University of West Georgia Platos Republic Paper

There are a variety of major distinctions that people always use to describe the Plato’s Republic section we have read. The distinctions are:

• The appearances vs. reality
• One vs. the many
• Forms/ideals vs. physical objects

After doing the reading, describe how you understand these distinctions. Do you agree with the basic claim, that appearances can be deceiving? Why or why not?

Another way to understand the Allegory of the Cave and the Divided Line is to use one particular example and take it through all the different levels of the Divided Line. Here’s some examples like that:

• A picture of a dog in a dog magazine/ An actual physical dog//A diagram of a dog used to train a dog show judge at Westminster Dog Show/The idea of the perfect dog – Less “real”//More “real”

• A picture of a beauty pageant participant/Meeting the actual beauty pageant participant//A description of the ideal “Miss America”/The concept or ideal Miss America in someone’s imagination – Again, the more perfect it is, the more real it is, even if it’s just an idea.

Would you agree with the way Plato connects knowledge and reality? Why or why not?