Summary

In book VII, Socrates presents the most famous and beautiful metaphor in Western philosophy; the allegory of the cave. This was meant to show the effects of education on humans.He discusses the education of the guardians, focusing his time on the study of the arithmetic, astronomy, and geometry. He lays out an ideal curriculum, ending the study of philosophy from age 30-35. Later on, they will make the pursuit of philosophy their primary goal and envisagethe idea of goodness.The philosopher is moved by education through the stages on the divided line, ultimately bringing him to the form of God. He asserts that there are four divisions of the mind: two for opinion and two for intellect. He argues that the intellectual vision may be classified as understanding and science and those about opinion can be classified as belief and perception of shadows.

Main Points of the Dialogue

1. Good as the highest objective of knowledgethrough education
2. The Divided Linewas describing the visible world of perceived physical objects and the images we make of them.
3. Allegory of the cave–humans are compared to people living in a dark cave and only experiencing the outside world as two-dimensional shadows
4. The concepts of ideal educationwith a strong focus on logic and mathematics. Rulers should have sound reasoning and real knowledge.

Discussion Questions

1. By carefully examining the allegory of the cave, how do opinions inside the cave differ from those outside the cave? How does Socrates description of “opinions without knowledge”at the beginning of the reading compared to the opinions of the allegory of the cave?
2. The allegory of the cave shows Socrates theory of education and knowledge. Why does it make a strong case for the significance of education? Do you believe that ignorance is similar to being in chains? Can education free us in a sense?

References

Cohen, S. M., Curd, P., & Reeve, C. D. C. (Eds.). (2016). Readings in ancient Greek philosophy: from Thales to Aristotle. Hackett Publishing.

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