1. Ethical rationalism Lecture 3 The sun, divided line and cave images

2. Purpose of these images n To show how it is possible to move from unfounded belief to grounded knowledge n Thereby to refute skeptics and relativists about morality n To draw some lessons about Socrates

3. The sun image

4. The divided line CognitionObjects

5. Levels in the cave

6. The 3 images together

7. 1st level: imagination or conjecture n A stage of uncritical acceptance of appearance n Nonmoral example: not distinguishing between horses, pictures of horses, shadows of horses, etc. n In morality: blindly accepting moral images “in the air” n Some people do not get beyond this stage in morality

8. 2nd level: confident belief n Making sense of appearances by squaring them with each other n Socratic interrogation can help us achieve this n Might lead to true beliefs, but not genuine knowledge (of the essence of piety, say) n Like turning from horse shadows to horse puppets

9. 3rd level: understanding n lower stage of knowledge of forms or essences n uses observables as aids of transition (for example in geometry) n like prisoners just released, who cannot look at sun directly but must look at reflected light. n Based on assumptions taken as given

10. 4th level: reason (dialectic) n assumptions from the 3rd level are justified through integration into a unified account of the higher forms. n These forms together comprise the form of the good. n Here must proceed abstractly, without recourse to images

11. 4th stage example: n At 3rd stage we reach: u wisdom requires selfishness u justice requires unselfishness u the wise person is a just person n As unqualified statements, these conflict n 4th stage makes them consistent through qualification

12. The cave and Socrates n Allusions to Socrates n Socratic interrogation needs social support