 Today we are going to discuss Plato's famous parable, the parable of cave. As I have been discussing about the dichotomy that is there in Plato's philosophy of mind, the dichotomy between the forms and the particulars. Particulars are there in the world and forms are there in a independent world. So, this dichotomy is something very significantly related to Plato's theory of mind and that can be little explicated through the help of this famous parable called the parable of cave. Now, let us see what is this parable of cave. Plato explains that there is a cave and there are some prisoners kept inside the cave for a long time and this prisoners hand and legs are tightly bound so that they cannot even move, they cannot even turn and see things what is there behind them. So, what the prisoners used to do, they were together and they were looking at the world. Now, between the world and the prisoner, the prisoners were dwelling inside the cave. Behind them there was fire, there was a fireplace where the fire was there and this prisoners used to do the work. They used to see their shadows that is reflected on the wall. The shadows were created by the fire. It is like this, suppose there is a cave and in the cave now you have to come down. The cave has a small entrance, entrance here and the prisoners are say for example, there are prisoners who are kept here and there is this fireplace. Now, because of this fire in the world of the cave there were some shadows. So, shadows were created by the existing fire. The prisoners, they were not aware of this fact that the shadows are created by fire. They only have this impression that whenever they used to move from here to there, the shadows were also moving. So, when they used to move from here to there, the shadows were also moving. So, for them shadows were leaving beings like the prisoners who were dwelling inside the cave. So, the movement of their bodies, the movement of the bodies of the shadows are quite similar. Hence, the prisoners were living inside the cave. The prisoners started believing that the shadows are real phenomena. Now, if shadows are real, then Plato asked these questions. How does one make the distinction between reality and appearances? Because for Plato reality is something different from appearance. Now, how does the prisoners find that there is something called a reality and that is beyond the appearances? How does one encounter such a reality? Now, this idea of experiencing such a reality is been explained in this parable. Imagine a situation where one of the prisoners tries to remove the circles and tries to turn and he turns in such a way that he is able to free himself and then started climbing up the steps. Now, once he goes on climbing up the steps, he reaches to a point that is the point at the entrance and then he finds there is a dim light coming through the entrance. He comes out of the cave finally and when he comes out of the cave, he is not able to see anything. He is not able to see anything. Why is it that the prisoner is not able to see anything? Now, Plato says, since the prisoner was kept inside the cave and the cave was a dark place, it was a dark chamber, hence the prisoner had no scope to see the light and when the prisoner came out of the cave, he finds that there is tremendous light and the light is so much he is unable to open his eyes and see things and then Plato says, slowly and slowly the prisoner starts opening his eyes and tries to see what are there in the world. Plato's explanation here is very interesting that is, the prisoners makes an attempt to go out of the cave and the prisoners is not able to see the cave and the third is the prisoner sees the things as they are. So, when the prisoner starts seeing things as they are, he has this impression about the reality that is different from the shadows, which are experienced by the prisoners who are dwelling inside the cave and he is one among them. Now, since he is out and able to see the things as they are, he is able to make this distinction that the shadows were only appearances and there is a reality beyond these appearances. Now, Plato's parable suggests that reality is, as it is, independent of the basic particulars, the basic particulars which are changing. So, there is something, there is an underlying principle and that can be seen or that can be known through what we call Plato called intuition. Now, intuition gives us some kind of a knowledge, knowledge about the reality. Plato says, so one has to prepare himself. Plato is talking about preparation. Now, what kind of preparation the prisoners are ought to be doing? Now, unless you prepare yourself, you will not be able to see your soul, you will not understand what the soul is. So, soul has a goal, the goal is coming out of this darkness. So, there is this epistemological exercise, there is this epistemological exercise in Plato, where the soul is aspiring, the soul is aspiring to know what is reality. Now, this aspiration demands some kind of a preparation. Preparation is through, we can say, contemplation, reflection. The soul uses a conscious being, must reflect on things that are experienced. So, this experienceable phenomena are real or not, needs to be understood and that is why Plato talks about this parable. So, the parable is a very suggestive one and it suggests that when the prisoner understands that there is a reality and this reality is something different from the appearances. Plato talks about truth. So, it is the truth which has been known and truth is universal for Plato. The light of the sun is a kind of a metaphor used in the parable to talk about truth because you are not able to see truth as it is, you are not able to see the reality as it is. Hence, what is necessary is that the self slowly and slowly comes to know what is been given to him and what is the reality. So, this parable has both an epistemological and ethical concern. As I said, truth and good are one in Plato's metaphysics because the epistemological enterprise and the ethical enterprise in Plato go together. Now, the prisoner who is aware of this fact that the shadows are not real phenomena and reality is something different than for Plato, he has this moral responsibility. In fact, the prisoner who is an enlightened one has this moral responsibility to go back and tell the other prisoners or free the other prisoners who are in the dark, who still thinks that the shadows are real. Now, look at this idea of steps. Steps are nothing but struggles with a lot of hardship you need to climb up. So, climbing up is talks about some kind of an upward movement. It is a movement which signifies the freedom of the soul. Now, the soul cannot be bound by the behaviors that are caused by the body. Body or bodily activities cannot bind the soul. The soul frees himself and he frees himself because he puts him in this struggle and so this realization is a kind of an upward movement. Plato talks about the hierarchy of ideas. Now, goodness being the highest ideas, the idea of good is one of the highest ideas in Plato talks about how does one understand ease of them, kindness, justice, freedom of goodness. All these are nothing but the ideas, ideas that represent virtues. Good being the most abstract idea is realized by realizing the other ideas. So, when one realizes what is compassion, when one realizes what is justice and then above all, one realizes what is goodness all about. So, one transcends these layers, these hierarchies and finally he is able to know what they are all. Ideas are united. They are not discrete phenomena. They are united because it is the soul which is working as a kind of a uniting principle, as a unifying principle, connecting this all experiences and understanding the content of these experiences. So, Plato's notion of soul which is akin to the forms is something very significantly analyzed by the board in this paper and one must look at the famous parable and try to see that how the parable of cave has got an epistemological aspect and also an ethical aspect. They are part of the whole story to talk about what is reality, what is appearances and how the reality is different from the appearances. The knowledge about the reality can be known only through the forms. Forms are the pure ideas. Therefore, Plato is talking about dialectics. So, the dialectical mode of analyzing, reflecting, questioning, suspending gives us knowledge and this dialectical mode of knowing is nothing but an intuitive mode of knowing. So, Plato gives importance to intuition or reason as a source of knowledge. So, there are since experiential knowledge and there are intuitive knowledge or rational knowledge, dialectical knowledge, knowledge that involves dialectics. Now, these two sources of knowledge are different in the sense that the knowledge about the particulars, the knowledge about the world is directly given to us like for the prisoners the shadows were directly given and for the prisoners the things in the world as he goes out things are directly given. Now, these two givens are representing two different kinds of realities and that can be discerned and analyzed with the help of reason. So, reason plays an important role constituting Plato's epistemology and ethics. So, therefore, we need to look at the question, what is the locus of the reason? Does reason reside in the function of sense extends organs or does reason reside in the soul? For Plato the soul is a rational entity. It is not only a conscious entity, but also a rational entity. I am just using this term entity little differently just to make sure that there are physical entity and there are mental or spiritual entity. Now, this idea of entity is always referred to the physical entities, but this notion of the spirit in Plato or the soul in Plato is something spiritual in the sense that it is the locus of the reason. So, therefore, the knowledge and the knowledge about the virtues, the intuitive knowledge, the rational knowledge and the knowledge of virtues are one, they are identical for Plato. Plato also shows that this conscious activities in which the soul is engaged in differentiating the appearances and the reality, whether it is a cognitive activity or a psychological activity. For Plato it is not merely a psychological activity, it is purely a cognitive activities because the soul is contemplating on the forms, what is the nature of the form? Now, this idea of contemplation is something very significant and that can be associated with Descartes idea of introspection, self-reflection, soul contemplates in order to have this self-knowledge, to know what is this identity all about is there a self. So, the idea of a self or self identity can be derived with this contemplative attitude of the soul. Plato does not associate with the physical activities, there are physical activities when Plato compares the activities of the person with movement of the chariot. Now, there is a chariot which is analogous to the notion of body, the chariot represents the body, the body has some kind of movement and this movement is caused by the chariator. So, in this connection one can find that the soul is the chariator, soul is the mover, it is the soul, it is the chariator and the soul which is causing intentional voluntary actions. So, soul as a chariator is the source of movement, these movements are self movement, the soul desires to move like the prisoner, the prisoner desires to move out from the cave, the prisoner could turn, now this idea of a turning is something very significant, it is significant because the reality sometimes are constructed, it is constructed by different sources. So, for example, in today's world the reality is largely constructed by the medias. So, most of the time you are accepting whatever is told to you, whatever is informed to you, but Plato's appeal is you must examine these informations, you must examine these opinions which are created by the mass media and then only you will have the possibility to know whether the information is correct or incorrect, whether the information is well justified or ill justified. So, this idea of a justification, justifying the opinions or what Plato calls doxers is an important element of Plato's discourse of epistemology. So, therefore, there must be a desire of the self of the person, the self must intend to do, intend to reflect, intend to contemplate so that he or she comes to know what is knowledge. What is truth? Unless the desire is ignited, Plato says the knowledge about truth is impossible, unless the one is prepared the knowledge about truth is impossible. So, you have to put the soul in such a condition in which this desire is strengthened, the desire is accumulated, it is broadened enough to realize what is truth. So, this idea of knowing as a kind of a cognitive activity and not a psychological activity is something very significant, because the notion of good, the notion of the ethical is purely a conceptual knowledge. It is not a knowledge which will be derived by seeing ten good acts. No, the lawyer who is is witnessing suppose ten cases where the justice is given, by then he does not really have the knowledge of what justice is all about. No, unless and until he contemplates, unless and until he puts himself in this dialectical process of the journey, the journey of knowing, knowing the truth, he would not enlighten himself. Hence, knowing is a cognitive activity, it is not mere psychological activity for Plato. Now, it is a cognitive activity, Plato says that the one who knows, the one who aspires to know and knows is a lover of wisdom. Now, philosophy as we know is the love of wisdom. Now, this idea of wisdom is something very significant. It is significant, because it is not only an epistemological discourse, but this discourse also talks about the ontology of truth. It is not merely an epistemology, but it is also an ontology that talks about that yes, there is truth and there is also a lover, there is also a knower who knows the truth, who enlighten himself. He is a lover because he is a keen to this virtue of knowing. He cultivates this spirit of knowing and enlightening and that is why Plato's epistemology is very much linked with the ontology and ethics. So, these three, in fact, constitute some kind of a triangle where you have epistemology, this will be ontology and ethics, because knowledge about the truth or goodness is very much linked with the ontology and ethics. This is a kind of a highest virtue according to Plato. So, this is a kind of a knower or the lover. The lover talks about what unless there is a reality, unless there is something there, but the knower would know. So, ontology is also part of epistemology. The ontology of the forms because knowledge is a conceptual knowledge. It is through forms you have the knowledge about the basic particulars, such as the things in the world, the things in the world, the copies of the forms. So, this epistemic concern of the knower is something very significant when we talk about Plato's notion of truth and the knowledge of forms. This idea of a cognitive action, that knowing is a cognitive activity, shows that there is a kind of a power of a forming cognitive act. Soul has some kind of a power. Soul has some kind of a power and this power is intrinsic to the soul. It is the power which causes voluntary actions. So, the source of intentional action is due to the existence of the soul. Soul is not absolutely merged with the world. Now, the kind of relationship say for example, the forms and the particulars are having or the soul is in between this. Soul is akin to the forms and it is through the forms I know the particulars. Say for example, when you talk about the form of horse, horse is a basic particular. A particular horse can have this horseness which is the form of the particular horse. So, to identify the horse, that horse is different from cow, elephant, giraffes, zebra, etc., is due to the very fact that I have this idea about the horseness. Now, who has this idea? The soul has this idea. Soul is a keen. A keen is some kind of a, it is not a predicate of the soul. The soul is by virtue of this relationship with the form. The soul is able to identify, the soul is able to identify a particular as it is. Now, so this identity relationship is a kind of a knowledge. So, and that is possible through the soul. The keen is not a predictable if there is no differentiation. Now, if there is no differentiation, then how do we talk about the knowledge about the particulars and the knowledge about the forms? The conceptual knowledge is a knowledge where the soul is more associated with. The soul cannot be part of the world. Soul cannot be identified with the world. No. Unless an entity has some specific features. So, soul has certain specific features. Otherwise, it would have been identifiable. It is this differentiable differentiation is possible because the soul is associated with the forms. So, the relationship between the forms and particulars is apprehended through the soul which has certain spontaneous movement. Now, this idea of movement has been discussed in later philosophy which talks about freedom. The self is free to act. So, it is the freedom of will as Kant would call it, which talks about or which is the source of action. So, the spontaneous movement of the soul implies that the soul is free. Soul is the creator of the movement. Soul is an intermediary between the two realms of existence as I said. It is in between this. It is here you have ideas and here you have particulars. So, there are particulars. There are things in the world. There are things in the world and soul is in between this. It tries to relate to ideas and relate to the things in the world. So, hence soul is an intermediary between the two realms of existence. The eternal ideas, ideas which are universal, ideas which are universal and different from this mundane particulars, particulars that are there in the world. Let us summarize what is the metaphysical position of the Plato's notion of soul. So, the theory of soul says that every living actions are to be examined. The Socrates famous slogan and unexamined life is not worth living. As I mentioned earlier that in Plato's philosophy, you will find that epistemology, ontology and ethics. They are the three foundations of the entire philosophy and they are related. There is a kind of a triangular relationship. They constitute a kind of a structure in which they revolve. Socrates famous slogan that an unexamined life is not worth living is very clearly maintained and discussed by Plato's theory of soul. So, the soul has this desire, the soul has the higher aspiration to know what it is, to talk about its own self-knowledge and self-identity. Hence, it needs to contemplate on its activities and this contemplation is a kind of an examination. We need to examine it. So, there is a kind of a presupposition in the theory of soul that an unexamined presupposition of living for an examined life. So, an unexamined life is not worth living. The ethical aspect of ontology speaks about the living of virtuous life. So, the ontology not only tells us that there are forms, forms like goodness, justice, compassion, courage, etcetera, but how does an individual live through these virtues? How does one inculcate these virtues? The individual inculcates them, puts them in the reaction and tries to see the meaning through the cultivation of these virtues. Now, unless one cultivates the virtues, one would not be able to examine what they are, what is been given to them and what is responsibility. So, there is some kind of a responsibility and this is what we call the moral responsibility. It is the responsibility of every individual to know what he or she is. Now, for Plato, that is the metaphysical principle of the soul. The soul has the desire of knowing, know the truth. So, soul is a metaphysical reality for Plato. Now, it is a metaphysical reality, the soul as Plato tries to show us, transcends its engagement with the empirical world. We are all engaged with the empirical world because we are all performing actions here and now. Our actions have history, our existence has a history. It is history because it is happening in time. It is we are here now because our existence has got some special temporal location. Now, what is important is that we need to transcend this engagement, this interaction with the world in order to know what is the reality. Like the prisoner had to transcend the engagement that they were having with his fellow prisoners thinking that the shadows are only real, but the shadows were not really real. He had the responsibility. He could turn his psyche in such a way that he could go out and could contemplate on these two experiences, the experiences that he had when he was dwelling inside the cave and the experiences that he can count it when he moved out of the cave. And with that reflection on reflective mind, the platonic notion of soul gives us this impression that it is a kind of a transcendental principle. The ideas by degrees vacate their position of transcendence and are seen to be dependent upon the soul. So, it is the activity of the soul that transcends various knowledge claims, various engagements and tries to realize what is the ultimate truth. So, soul is the center of gravity in platonic systems. So, when we talk about epistemology, when we talk about Plato's ontology, when we talk about Plato's ethics or the theory of values, where we locate soul, the soul is the center of gravity. It is there the center and these three are revolving around the soul. So, in a platonic system of morals, ontology and epistemology, the soul constitutes the center of the gravity. However, it does not eliminate Plato's dualism. Even if Plato is thinking that soul is the center of all this engagement, it is engagement with the morals, engagement with the mundane existing particulars and it is engagement with the forms. This notion of a soul as a center of gravity does not deny Plato's dualism that there is a world and the world of particulars and there are forms independent of this world. So, this ontological dualism is not denied, is not eliminated because the soul is only akin to the forms. They cannot be part of the particulars. The soul through forms tries to know the particulars, try to identify the particulars that yes, this is what it is. So, this notion of dualism is very much part of Plato's philosophy. Now, one can reconstruct Plato's dualism, robot try to reconstruct Plato's dualism. Now, what kind of reconstruction robot does? He says the soul which is at the center of all this activities could be a subjective factor of knowledge and it is antithetically related to the object. So, that kind of dualism between the subject and the object, the knower and the known are very much there in Descartes, in Kant. So, there is a kind of a dualism which probably Plato could be the source of it. Now, let us read in what way robot tries to see, tries to interpret Plato's dualism, tries to reconstruct Plato's dualism. He writes, I quote, in somewhat similar fashion referring to Kant, Plato having postulated soul as that in which mind and wisdom are contained, argues from the soul which acts as organising principle in the individual to a supreme soul in the universe from which souls of individuals derive their being. So, it is with this we would like to conclude that soul is an organising principle. Soul is a unifying principle, hence it is a metaphysical principle, principle which connects to ideas, connects to the particulars and tries to realise what is the supreme virtue. So, it is that where you find Plato is talking about how soul is the source of all kinds of motion. The platonic notion of motion or movement as I was talking about freedom is some kind of a rational movement. It is, it is coming to a rational movement, the movement which is articulated by region and when it is expressed, it is expressed through physical action, hence one can also notice it is affinity with the body, soul is independent of the body and soul is related to the body. Soul is independent because it is the cause of its own motion. So, the mortal soul is as Plato says is the trunk of the body and the immortal soul is the soul which has the reason, the spirit and also can be divided into this three category reasons, spirit and the appetites. There are three forms of activities where activity of the chariot and the activity which of this horses who are pulling the chariot. So, the chariots, the soul has the power to control the movement of the horse. At the same time, the chariot in itself represents a kind of a composed organic system like the our body is and the soul who is there in the body controls its movement, that is how chariot controls the movement and directs this horse towards the body. So, chariot controls a kind of a destiny. So, there is this notion of a destiny in Plato's philosophy. Destiny is to realize truth. So, truth is an ultimate and we need to realize following a dialectical process. This is the process which is cultivated through imagination and reflection. It is a knowledge which is conceptual not sensory. So, this will conclude Plato's discussion on the notion of soul. Thank you.