2. Discussion: Plato's "Allegory
of the Cave"
Bio
Rhetorical Strategies
Questions for Critical Reading /
QHQs
Introduce Essay #4: Privilege
and Perspective: An in-class
essay during class 19
AGENDA
4. • Plato was born around the
year 428 BCE in Athens.
Plato's birth name was
Aristocles, and he gained
the nickname Platon,
meaning broad, because of
his broad build. His family
had a history in politics, and
Plato was destined to a life
in keeping with this history.
A Brief Biography
5. When Plato met Socrates, he had met his
definitive teacher. As Socrates’s disciple,
Plato adopted his philosophy and style of
debate, and directed his studies toward
the question of virtue and the formation
of a noble character.
6. Plato was in military service from 409
BC to 404 BC. When the
Peloponnesian War ended in 404 BC
he joined the Athenian oligarchy of
the Thirty Tyrants, one of whose
leaders was his uncle Charmides. The
violence of this group quickly
prompted Plato to leave it. In 403 BC,
when democracy was restored in
Athens, he had hopes of pursuing his
original goal of a political career.
Socrates’s execution in 399 BC had a
profound effect on Plato, and was
perhaps the final event that would
convince him to leave Athenian
politics forever.
7. After 399 BC Plato began to write extensively. The order in which he wrote his
major texts is also uncertain. However, most scholars agree to divide Plato's
major work into three distinct groups. The first of these is known as the
Socratic Dialogues because of how close he stays to Socrates’s
teachings.
The period from 387 to 361 BC is often called Plato's "middle" or
transitional period. The major difference between these texts and his earlier
works is that he begins to establish his own voice in philosophy. Plato's most
influential work, The Republic, is also a part of his middle dialogues.
The Republic covers almost every aspect of Plato's thought. Book VII of The
Republic is “The Allegory of the Cave.”
8. Plato founded a school of learning which he called the Academy.
Plato's school is often described at the first European university. Its
curriculum offered subjects including astronomy, biology,
mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. Plato hoped the
Academy would provide a place where thinkers could work toward
better government in the Grecian cities. He would preside over the
Academy until his death.
9. It was around 365 BC when
Plato's famous pupil Aristotle
began to study at the
Academy. In 347 Plato died,
leaving the Academy to his
sister's son Speusippus. The
Academy remained a model
for institutions of higher
learning until it was closed, in
529 CE, by the Emperor
Justinian.
11. Together, draw a picture of Plato’s Cave.
Label the significant aspects of the cave.
Make it fit for overhead projection
See pages 445-46 for a description of
the cave. Use these directions to assure
you have drawn it appropriately.
THE TASK
12. IN GROUPS, DISCUSS
“THE ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE”
FROM
PLATO’S REPUBLIC
CONSIDER HIS RHETORICAL
STRATEGIES, THE ALLEGORY ITSELF,
AND THE “QUESTIONS FOR CRITICAL
READING” (PAGES 453-54)
14. Allegory: a story in which the characters and
situations actually represent people and characters in
another context.
Dialogue: Asking questions that require simple
answers. Slowly, the questioning proceeds to elucidate
the answers to complex issues.
Clarity
Simplicity
Directness
Rhetorical Strategies
16. QUESTIONS
What is the
relationship between
Socrates and
Glaucon? Are they
equal in intellectual
authority? Are the
concerned with the
same issues?
How does the allegory
of the prisoners in the
cave watching
shadows on a wall
relate to us today?
What shadows do we
see, and how do they
distort our sense of
what is real?
17. Are we prisoners in
the same sense that
Plato’s characters
are?
If Plato is right that
the material world is
an illusion, how
would too great a
reliance on
materialism affect
ethical decisions?
QUESTIONS
18. What ethical
questions are
raised by
Plato’s
Allegory?
In paragraph 49, Plato
states that the virtue of
wisdom “contains a
divine element.” What is
a divine element? What
does this statement seem
to mean? Do you agree
with Plato?
QUESTIONS
19. What distinction
does Plato make
between the public
and the private?
Would you make
the same
distinctions (see
paras. 53-55)?
What does Plato’s
allegory of the cave
tell us about how we
recognize the world?
QUESTIONS
20. According to the
allegory, how do cave
prisoners get free?
What does this suggest
about intellectual
freedom?
What does the allegory
suggests about the
process of
enlightenment or
education?
QUESTIONS
21. According to The Allegory of the
Cave, what is the main task of the
philosopher?
Who are the “guardians” or
philosopher-kings?
Why should philosopher-kings
rule? Do you agree?
22. Q: If we were tied up in
the position of the
people at the end of the
cave, what would our
shadow puppets look
like today?
Q. How are
the shadows
related to our
perception of
reality?
23. Q. Why do people resist
believing a true perception
of reality?
24. Essay #4: An in-class essay on Plato’s “The Allegory
of the Cave” and Woolf’s “Shakespeare’s Sister
You will respond to one of several prompts provided.
There will be prompts addressing each Plato and Woolf.
Your essay will be between 500 and 750 words. The number of
pages will depend on your handwriting!
You will have two hours to write.
You may use your textbook or copies of the essays (no other
pages or papers will be allowed).
Please bring a clean, large Blue Book: No Blue Book, no test.
(Approx. 8x10). You can buy them at the bookstore.
You may write with either a number 2 pencil (dark lead) or blue
or black pen.
25. Ways to Proceed
Come to class for the discussions
Participate in, listen to, and think about our class discussions
Read the two essays
Reread the two essays—make notes about your thoughts
Review the “Suggestions for Writing” sections at the end of each essay.
Buy your Blue Book
Bring an appropriate writing utensil
26. IN YOUR GROUPS
Divide up the
questions for Critical
Reading on page 776.
Get someone (or
several people) in
your group to write a
QHQ on Woolf
27. HOMEWORK
• Read: A World of Ideas:
• Virginia Woolf "Shakespeare’s
Sister" (761-776)
• Post #26 Questions (TBD) for
Critical Reading: (page 776) or
QHQ Woolf
