I received a question
about that Plato's divided line that went
to something like this: I
can't quite seem to grasp what separates
one
area or the different levels knowledge
from another. I can understand the
difference between
the image of a pyramid in my mind and the actual pyramid but
I don't understand what Plato is ... how he's differentiating
how these levels work. Well I think maybe
that the text is
maybe not as clear as it could be. Stage
1
on page 35 at the bottom of the line
there is imagination whichever has only
images it has the shares in a cave this
is the lowest typeof knowledge
in being I actually it's the lowest I
area or way in which we can apprehend
things and that is
through opinion you see play-doh divides
the
divided line he shows the upper half is
knowledge in the lower half is opinion
so when we're dealing with
images were we're seeing an image you
see a photograph I we're seeing a movie
we r apprehending images
ok thanks and this is obviously a
different
I experience than when we see something
in real life which
Plato likens to belief
a search in another form opinions we
have a belief about something
we haven't yet risen to knowledge but
if you can see that the imagining
something in your mind and seeing
something are two different kinds of
experiences two ways after handing
the things experiences
hey better in the world then
you understand well played I was trying
to get at I i think
he's making an analogy between that
experience
imagining something or looking at an
image and actually seeing something
and be other higher levels that the law
on
in the realm of knowledge these two
upper levels
so he saying that there's a whole other
area
their alma real knowledge that we
usually don't even acknowledge
and the first level at that is called
understanding in which we deal with the
I images so to speak
I love for example on lines and
and squares and planes mathematical
objects we deal with those
in the same way that we can deal with
images
in the real world and they realm of
knowledge we have images that we work
with to try to understand things at it
deep 11 cause at the level of
understanding
we haven't yet risen to the highest
level which he calls
I dialectic Corp estimate which is
grasping those things as they
really our understanding their real
essence or form
so I haven't yet understood what a plane
is where the line is
the real the real ultimate thing
that it is which I understand at lower
level by
using figures and I in my mind
trying to understand formulas in my mind
and not rising to that higher-level now
rising to that higher-level sounds a
little odd
I hairstyle had a problem with that he
you can imagine his
epistemology metaphysics is being like
played it but without that
higher-level he thinks the scientific
knowledge
is more or less at the end of it I am
Plato's idea is that if we
discuss justice and in the
in the abstract often enough and deeply
enough
we eventually come to no way
justice here's the form of justice the
same with
beauty goodness and of course the good
is the highest
overall performs in this last phase is
almost
religious as I explained a number of
times
cell we're not quite sure what he meant
by it but he
seems to indicate that there is a level
above
our scientific understanding to which
the human mind is capable rising
so those are the four levels there's
four different kinds of objects that are
matched with these
kinds have level or apprehension that
the human mind is capable love
I'll so the forms the mathematical
objects
the physical objects and then the images
so think of Plato is describing this
up for way in which you your frock
becomes
gradually more more abstract into your
eyes it is something which is
you confront every hand
visualize contact if you will these
alternate forms there are the
real constituents being
I hope that helps
