1. What is the significance of Plato’s Cave? (1) To understand what happens in the allegory of the cave To begin to consider the themes within the allegory

2. ‘The history of western Philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. A.N. Whitehead What does this mean?

3. What if?.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkZM2oWcleM

4. Plato: What did you learn about Plato over the summer? In groups of 3, write as many facts as you can about Plato Greatest Philosophers of all time? Born about 429BC and died 347BC Plato was born in Athens to a very wealthy and aristocratic family Many of his relatives were involved with Athenian politics, though Plato wasn’t. He was a student of Socrates Plato wrote some of Socrates’ conversations in the form of dialogues Practically everything we know about Socrates comes from Plato’s writings It is difficult to know where Socrates’ ideas end and Plato’s begin. One of his early works was the Republic He thought people need to strive to know the truth He thought Philosophers should govern.

5. Watch this clip http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/06/allegory-of- cave-in-claymation.html#.UDKSTc1eQb0 Allegory: a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning/meanings – typically a moral or political one Analogy: a comparison between two things for the purpose of explanation or clarification

6. Create a cartoon strip to illustrate the analogy: Label the cave, the prisoners, the shadows, the outside world, the sun, the person making the journey outside the cave, the return to the prisoners Write a sentence explaining what each point you have labelled represents. You can use the prompts on the next slide if you need them…

7. Then, summarise the allegory in 2/3 paragraphs: They are unable to move their heads… Gradually his sight adjusts… Imagine a group of prisoners chained since birth. He decides to return to the cave… One of the prisoners is set free… His ability to predict the shadows is deminished. They threaten to kill him… They believe the shadows to be real… The sounds and the shadows are made by…

8. Discuss: Plato’s cave is an allegory. It has significant meanings within it. What are they?

9. Independent Study Look at Independent Learning Logs Finish off your cartoon strip Find out the meaning of the following words: metaphysics, epistemology, politics. Then write 2/3 sentences explaining how the analogy of the cave links to each of these topics. Read ahead: make sure you have read and made notes on pages 10-13 of small textbook and up to page 18-27 of large one. G&T: have a look at the Divided line info on the blog!

10. Plenary Retell the story of Plato’s Cave, one sentence at a time…