The Republic

Having finished his account of the ideal community by the end of chapter seven, Socrates now adds a further important qualification. To make it “perfect” (332), the rulers of the society must also have knowledge of goodness. Indeed, he says that “there’s absolutely no point in having expert knowledge of everything else” (230) without this. But what is “goodness”? And how does one attain knowledge of it? To answer this Socrates uses three analogies, culminating in the analogy of the cave. In this last, famous, analogy Socrates describes the life of people unknowingly condemned to live their lives observing shadows on a cave wall. Meanwhile, one of them is forced up into the world of daylight beyond the cave. When he returns underground, he realizes he was living in a prison and what he thought was reality was only an illusion.

On one level, this is a relatively transparent allegory for Socrates’ hierarchy of understanding. This is the taxonomy outlined in the previous analogy of the line. As Socrates says, “The region which is accessible to sight should be equated with the prison cell, and the firelight there with the light of the sun” (243). As such, the shadows on the wall correspond to the lowest mode of understanding. This is brute perception, for example of trees and buildings. Next, corresponding to the firelight, is an understanding of the nature of perception itself. Socrates likens this to the sun in relation to everyday perception. More precisely, it is about understanding why and how we perceive objects in certain ways. For example, we understand how different types of light, or problems with one’s eyes, may affect our perception of a forest or lake. Alternatively, and more interestingly, we gain an understanding of how our emotions or desires can affect perception. For instance, the resemblance of someone in a crowd to a friend may cause my attention to focus on them and cause my other surroundings to become an amorphous backdrop.

Next, there is the journey upwards. This is the transition of the mind toward the intelligible realm. The phenomena in the outside world that are seen correspond to Socrates’ third category of understanding, “thought” (240). These are forms in the intelligible world “which only thought can see” (239). An example of this would be a mathematical proof, or an abstract concept like time. In neither case is there a perceivable object. Finally, there is the sun which brightens the outside world above the cave. This corresponds to Socrates’ fourth category of understanding, “knowledge.” This is understanding of the fundamental laws underpinning, and making possible, thought itself. It is also the highest possible value and source of all other values. It can be best understood as that which requires no further assumptions. It is the deepest possible point for thought to go, and one which, once attained, then illuminates the other three categories of understanding with new awareness. By its nature this cannot be explained through straightforward examples, which is why Socrates’ explanation is allegorical.

There is, however, another dimension to the allegory. This centres on the idea of philosophy as a calling or way of life. It also complements and enriches the metaphysical interpretation outlined. In this reading, the people of the cave are ordinary people. They have no awareness that there is anything beyond their everyday understanding, nor that anything could be better. Further, they are enslaved. While they believe they are free, their thoughts and feelings are manipulated. Indeed, they are manipulated precisely to believe that theirs is the best life, and to never question or escape it. This is why in the allegory they are tied up, unable to more even their heads. The man who is set free is someone awoken to philosophy. Significantly, this is done by someone else; we do not come to philosophy purely of our own volition. Plato perhaps has in mind for this role a significant teacher, as Socrates was for him. Or this role could be filled by a life-changing text, as Plato hopes The Republic will be for the reader.

The “pain and distress” (242) suffered by the man as he is “dragged forcibly away from there up the rough, steep slope” (242) is the suffering of the philosophical initiate. Not only is philosophy difficult, especially at first, but part of one will cling to the old, unthinking way of life. Finally, he gets to the daylight beyond the cave. This can be understood as the philosophical way of life proper and a life lived in genuine questioning and contemplation of the world. Once reached, it promises true freedom and self-realisation, as well as beauty in seeing the world now properly. Finally, the man returns to the cave. This is one of the most puzzling aspects of the allegory. Nevertheless, it can be understood as the attempt to communicate the value of philosophy to others. In thus trying to set others free, as he had been, he will risk humiliation and even death. Yet part of seeing the sun, and hence understanding the good, is awareness that he has at least an obligation to try. In this way, Plato suggests that the good cannot be attained merely in passive intellectual contemplation. Rather it is only fully realised through action and in becoming part of the good oneself.