Knowledge, Wisdom and Opinion

KNOWLEDGE,
WISDOM AND
OPINION
TRIVIA
Do you know that Socrates never
wrote anything in his lifetime? What
we know about Socrates mainly came
form Plato’s accounts particularly in
the Early Dialogues.
1. Plato is just a nickname and his actual
name is Aristocles
2. The nickname Plato (which means

“broad” or “wide” in Greek) was given to
him in reference to his broad shoulders.
VOCABULARY
1. allegory- a story, poem, or picture which can be
interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning.
2. wisdom- the quality of having experience,
knowledge and good judgement.
3. knowledge- facts, information, and skills
acquired through experience or education.
PLATO’S METAPHYSICAL
SYSTEM
The Quest for the Idea of the Good

HOW DOES ONE
DISTINGUISH KNOWLEDGE
FROM OPINION?
1. THEORY OF FORMS
AND IDEAS BY PLATO
PLATO’S METAPHYSICAL SYSTEM
World of Forms and Ideas
GOOD Direct contact
Mathematical
Perfect World Soul

Abstract knowledge
Material
Objects
Man
Plato believed that this world is not the basis
for the attainment of true and real
knowledge. He assumed the existence of
another world in another dimension. He
claimed that the objects of real knowledge
must e ageless and eternal. Unfortunately,
everything in this world is considered as
appearances.
For Plato, if something is to be accepted as
knowledge, there must be an ultimate basis for it is
that is absolute and unchanging. Thus, this world
could not be the source of real and ultimate
knowledge. Therefore, he assumed the existence of
another world where the real objects of knowledge
could be found. He called this world of Forms and
Ideas.
According to Plato, everything
that we see in this world (like
chairs, tables, etc.) is nothing but
a secondary copy of the idea in
what he called the World of
Forms and Ideas.
Moreover, Plato assumed that before we
are born, our souls was once part of the
World Soul. Thus, in the hierarchy, the
easiest ideas to be recognize by the soul
would be ideas about material objects,
followed by mathematical ideas and then
abstract ideas.
For instance, how does one
recognize that something is a
chair when there are different
kinds of chairs in this world?
He assumes that we have the innate ability to
recognize and remember the perfect knowledge
that we had before our soul joined the body,
when it was still apart of the World soul. Plato
believed that before we were born we had
perfect knowledge as part of the World Soul.
But the moment that we were born and when
our soul joins the body, the body has the effect
of corrupting soul.
Thus, it makes the soul forget the knowledge
that is had before joining the body. For this
reason, Plato claims that “knowledge is
remembrance.” it was a matter of
remembering the knowledge that you had
before in order to be able to pursue goodness
and the Good life. The idea of Dualism
between Mind and Body.
For Plato, the pursuit of knowledge is
connected with wisdom. The constant attempt
of man to remember the good and, thus regain
knowledge is tantamount to having wisdom
because to know the good is immediately to
pursue it. Thus, according to Plato, “virtue is
knowledge” and “knowledge is wisdom.”
Under Platonic philosophy, knowledge is
equivalent to virtue and wisdom. Knowledge
is a matter of knowing and remembering
goodness, and once somebody knew, he
would automatically become virtuous because
he would immediately do what is good. This
constitutes the attainment of wisdom.
2. THE ALLEGORY OF
THE CAVE BY PLATO
In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of
Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads.
All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire.
Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along
which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the
prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the
cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real
objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear
are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see.
2. THE DIVIDED LINE
BY PLATO

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KNOWLEDGE,

2. The nickname Plato (which means

The Quest for the Idea of the Good

GOOD Direct contact

Perfect World Soul

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