Cave

• Do you think Plato’s use of a conversation to convey his point is effective? (e.g., 515a-c)—SM

• Why would the men who have lived in the cave their whole lives want to kill the person who wants to bring them truth? (517a)—BF

• “But if a man were intelligent, he would remember that there are two kinds of disturbances of the eyes, stemming from two sources—when they have been transferred from light to darkness, and when they have been transferred from darkness to light” (518a). What does this mean and why does it define intelligence? (KH)

• Reflecting on the Cave, “… education is not what the profession of certain men assert it to be.” In the case what is education, if not what an instructor says? (Page 518a)—EA

• On page 518 there is a discussion about professors and students. Are those statements true? Do we all have the same intellectual contributions or do we have to gain them through experience? (PW)

• Is it right to only question society when it’s bad or should we do it when it’s good too? (AW)

• What did you interpret from the reading? (ChS)

Sun and divided line

• Book VI 507e-509c. The first full paragraph talks about how the soul fixes itself on lightness and darkness. When the soul is associated with either light or dark, it then changes how one acts. Do you think this changing of light to dark relates to the idea of changing masks? (JC)

• Are there multiple different ways to look at the analogy of the sun? 507b-511e (DM)

• 508e-509b. Here, Socrates argues that knowledge and truth are “like the good”, but neither are necessarily “the good.” What do you guys think about this? (WF)

• Discuss “geometry” as an example in the text about hypotheses (510a-511b). And how Glaucon reaches his conclusion that “these men[people who start their work on hypotheses], in my opinion, don’t possess intelligence with respect to the objects” (511c-511d). (PY)

• Why do you think Plato believes intellection, thought, trust, and imagination are the four affections of the soul? (511 d)—AR