypen basieren und im Wissen der Wahrheit enden. Die Dialektik dient als Methode, um die Ideen und die Idee des Guten zu erfassen (noésis). Das äußere Bereich der Höhle entspricht der Welt der Vorstellbaren - d.h. der Welt der Ideen - in der Gleichnis von Sonne und den beiden oberen Abschnitten in der Gleichnis von Linien. Plato illustriert zentrale Aspekte seiner Philosophie im Höhlengleichnis: Seine Ontologie spiegelt sich in der Abfolge von vier verschiedenen Objekttypen wider, die er den Stufen des Aufstiegs aus der Höhle zuordnet. Jede Stufe macht die Objekte 'wirklicher' und damit 'wahre'. Am Ende steht jedoch das 'brillanteste Ding', die 'Idee des Guten'. Die verschiedenen Erkenntnisstufen werden ebenfalls veranschaulicht: die sinnliche Welt, in der nur Meinung (dóxa) möglich ist, entspricht der Höhle, die Welt der Ideen und mathematischen Objekte, in der echte Erkenntnis und echtes Wissen (epistêmê) möglich ist, die Außenwelt. Die Sonne steht wiederum für das höchste Wissen: das Wissen der Idee des Guten.
🏛️ Philosophische Bildung und ethische Verantwortung
Der fünfte Absatz betont, dass die philosophische Bildung nicht als Selbstzweck angesehen werden sollte. Philosophen, die die Idee des Guten erkannt haben, sind verpflichtet, in die Höhle zurückzukehren und denen, die um sie herum sind, zu helfen, zu verstehen. Für Plato ist die Erkenntnis der Idee des Guten Voraussetzung für die Entwicklung von Tugend und damit für das Glück des Individuums sowie des Staates. Nur Philosophen, die das 'Idee des Guten' gesehen haben, können in Platons idealem Staat Könige werden und die Grundlagen, auf denen er basiert, einrichten. Die Richtlinien und Prinzipien im Staat - wie jede menschliche Praxis - müssen auf der 'Idee des Guten' basieren. Das Höhlengleichnis von Plato ist heute noch als Mahnung angesehen, nicht mit der täuschenden und flüchtigen Welt der sinnlichen Wahrnehmung zufrieden zu sein und nach wahrer Erkenntnis zu streben. Es geht nicht nur um ontologische, erkenntnistheoretische und ethische Aspekte, die das Individuum betreffen, sondern um die ganze Polis. Es ist eine Frage der Möglichkeiten und Gefahren, die eine wahre philosophische Bildung mit sich bringt und unterstreicht die Verantwortung der Philosophen für Staat und Gesellschaft.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Allegorie der Höhle
💡Wirklichkeit
💡Philosophische Bildung
💡Ideen
💡Ideen des Guten
💡Verantwortung der Philosophen
💡Seelenwende
💡Sinnliche Täuschung
💡Philosophische Könige
💡Paideia
Highlights
柏拉图的洞穴寓言是哲学史上最著名且最复杂的寓言之一。
它提出了关于现实、真实知识、哲学教育和哲学家责任的问题。
洞穴寓言位于《理想国》第七卷,太阳寓言和线段寓言之后。
柏拉图利用这个寓言更详细地解释了他的理念论,并说明了人们如何认识理念,尤其是善的理念,以及这种知识带来的伦理后果。
柏拉图认为,为了获得真正的知识,人必须改变他看待事物的整个方式以及他的生活。
真正的知识之路是艰难而艰巨的。
人首先必须从他之前的错误世界观中解放出来,然后作为启蒙的哲学家,有责任解放其他人。
柏拉图首先描述了洞穴中的生活,然后是逃离洞穴的过程,最后是哲学家返回洞穴。
洞穴中的人们自童年起就被束缚,只能看到影子和回声,他们将这些影像视为现实,因为他们不知道其他。
这些被束缚的人代表了普通的、未经哲学教育的人,他们因为远离知识之源——善的理念而无知。
在柏拉图的理念论中,除了我们的感官世界之外,还有一个理念世界。
理念是永恒的、真实的,而感官世界是变幻无常的,可能会欺骗我们。
大多数人因为舒适、不知其他、害怕改变而留在洞穴中,满足于错误的观点。
知识的过程是艰苦和要求高的,许多人因此满足于现状,不想质疑他们对世界的常规理解。
如果这些人被解放并治愈无知,他们将如何反应?柏拉图描述了这一过程。
哲学家必须返回洞穴,帮助那些仍然被束缚的人,他有教育和启蒙的责任。
柏拉图认为,认识到真理的人应该返回洞穴,帮助那些仍然被束缚的人。
哲学家现在有教育和启蒙的使命,他应该通过教育引导其他人走向知识和美好的生活。
柏拉图的洞穴寓言提醒我们不要满足于感官世界的欺骗和短暂,而要追求真正的知识。
洞穴寓言不仅涉及个体的本体论、认识论和伦理学方面,还涉及整个国家的可能性和真正的哲学教育带来的危险。
Transcripts
Plato's allegory of the cave is probably the most well-known and at the same time most complex allegory
in the history of philosophy.
It poses the question of reality, true knowledge, philosophical education and the
responsibility of philosophers.
In this video you will find out exactly what this famous parable is about and how it can be interpreted
.
The allegory of the cave is in the seventh book of the Politeia, after the allegory of the sun and
the allegory of the lines.
Plato would like to use the parable to explain his theory of ideas in more detail and to illustrate
how people can recognize ideas, especially the idea of the good, and what ethical
consequences result from this knowledge.
According to Plato, in order to attain real knowledge, man must
change his entire way of looking at things and with it his life.
This path to true knowledge is hard and arduous.
For this, man must first
be freed from his previous wrong worldview and then, as an enlightened philosopher, has the duty
to free other people from their wrong worldview.
In the parable, Plato first describes life in the cave, then the ascent
from the cave and finally the return of the philosopher to the cave.
“Imagine people in an underground cave.
This has an entrance leading up to daylight which
is as big as the whole cave.
In this cave, people have been tied by the legs and neck since childhood, so
they remain in place and only ever look straight ahead.
Because of their shackles, they cannot turn their heads around.
They receive light from a fire that burns high in the distance behind them.
Between the fire and the chained is a path above.
A small wall is erected along this path, such as puppeteers
build between themselves and their spectators, over which they perform their tricks.
Now imagine along the short wall people carrying all kinds of implements
so that they project beyond the wall, statues of people and other creatures
made of stone and wood and other materials.
Some of these carriers talk to each other, others remain silent.
The people in the cave have never seen anything of themselves or each other other
than the shadows
cast by the fire on the opposite side of the cave.
After all, they can't move their heads their entire lives.
So you only see the shadows of the things that are carried by.
If they could now talk to each other, they would certainly describe what they see as being
.
And if the prison also had an echo from the opposite wall, and then if
one of the passers-by spoke, they would think the passing shadow was
the one speaking.
In no case could such people believe anything other than the
shadows of those artificial objects to be true.” At the beginning of the parable, Plato describes
the situation of the people in the cave who were bound.
From childhood on, they only perceive shadows and the echo of voices and consider these
images of reality to be real because they know nothing else.
These people represent the ordinary, philosophically uneducated people.
They are ignorant because they are far from the source of knowledge,
more precisely the idea of good.
In their everyday lives they are surrounded by illusions that they take to be the truth.
They don't have real knowledge, only opinions.
Often these opinions are wrong.
Ordinary people settle for the mirages, illusions and opinions instead of
freeing themselves, turning around, ascending and
opening their souls to the world of ideas and therefore to real knowledge.
In Plato's theory of ideas there is not only the world of our sense perception, but
behind or above it a world of ideas.
The highest idea, which gives all other ideas and thus all things in the sense world
their existence and knowability, is the idea of the good.
While the senses are elusive and ephemeral and can fool us, ideas are
eternal and true.
Most people stay in the cave with their wrong opinions because they
are comfortable, don't know any different, and are afraid of change.
The process of knowledge is strenuous and demanding.
It is arduous to embark on a quest for truth and real knowledge.
Many people are therefore satisfied with their situation and do
not want to question their everyday understanding of the world.
You'd rather not know.
“Now think about what it would be like if these people were freed from their bondage and thereby
also cured of their ignorance.
Here is what would normally happen to them: If a man
were to be freed from his bonds and forced to stand up suddenly, turn his neck, walk and
look up at the light, and with all these doings he would feel pain and because of the blinding
brilliance those things would not rightly recognize the shadows of which he had previously seen - how do
you think he would answer if someone explained to him that before he had
only seen trifles, but now he is closer to beings and so,
turned towards the actual beings, he sees right?
And if that person then showed him each of the objects passing by and
asked and forced him to say what it was?
Don't you think he would be embarrassed and think what he saw before
was more real than what he is being shown now?
And when he was compelled to look at the light himself, his
eyes would hurt, and he would turn away and flee to the things he could look at,
believing that these were actually clearer than what he was now able to see shows?
But if he were dragged from there by force up the rough and steep slope
, and not let go until he had been drawn out into the light of the sun, would he
not feel pain and be reluctant to be dragged like that?
And if he were to come into the light, wouldn't his eyes be full of brilliance and, at least
for the first moment, would he not be able to see anything at all that was now being described to him as the real thing?
So he would have to get used to it if he wanted to see things up there.
First he would probably see the shadows most easily, then the reflections of people
and other objects in the water, and then himself.
And then he could see what is in the sky and the sky itself,
and more easily at night , looking up to the light of the stars and the moon
as by day to the sun and the light of the sun.
Finally, however, he would be able to
see the sun, not its reflections in the water or elsewhere, but itself, in itself, in its own place, and behold it as
it really is.
And then he would probably make the general reflection about her, that she
is the one who brings about the seasons and years and rules over everything in visible space,
and that she is also in a certain sense the cause of all that she has seen before
is.
But if he now thinks back to his first dwelling and to the wisdom that
was there and to his fellow prisoners at that time, then he will probably
count himself lucky about the change and regret it.
But the honors and praise which they bestowed on one another there, and the rewards for him who
most keenly discerned the passing shadows, and who best remembered
which of them used to pass first, and which afterwards, and which at the same time,
and of that the best knew what was to come - do you think he
still wants that praise and envies those in honor and power with those over there?
Or will he be, as Homer says, that he would much rather
work in the field for a poor man's wages and endure all sorts of things than
get caught up in those opinions and live that life again?
He would rather endure anything else than that life.”
In this part of the parable, Plato describes the process of knowledge as an arduous climb
out of the dark cave.
The prisoner who is freed from the bonds and dragged upstairs must realize
that the shadow images are not real and that he has been artificial all his life
believed projections to be the truth.
In order to recognize the ideas and, above all, the idea of the good, man must
leave the world of deceptive sensory perception - the cave - and step by step ascend
to the truth - the spiritual world of ideas.
This realization does not come suddenly, but in stages.
The soul moves away step by step from the everyday world of mere opinions.
The gradual recognition of the truth becomes possible through philosophical education and
training - in Greek paideia - which
can lead people to the highest idea, the idea of the good.
Recognizing the ideas and finally the idea of the good as the principle of everything that exists
requires a liberation and turning of the whole soul (periagôgê psychês) - away
from the darkness of the world of senses towards the light of the world of ideas.
It is interesting that the cave dweller does not free himself.
Someone forces him to climb up, and in the end even violently drags him out into the daylight.
According to this parable, philosophical education and knowledge do not seem
to be possible without outside help.
According to Plato , in order to lead people step by step from ignorance to true knowledge,
philosophers are needed as teachers.
The "redirection of the soul" (periagôgê psychês) towards the truth takes place through
education, in which a knowledgeable person accompanies and guides an ignorant person.
Someone who has already been liberated, left the cave and
recognized the ideas, especially the idea of good, must
help the remaining cave dwellers in their liberation and ascension.
By the way, for this purpose Plato designs a detailed educational program, which
I will explain in more detail in the video about the ideal state.
The aim of this education is the true insight into reality, the recognition of the idea
of the good.
And in which stages exactly does the process of knowledge take place?
Man first recognizes things of which he previously only saw shadows.
While the shadows
correspond to the images of objects that can be sensed, but also to false ideas - for example of justice - the objects in the cave correspond to
the things that can be perceived by the senses.
At a further stage of the ascent he then sees the cave fire.
This enables the visibility of the sensually perceptible things in the cave
and the creation of the shadows.
It is analogous to the sun parable for the sun in the sensually perceptible world.
After that, via a steep ascent, he reaches the outside until the light of the sun.
He has now advanced into the realm of the conceivable, the spiritual world of ideas.
Here he is initially blinded.
He only recognizes shadows and reflections in the water, which he initially believes to be real.
But then he looks up and sees the real landscape
and the real sky, first by night and then by day.
The real things in the outside world correspond to the ideas.
Finally he sees the sun itself and its light.
He recognizes that it is the cause of all that exists and is visible, the very force
that gives all things their appearance and their reality.
The sun is the idea of good.
The process of knowledge described is painful and strenuous: the cave dweller is
violently dragged up the path, the bright light of truth blinds and hurts
him, he always has to get used to new situations and lighting conditions.
He is initially disturbed and considers the shadow images to be more real than reality.
A life in the false reality of the cave is no longer
conceivable after realizing the truth.
The philosopher can no longer take seriously what the people in the cave believe to be true
, because he has recognized it as false.
But he doesn't stay up with the sun, but has to return to the darkness of the cave to help
those who are still chained in the cave and trapped in illusions and wrong opinions
.
As a philosopher, he now has an educational and educational mandate.
"If such a person climbed down again and sat down in his old place, then
his eyes would be filled with darkness if he came out of the sun so suddenly.
But if he then had to try again to judge those shadows in competition with those who
were always tied there, while his eyes are still blinded and
have not yet adjusted (and this period of adjustment will probably take a long time),
so be it surely he would be laughed at and said that he came
back from his ascent with ruined eyes and that it was not worth going up there even to try.
But whoever tried to free them and lead them up, they would probably
kill him if they could only somehow get their hands on him and kill him.”
The last part of the allegory of the cave describes the philosopher's return to the
cave.
According to Plato, whoever has recognized the truth should return to the cave and help those
who are still bound.
He must try to convince the other prisoners in the cave of the actual reality
.
After the highest insight, the knowledge of the idea of good, the now philosophically
learned must perform his duties of education and government.
He is responsible for the education (paideia) of the philosophically uneducated and should
lead them to knowledge and thus to a good and happy life.
With Plato, the purpose of the philosophical educational path is to train an elite - so-called philosopher kings
- who can then rule because, in contrast to average
people, they have recognized the idea of the good and can implement it in the state.
Plato's demand for such "political" behavior on the part of philosophers results from his
view that knowledge must always be put into practice.
The return of the philosophers is necessary for the state to function as a whole and for
the individual to be happy.
For this, the citizens of the polis must be educated and freed from their misjudgments and illusions
.
But those who have returned can only find their way around the cave with difficulty, as
it is much darker than outside.
The philosopher seems unworldly, meets with incomprehension and ridicule, is seen as a threat
and even puts his life in danger.
Furthermore, the ascent to the truth is arduous and most people prefer to be
content with the shadow images.
Therefore they are not grateful but rather irritated when someone who
has seen the sun and with it the idea of the good, true and beautiful descends back into the cave
and tells them that their usual world is only an illusion.
The philosopher who wants to move other people to true knowledge therefore runs the risk of
being ridiculed, threatened and even killed.
This passage in the allegory of the cave is certainly an allusion to the fate of Plato's
teacher Socrates, who wanted to free the Athenians from their wrong opinions and
was finally sentenced to death.
And Plato also had very sobering experiences during his three visits to Syracuse
trying to educate the rulers there philosophically.
In order to understand the allegory of the cave, one must
relate it to the allegory of the sun and lines previously described.
This is associated with a few individual problems in detail, which I do not
want to go into detail about.
In the parable of the sun at the end of the sixth book, Plato draws an analogy between the sun
and the "idea of the good".
The sun is to the visible as the “idea of the good” is to the conceivable. Just as the sun enables
the knowledge and existence of sensually perceptible objects in the realm of the visible
, so the “idea of the good” enables
the knowledge and existence of ideas in the realm of the conceivable.
In the allegory of the lines, Plato assigns different subject areas
to different modes of knowledge and determines their relationship to one another.
To do this, a line is divided into four unequal sections.
The first division divides the whole object realm into two opposing realms: a sensible realm
accessible to perception, and an intelligible realm only mentally knowable.
The resulting four subsections represent the empirical objects
and their images as well as the mathematical objects and the ideas.
They correspond to the four modes of knowledge eikasía, pístis, dianoia and noésis.
Noésis reaches the unconditional real beginning and thus the foundation
of knowledge: the idea of the good.
In the visible realm only opinion (dóxa) is possible, in the conceivable realm real
knowledge (epistêmê).
Now let's put the three parables in relation to each other.
The cave corresponds to the area of the visible (sensual world) in the sun and the lower section
in the line equation.
The ascent out of the cave illustrates the different
possibilities of knowledge on the different levels of being that are described in the parable of the lines.
The dialectic serves as a method to grasp the ideas and the idea of the good
(noésis).
The outer area of the cave corresponds to the realm of the conceivable - i.e. the world of ideas
in the allegory of the sun and the two upper sections in the allegory of lines.
In all three parables, Plato describes a path of knowledge that
takes place in four stages of knowledge, is based on ontologically different types of objects and
ends in the knowledge of the truth.
The allegory of the cave presents some difficulties in interpretation because it is very complex and Plato
himself only interpreted it incompletely.
In addition, Plato deliberately avoided using a fixed terminology.
Researchers are also discussing the details of the assignment of the elements from the parable of the sun and of the lines that has just been presented
.
Due to these
difficulties, the German philologist and philosopher Thomas Alexander Szlezák proposes not to concentrate on individual details but on the main statements of the
parable and distinguishes five basic intentions of the cave allegory:
The everyday attitude of knowledge must
be abandoned in favor of a philosophical attitude.
(1) The "turning of the whole soul" (periagogé)
does not lead directly to the highest possibility of knowledge, but only via a graded sequence of
different ways of knowing.
Philosophical education thus corresponds to gradual habituation, not sudden
knowledge.
(2) From an
ontological point of view, Plato assigns unequal object types to the various graded modes of cognition.
"Shadows of something" are less "being" than the perceptible things, than the ideas,
than the "idea of the good".
(3) The way to show the "idea of the good"
costs effort and strength.
It can be associated with scorn and ridicule, but also with dangers.
The "turning over of the whole soul" is therefore not only a matter of the mind, but
of the entire personality.
(4) Plato is convinced that it
is man's natural destiny to recognize the "idea of the good".
(5) In the allegory of the cave, Plato illustrates
central aspects of his philosophy.
His ontology (doctrine of being) is reflected in the succession of four different
types of objects that he associates with the stages of the ascent from the cave.
With each level, the objects become "more real" and thus "true".
In the end, however, there is the "most brilliant thing", the "idea of the good".
The different levels of cognition are also illustrated: the world of sense perception,
in which only opinion (dóxa) is possible, corresponds to the cave, the world of ideas
and mathematical objects, in which real cognition and real knowledge (epistêmê)
is possible, the outside world.
The sun, in turn, stands for the highest knowledge: the knowledge of the idea of the good.
In principle, according to Plato, all people can be led to the knowledge of the truth.
In reality, however, only a few succeed (Rep. so3b).
Only philosophers attain true knowledge.
The parable is also related to Plato's ethics and political philosophy.
According to Plato, for a good, virtuous and therefore happy life, it is necessary
to free oneself from false ideas and to stick to the ideas, especially the idea of the good
to orient.
The shadows in the cave correspond to the common misconceptions
of justice in the context of the politeia.
A few - like Socrates - can attain knowledge on their own.
The vast majority need help with this.
A philosopher who has recognized the idea of good is therefore obliged to return to the cave
and help those around him to understand.
For Plato, education is not an end in itself.
The philosopher has a duty to the polis and should share his knowledge of what is beautiful,
true and good, even if he is met with scorn and ridicule.
Plato's ethics is based on a theory of education (paideia), in which a knower
leads a learner to knowledge and thus to a good and happy life.
For Plato, the recognition of the idea of the good is a prerequisite for the development of
virtues and thus for the happiness of the individual as well as of the state.
Only philosophers who have seen the "idea of the good" can therefore
become kings in Plato's ideal state and set the guidelines on which it is based.
Because the guidelines and principles in the state - like every human
practice - must be based on the "idea of the good".
Plato's allegory of the cave is still regarded today as a reminder not
to be satisfied with the deceptive and ephemeral world of sensory perception and
to strive for true knowledge.
Compared to the allegory of the sun and lines, the allegory of the cave is no longer just
about ontological, epistemological and ethical aspects that affect the individual,
but about the whole state.
It is about the possibilities and the dangers that true philosophical education entails
and underlines the responsibility of philosophers for state and society.
You can now test your knowledge with the Plato's Allegory of the Cave (Content) and Plato's Allegory of the Cave (Interpretation)
Quizlet sets .
Have fun learning and see you soon!
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