Chapter 12 Volume VII-1

SOCRATES: Next, let us compare the nature of the educated man with that of the uneducated man as follows.Let's imagine a cavernous basement with a long passage leading out, allowing light to enter along a path as wide as the cavern.Some people have lived in this cave since they were young. Their heads, necks, legs and feet are bound. They cannot walk or turn their heads. They can only look forward at the back wall of the cave.Let us also imagine something burning and glowing far behind them and higher up.Between the light of the fire and the prisoners, there was a way above the cave.A low wall has been built along the roadside.The low wall acts like a barrier that puppeteers put between themselves and the audience, over which they lift their puppets to perform.

G: I see it. S: Next, let us imagine that there are some people holding various utensils over the wall, walking behind the wall, and some also holding dummies and fake animals made of wood, stone or other materials.As for these passers-by, you can expect that some are talking and some are not. G: You're talking about a peculiar metaphor and some peculiar prisoners. Sue: No, they are people like us.Tell me, what do you think these prisoners could see of themselves or of their fellows, but the shadows cast by the firelight on the wall opposite them? G: How can they see anything else if their necks are restrained all their lives?

S: Then, the people behind on the road are holding up the things of the past, can the prisoners see anything but their shadows? G: Of course not. SOCRATES: Well, if the prisoners could talk to each other, don't you think they would conclude that when they spoke of the shadows they saw they were speaking of the real thing itself? G: It must be so. SOCRATES: Also, if a passer-by makes a sound that echoes from the wall opposite the prisoner, don't you think the prisoner will conclude that it is the moving shadow on the wall opposite them? G: They must have decided so. SOCRATES: Certainly, such a person would not have thought that the above-mentioned things have any other reality than shadows.

G: Undoubtedly. SOCRATES: Imagine, then, what do you think would happen to them if they were unchained and corrected?What do you think would happen to one of them, if it were true that one of them should be freed from the shackles, and forced to stand up suddenly, and turn his head around, and walk about, and look up into the firelight?These movements are painful to him, and, because of his blurred vision, he cannot see objects whose shadows he sees before.Do you think he would say something when he was told that what he was used to seeing was nothing but falsehood, and that he was now nearer to reality, and seeing more real, because he was turned towards something more real? what?If someone showed him every object that was on the wall and forced him to say what it was, don't you think he would not know what to say, and thought that the shadows he had seen in the past were better than others. Is what you see now more real?

G: Much more real! SOCRATES: If he were compelled to look at the fire itself, his eyes would suffer, and he would turn away, still fleeing to those images which he could see clearly, and which he believed to be clearer and more solid than those indicated.isn't it? G: It will be like this. Su: Besides, if someone forcibly pulls him up a steep and rugged slope until he is pulled out of the cave and sees the sunlight outside, and he is not allowed to retreat halfway, he will feel that being forced to walk like this is very painful, and he will feel Annoyed; when he came out into the sun, he would see stars flying and snakes in front of him, so that he would not be able to see anything that is now called real.Don't you think so?

G: Oh, it's true that you can't see it all at once. SOCRATES: So I think it probably took a gradual process of getting used to before he could see from the high places outside the cave.First of all, it is probably easiest to look at shadows, secondly, to look at the reflections of people and other things in water, and thirdly, to look at things themselves; after going through these things, he will probably feel that observing the sky and the sky itself at night, looking at the moonlight and starlight, is easier than during the day Seeing the sun and sunlight is easy. G: Of course.

SOCRATES: Then, I think, he may finally be able to look directly at the sun itself, see him for what he is, without having to see it through a reflection or an image in water, or an image shown in any other medium, Then you can see its true nature in its original place and in itself. G: That's for sure. SOCRATES: Then he probably has come to the conclusion of this: It is this sun that causes the seasons and the cycles of the years, and governs all things in the visible world, and it is the cause of all those things that they have seen by some kind of detour in the past. G: Obviously, he would probably go on to come to that conclusion.

Su: If he thinks back to his cave dwelling, his intellectual level at that time, and his companions in captivity, don’t you think he would be glad for his change and feel sorry for his companions? G: Indeed it will. SOCRATES: If there were some kind of election among the prisoners, in which some honor was won, and those who are most discerning and best remember the usual order of past memories, and are therefore the best predictors of what will follow The one who will follow has been rewarded, do you think this liberated man will be keen on such rewards again? Would he be jealous of those whom the prisoners respected as their leaders, and would he contend with them for a position of power there?Or, as Homer said, he would rather live on earth as a poor man's slave, and suffer, than agree with his prisoners, and live their life?

G: I think he'd rather suffer anything than live a prison life again. SOCRATES: What do you think will happen if he goes back to his old place in the crypt?Wouldn't his eyes be blinded by the darkness when he suddenly left the sunlight and went into the crypt? G: It must be so. SOCRATES: His eyesight was still hazy at the time, and he hadn't had time to get used to the darkness— The time needed to get used to the darkness will not be short.If someone asked him to compare his "evaluation memory" with those who have been imprisoned in the crypt at this time, wouldn't he be laughed at?Wouldn't people say that he went up once, and when he came back his eyes were broken, wouldn't it be said that even the thought of going up was not worth it?If it was all right to catch and kill the man who was going to free them and take them up, wouldn't they kill him?

G: They definitely will. SOCRATES: My dear Glaucon, we must now apply this metaphor in its entirety to what has been said, comparing the cell of the crypt to the visible world, and the light of the fire to the power of the sun.If you connect the ascent from the crypt to the upper world and see there with the ascent of the soul to the intelligible world, you will understand this explanation of mine, since you are anxious to hear it.As for whether this explanation itself is correct, only God knows.But at any rate, it seems to me that the last thing seen in the knowable world, and the last thing seen with great effort, is the idea of ​​the good.Once we have seen it, we must be able to conclude that it is indeed the cause of all that is right and beautiful in all things, that it is the creator of light and source in the visible world, and that it is itself truth and reason in the intelligible world. the decisive source of the good; and anyone who can act rationally in private or public life must have seen the idea of ​​the good.

G: As far as I can tell, I agree. SOCRATES: Come on, then, agree with me in what I say, and don't be surprised to see that those who have reached this height do not want to do trivial things, and their hearts are forever Longing to stay in a real place on high.This should come as no surprise, if our analogy is correct. G: No wonder. SOCRATES: Again, if one returns from divine observation to human affairs; he is compelled to contend in court or elsewhere about justice, before he can see and has not become sufficiently accustomed to darkness. Shadows, or idols that make shadows, debate the notions of justice in the minds of men who have never seen justice itself.Do you think it's worth being surprised if he looks ugly and behaves ridiculously while he's doing it? G: Not surprising at all. SOCRATES: But anyone who has a head will remember that there are two kinds of blindness of the eye, which are different in nature, and which are caused by two corresponding causes: one goes from light to dark, and the other goes from dark to light. place.Anyone with a head will believe that the same can happen to the soul.When he sees a soul blinded and unable to see clearly, he does not laugh at it without thinking, but he examines whether the soul's sight is misled by an unaccustomed darkness because it has left a brighter life. Is it because it has left the darkness of ignorance and entered a brighter world, and the greater light has blinded it?Then he will think that one experience and way of life is happy and another miserable; Here comes this kind of ridiculous. G: What you say makes a lot of sense. SOCRATES: If this is true, then we must have the following opinion about these things: education is not really what some people in their profession claim to be.They declare that they can put into the soul knowledge which it did not have, as they can put sight into the eyes of the blind. G: They did say that. Su: But our current argument shows that knowledge is a faculty in the soul of every human being, and the organ used by every human being for learning is like the eyes. ——The whole body does not change direction, and the eyes cannot turn from the darkness to the light.Likewise, the soul as a whole must turn away from the world of change until its "eyes" are able to see reality head-on, the brightest of all realities, which we call the good. Is that so? Greg: Yes. SOCRATES: So perhaps there is a technique of soul-turning in this respect, a technique of making the soul-turning as easy as possible and as effective as possible.Instead of creating sight in the soul, it affirms that the soul itself has sight, but thinks that it cannot get its bearings correctly, or is not looking in the direction it should be looking, and tries to make it turn. G: There is probably such a technique. Su: Therefore, the other so-called virtues of the soul seem to be close to the advantages of the body. The advantages of the body are indeed not inherent in the body, but cultivated through education and practice.But the virtues of the mind do seem to have a more divine quality, a thing that is never incapacitated; it can become useful and beneficial, or useless and harmful, depending on the direction it is taken.There is a kind of bad guy who is usually said to be clever.Have you ever noticed how keen their eyes are?Their souls are small, but their eyesight is sharp enough in those things that attract their attention.Their "smallness" does not lie in their poor eyesight, but in the fact that their eyesight is forced to serve evil, and the result is that the sharper their eyesight is, the more evil they do. ①The meaning of the word "small" is similar to the "little" in the so-called "gentlemen and villains" in my country. G: It's true. SOCRATES: But suppose this part of the soul has been tempered from infancy, and has thus been relieved of a burden—the burden inherent in this changing world, which is the vision that weighs down the soul so that it can only Those sensual cravings such as gluttony that can see things below cling to people. —Suppose the burden had been lifted, and the same parts of the souls of these same men were turned towards the truth, they would have seen the truth with the same keen eyesight as they now see the things to which they are directed. G: Possibly. SOCRATES: Then a man who is uneducated and ignorant of the truth, and who is allowed to devote his whole life to the study of knowledge, is not qualified to govern a state.Isn't this conclusion also very correct, and is it also the inevitable conclusion of the above theory?For the uneducated cannot concentrate all his public and private activities on one purpose in life; And intellectuals cannot do anything practical voluntarily, but imagine themselves leaving this world and entering Paradise while they are still alive. Grid: Yes. SOCRATES: It is therefore our duty, as founders of this country, to compel the best souls to reach what we said before, the highest knowledge, to see the good, and to rise to that height; and when they have reached this height and seen enough At that time, we did not allow them to do what we allow them to do now. G: What do you mean? Su: Stay above and don't want to go down to the prisoners again, and share honor with them, no matter how big or small. G: You mean we're going to force them to live a lower life, when they can live a higher life? SOCRATES: My friend, you forget again that our legislation is not for the particular happiness of any class in the city-state, but for the happiness of the country as a whole.It uses persuasion or coercion to bring all citizens into harmony with each other, so that they can share with each other the benefits that they can individually provide to the collective.And it creates such people in the city-state, its purpose is to keep them from going their own way, and to unite them into an indivisible city-state citizen collective. G: I forgot.You are right. SOCRATES: Then, Glaucon, you must see that we are not unjust to the philosophers who appear among us; we are also just in forcing them to care for and protect other citizens.We will tell them: "Philosophers who were born in other countries have reason to refuse to participate in the hard political work, because they are completely spontaneous, not consciously cultivated by the government; all self-reliance is not cultivated. Owing to no one, and therefore having no eagerness to repay the favor of nurture, is just. But we have trained you—both for yourselves and for the other citizens of the city—to be queens and leaders in the hive; You have received a better and more complete education than others, and have a greater ability to participate in two lives. Therefore, each of you must go down to live with others when you are on duty, and get used to seeing blurred images. Note that once you get used to it, You will see many times better than them, and you will be able to distinguish the various shadows, and know what the shadows reflect, because you have seen the truth of the beautiful, the just, and the good. Therefore, our country Will be run soberly by us and by you, and not be run drowsily, as most countries are today, by those who fight each other for shadows, for power—to be seen as the greatest good— And those who quarrel with each other rule.The fact is that the government must be the best and most stable in the city where the rulers are least zealous for power, and the worst in those cities where the rulers are contrary. " ① Philosophical life and political life. Grid: Certainly. SOCRATES: Will our students, then, disobey when they hear us say this, and refuse to share in the toil of running the country when it is everyone's turn to be on duty (on the other hand, of course, most of the time they Or were they allowed to live together on it)? G: Denial is impossible.Because we are making a just demand of a just man.But, contrary to the current rulers in every country, they must hold public office as a matter of duty. SOCRATES: For, in fact, dear friends, you can have a well-governed state only if you can find for your future rulers a life better than ruling a state.For it is only in such a state that the truly wealthy can rule.Of course they are not rich in gold, but in the good and wise life necessary for happiness.If the future rulers are poor men who have little personal welfare, when they go to the public service, they think of taking advantage of it, and the country will not be well governed by such people.For, when dominion becomes the object of contention, such internecine strife often destroys both the state and the ruler himself. G: Couldn't be more correct. SOCRATES: Besides the real philosophical life, what other things can you cite that underestimate political power? Ge: I really can't name it. S: But we want people who don't love power to be in power.Otherwise there will be a fight between rivals. Grid: Certainly. SOCRATES: Then, are there any other persons whom you can make responsible, but those who know best how the state may be best governed, and who have other rewards and a better life than politics? What about the guards of the city-state? G: There is no one else. SOCRATES: So, would you like us to study the following question?How can such a talent be created?How to bring them to the bright world above, so that they can rise from the underworld to the sky like the people in the story? G: Of course I would. SOCRATES: This does not seem to be as easy as flipping shells in a game. It is the transition of the mind from the dim dawn to the real broad day, to the reality we call true philosophy. G: Undoubtedly. Su: Then, shouldn't we study what kind of knowledge has this ability? G: Of course it should. SOCRATES: So, Glaucon, what is this science that drags the soul out of the world of change into the world of reality?Speaking of this, I remembered: Didn't we once say that this kind of person must be a fighter on the battlefield when he is young? G: We said that. SOCRATES: Therefore, the science we are looking for must also have another kind of ability. Grid: What ability? Su: Not useless to soldiers. G: If possible, of course there must be. Su: Earlier we used to give them gymnastics and music education. Greg: Yes. SOCRATES: Gymnastics is concerned with things that arise and pass away; for it affects the strengthening and weakening of the body. ① Gymnastics is connected with the variable world. G: That's clear. SOCRATES: So it will not be the science we are looking for. G: No. SOCRATES: Is this science, then, the music education we described earlier? G: Music, if you remember, is the opposite of sports, and it educates guardians by habit, a certain spiritual harmony (not knowledge) by tone, grace by rhythm, and decency by story (or pure legend). or more authentic) language develops a quality similar to this.But none of these paths leads to the kind of good you are seeking. ① Habit or opinion, as opposed to real knowledge. Sue: Your memory couldn't be more accurate.Because in fact there is no such factor in it.But, alas, Glaucon, then what is this learning we seek?Because craftsmanship seems to be all a bit cheap. G: Exactly.But apart from music, gymnastics, and handicraft, what other learning is left? SOCRATES: Well, if we can't think of anything else, let's name one thing we'll all use. G: What's that? Su: Well, for example, a common thing—it is used in all technical, ideological and scientific knowledge, and it is one of the most important things that everyone must learn. G: What? Su: An ordinary thing, that is, distinguishing "one", "two", and "three", generally speaking, it is counting and calculation.All technology and science must do this, isn't it true? G: That's right. Su: Don't tactics also need to do this? Grid: Definitely. SOCRATES: So Palamides makes Agamemnon a ridiculous general every time he appears on the stage.Palamides declares that after he invented numbers he organized and arranged the troops in Troy's army, counting ships and everything else; as if they had not been numbered before, and Agamemnon It seems that he doesn't know how many infantry he has, since he can't count.Have you noticed these?Also, in that case, what kind of general do you think Agamemnon was? G: I think he's a ridiculous general, if that's true. SOCRATES: Shall we, then, consider the ability to count and count as an essential skill for a soldier? G: This is the most indispensable skill, if he is to be able to command the army, or even just to be an ordinary person. Su: Then, do you think about this science as I do? G: Which subject? S: It seems to be one of those disciplines that are inherently thought-leading that we are looking for.But no one is using it correctly, although it does lead the soul to reality. G: What do you mean? SOCRATES: I will try to explain to you what I have in mind, and I will tell you how I distinguish in my mind two kinds of things--things that have the pull I mean and things that don't of.If you are willing to continue the discussion with me and tell me what you agree with and what you disagree with, then we will know more clearly whether I am right or not. G: Go ahead. Su: Well, you know that there are some things in the senses that do not need to resort to rational thinking, because the senses can be competent for judgment.But there are others which require recourse to reason, because the senses cannot make reliable judgments about them. G: You obviously mean something in the distance or something in the painting. SOCRATES: You miss me completely. G: So, what do you mean by that? SOCRATES: By things that do not require rational thought I mean things that do not simultaneously arouse opposite sensations; The distance is irrelevant.After I make the following explanation, you will understand better.For example, there are three fingers here: the little finger, the ring finger, and the middle finger. Grid: Good. SOCRATES: I take fingers as an example, please don't forget that I treat them as things that can be seen up close.But I want you to pay attention to them. G: Which point? SOCRATES: Every finger looks the same as a finger, and in this respect it does not matter whether it is the middle one or one of the two sides, white or black, thick or thin, etc.For there is nothing here to compel the ordinary soul to ask any more questions or to think about what a finger is, since the sense of sight never at the same time signals to the mind that the finger is also the opposite of the finger. Greg: Yes. SOCRATES: This feeling certainly does not demand or provoke rational thought. G: Of course. SOCRATES: But what about the bigness and smallness of the fingers: is sight capable of distinguishing whether they are large or small?Does it make any visual difference which finger is in the middle and which is on the side?Likewise, can the sense of touch distinguish coarse from fine, soft from hard?Are not virtually all senses defective in the recognition of qualities of this kind?They function as follows: First, the sense of touch, for example, is concerned with hardness as well as softness, so that it sends the signal to the soul that it perceives the same object as both hard and soft.Isn't that so? G: That's right. SOCRATES: If the sense of touch tells the soul that the same body is both hard and soft, the mind in this case must ask, what does the sense of touch mean by hard?Or, if the sense concerned says that heavy things are light, or light things are heavy, what does it mean by light or heavy? G: Indeed, the information is puzzling to the mind and needs to be studied. Su: So, in this case, the soul first summons the computing power and rationality, and studies diligently, whether the thing that sends the message is one or two. G: Of course. SOCRATES: If the answer says two, is each of them a different one? Greg: Yes. SOCRATES: If, therefore, each is one, and there are two, then reason sees them as two separate; for, if they were not separate, it would not think of them as two, but as one. up. Greg: Right. Su: As we said, vision also sees big and small, but the two are not separated but integrated.right? Greg: Yes. S: In order to understand this, reason "sees" big and small, and has to take the opposite approach to perception, to see them separately, not together. G: Really. Su: Next, don't we have to face such a question first: what are big and small? Grid: Certainly. SOCRATES: That is why we use the terms "knowable" and "visible." G: Exactly. Su: I just said that some things require thinking and some things do not require thinking, and I defined those things that simultaneously give opposite stimuli to the senses as things that require thinking, and those that do not simultaneously cause opposite stimuli as those that do not require rational thinking things.I say these words in an effort to explain what I mean. G: Now I understand and agree with you. SOCRATES: Then, to which of these two things do you think number and "one" belong? G: I don't know. SOCRATES: Then reason from what we have said.For if the One itself were fully seen by the sight, or grasped by other senses, it could not lead the mind to grasp reality, as we explained when we took the finger as an example.But if contraries are often seen at the same time, so that though it appears to be one, at the same time the opposite appears to be one, then something is at once needed to judge them, and the soul is thus bewildered. Asking what this "oneness" really is when one is puzzled and asks for research and causes thinking within oneself.In this way, the study of the One leads or turns the mind to the gaze of reality. G: The vision of "one" is indeed the most characteristic of this, because we can see the same thing as one and infinitely many at the same time. SOCRATES: If this principle is true about "one", it is also true about all numbers, is it not? G: Of course. SOCRATES: Also, arithmetic and arithmetic are all about numbers. G: Of course. SOCRATES: This discipline seems to lead the soul to the truth. Greg: Yes.It surpasses any discipline. SOCRATES: So this discipline seems to be included among those we are looking for.For the soldier must learn it in order to command his army; the philosopher must learn it, for he must detach himself from the variable world and grasp the truth, or he will never be a true calculator. Greg: Yes. SOCRATES: Our defenders are as much soldiers as they are philosophers. G: Of course. Socrates: Therefore, Glaucon, the science of arithmetic seems to be entitled to be regulated by law; we must persuade those who will be in the city-state to study arithmetic, and let them learn it not carelessly, but in depth. until they see the essence of number with their pure reason, they are not to learn arithmetic for business, as if they were preparing to be merchants or peddlers, but for use in war and to turn their souls from the world of change to truth and reality. G: That's very good of you. SOCRATES: And, since the question of learning arithmetic is mentioned, it seems to me that it is a fine tool that is of much use to our ends, if it is learned not for trade but for knowledge. G: Why? SOCRATES: As we have just said, it pulls the soul up with force, and compels the soul to discuss pure numbers themselves; and it would never agree if one were to ask it to discuss numbers belonging to visible or tangible bodies.Because you must know that people who are good at arithmetic, if someone tries to divide "one" itself theoretically, they will laugh at this person and deny it, but if you want to divide "one" into parts, they will It is necessary to use multiplication against you step by step, so that "one" does not appear to be "one" at any time but is composed of many parts. G: You are absolutely right. SOCRATES: Glaucon, if they were asked: "What kind of number are you dealing with, my good friends?"—since the "one" is as you claim, each "one" is related to All the other Ones are equal and not one bit different, and there is no part within the One." What do you think?How do you think they will respond? G: I think they would say that the number they are talking about can only be grasped by reason and nothing else. SOCRATES: You see, therefore, my friend, that this science certainly seems to be indispensable to us, since it clearly compels the soul to use pure reason to reach truth itself. ① or "reason itself". G: It really does. SOCRATES: Besides, have you ever noticed that those who are naturally good at arithmetic are often also quick in all other subjects; and that those who are slow in their reflexes are always improved if they are trained in arithmetic? , become faster, even if you don't talk about other benefits? G: That's right. SOCRATES: Secondly, I think that it is not easy to find any subject that is more difficult to learn than arithmetic, and there are not many that are as difficult as it. G: Exactly. Socrates: For all these reasons, we must not neglect this science, and use it to educate our most gifted citizens. G: I agree. Su: Then, this homework is settled and counted as one.Let us now consider the course that follows it, and see if it will be of use to us. G: Which homework?Did you mean geometry? Su: Exactly it. G: Its military usefulness is obvious.Because when it comes to setting up camps, dividing land, and arranging columns, rows, and other formations in combat and marching, it makes a big difference whether a commander has learned geometry. SOCRATES: However, for military purposes, a small knowledge of geometry and arithmetic will suffice.The question we need to consider here is whether the relatively advanced things that account for most of geometry can help people grasp the idea of ​​good more easily.We think that every discipline in which it compels the soul to turn to this holiest part of reality, which the soul must strive to see, has this effect. G: You're right. S: It works if it forces the soul to see reality.It is useless if it forces the soul to look at the world of generation. ① Or "birth and death world", "variable world".