Knowledge and Truth, Essay Example

The concept of knowledge has troubled the minds of many philosophers, and has stirred questions as to what knowledge means. While scholars have attempted to define knowledge through epistemology, the question has not been answered yet. The mystery around the real meaning of knowledge gives rise to another concept that tries to explain the meaning of the truth in relation to knowledge. In order to navigate the maze, philosophical scholars like Plato have tries to explain the meaning of the two concepts by differentiating them using difference analogies that finally attempt to draw a line between the two of them. In Plato Republic, Plato presents the allegory of the cave along with the analogy of the sun and the divided line, to convey a view of knowledge and truth.

According to Plato, the basic foundation of knowledge is imagination or illusion. Imagination is the first element in his analogy of the broken line that suggests that the process of epistemic success is divided into certain elements that follow each other in a linear process. Plato suggests that the first thing that an individual develops in the process of acquiring knowledge is having an illusion or imagination of the thing. In his book, Plato Republic Plato shows this by depicting the allegory of the cave (Plato 21). In this he imagines that there are prisoners in a cave. These prisoners cannot turn their heads, so they can only face forward and see the walls. Behind them is a fire and a partial wall. Behind the walls are some statutes that form shadows on the walls. According to him, the prisoners will mistake the appearance of the shadows with the reality (Plato 20). They will think that the shadows are the real things, while as a matter of fact they are not.

After forming mistaken opinions, the prisoners is then allowed to see the fire and the statutes that from the shadows. This introduces the second line in Plato’s analogy of the divided lone. He suggests that because the prisoner has seen the real source of the things which he had been seeing, he believes that the fire and the statutes are the real things and the previous information he had is replaced by the one he has gotten now. This happens after the prisoner has tried to study, and tried to understand some patterns in the connection. At this stage, the prisoner’s mind can be changed easily due to the fact that he has seen that he was wrong at the very first stage. Notably, at this point he believes that what he sees is reality, but it is not yet knowledge.

Plato then introduces the third element in his analogy of the divided line, which is understood to be the cognitive stage. At this stage, the prisoner is taken out of the cave and allowed to have contact with the natural, and real environment. At the very first sight, the only thing he can be able to see is the shadows that he has been in contact with. After that, the prisoner realizes that the shadows have been formed by real objects, like trees, people, and houses. He observes that these things are more real than the puppets that he was seeing at the cave. Therefore, he appreciates the fact that what he was seeing was not real, rather they were copies of what he is seeing now. Hence, he has reached the cognitive level where he can distinguish between the real and fake things. By doing this, he has attained the ability to recognize the real form of objects.

After considering the objects around them and appreciating the forms, the prisoner then tries to understand where all the things he is seeing come from. In seeking for an answer, the prisoner looks around him until he eventually focuses on the sun. He recognizes the sun as the form of the good that he is experiencing. According to Plato, the person now understands that the sun is the source of everything; the light that enables him to see, his ability to see, and the existence of plants and objects that he can see around. By this stage, the person has now reached the stage of understanding.

In conclusion, it is important to understand that only attainment of knowledge can prove that something is true. Therefore, the whole process of attaining knowledge about a certain thing aims at establishing the truth. As seen in the analogy of the cave together with the analogy of the divided line, the first stage of the process of getting information about a certain thing starts with forming mistaken imagination of the things. It is then followed by the belief, which one gets after trying to understand and studying the thing. In trying to understand the events and patterns, the person reaches the understanding level. This level is characterized by the ability to differentiate between real things and their copies. Finally, the person is exposed to the sun, which represents the form of all good that is evident in this world. Having reached this stage, the prisoner is now knowledgeable and possesses truth.

Works Cited

Plato. Book I, 344c. Plato Republic. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004. Print.