In recent classes, we have discussed two analogies used in Book VI of the Plato Republic - the sun analogy and the line analogy. We began talking about forms and they've appeared in both analogies. Think about what a form is, and how they are represented in Socrates/Glaucon dialogue. Explain in simple terms the sun analogy and the line analogy. Then, specifically describe how the forms are represented in each analogy.
The past two classes should have brought you closer to answering the question, "Why do philosophy?" If you've got some extra time, think about the forms that Socrates describes and why they're so important to philosophers and philosophy in general.
Please remember to use proper grammar and to include your name so we know who you are!
2 comments:
Forms in the analogy seem to be the objects that can be seen through illumination of the sun. The forms can also be the ifferent things from the cave analogy. This includes the sun which in this case is the good. Another form in the analogy is the objects which may be objects. Then there is the eye which is the form of the soul.
In the Socrates/Glaucon dialogue, a form is a way of understanding of something. Beauty would be an example of a form. In the sun analogy, there is the sun, the object to be known, and the eye. The sun illuminates the object so that the eye can use sight to know it. The sun represents "the good," or the illuminating force of truth that enables knowledge. The object represents the knowledge whose existence is owed to "the good." The eye represents the soul, or mind that uses sense to contribute to its knowledge. In the line analogy, the visible and intelligible realms are represented by a line. They are both divided into two subsections. The subsections of the visible realm include images that are seen, and the origins of the images that are the things themselves. The subsections of the intelligible realm include the intelligible objects themselves (the forms), and reasoning, which starts from a first principle and leads to a form.
Post a Comment