UGFN1000

In Dialogue with Nature

與自然對話
Plato, Republic

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 Polling
• Do you have any experience of doubting the
reality of the world?

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 The Matrix
• 《廿二世紀殺人網絡》
• 1999
• Connection to Plato’s
allegory of the cave
• https://youtu.be/VVro5w
xqh4U

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 What is “real”?
• What is “real”? How do you define “real”?
• If you’re talking about what you can feel,
what you can smell, what you can taste, and
see, then “real” is simply electrical signals
interpreted by your brain.”

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 PASS session today
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Peer Assisted Study Session

 PASS session: NZ (for UGFN1000Z) (Cantonese)
 Date & time: 12 Jan (Fri) 15:30–16:30
 Venue: ELB_304
 PASS Leader: Henry Yeung ( 楊華樑 )
Why PASS?
 Improve understanding of the texts
 Learn the effective reading strategies
Help you prepare better for tutorials, quizzes
and assignments. Higher grade! 
The course grades of students who participated in PASS
throughout the semester were increased by about one
sub-grade!
Core Question

Why truth matters?

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 Today
• Beginning of ancient Greek philosophy
• Plato’s life and his philosophy
• Three analogies and their implications

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Odyssey 《
奧德賽》
• UGFH1000
• The major ancient Greek epic poem
attributed to Homer. (Near the end of
the 8th century BC)
– Cf. Plato (428 BC – 348/47 BC)
• The Greek hero Odysseus ( 奧德修 )
and his long journey home following the
fall of Troy
• Alternately obstructed and aided by the
gods
• Divine intervention
– Nothing could be safely predicted
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Beginning of ancient Greek philosophy
• Early in the 6th century BC, a radically new way of thinking in
Greek culture emerged
• Concern for evidence
• Claims were open to dispute and needed to be defended
• Speculations over a broad subject matter
– e.g. the cosmos and its origins, celestial bodies, earthquakes, thunder,
lightning, diseases, the nature of human knowledge

Science began with the wondering

and understanding of Nature
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Beginning of ancient Greek philosophy
• The early Greek philosophers did not Heraclitus 赫拉克利特
personify Nature (fl.500 BC) on eclipses
• The gods disappeared from their
explanations of natural phenomena
– A new set of answers
• A search for unity behind diversity and
order behind chaos
• Searching for an orderly, predictable world
– What is changeless?
• Cf. modern scientists Later philosophers:
cosmic shadow
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 Plato 柏拉圖

• 428 BC – 348/47 BC
• Classical Greek philosopher
• Mentor: Socrates 蘇格拉底
• Student: Aristotle 亞里士多德
• The Greek philosophers laid the
foundations of Western culture
• Ancient Greek philosophy: the
beginning of Western science
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• Plato was born into a distinguished Athenian family, active in
affairs of state
• After the death of Socrates (399 BC), Plato left Athens and
visited Italy and Sicily
– Death of Socrates in Text 1?
• Plato returned to Athens in 388 BC and founded the Academy
• Most of his works were written in dialogues
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– The Republic (UGFN1000), The Symposium (UGFH1000)
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From our textbook (2nd edition)
The Archaeological Park of
Plato’s Academy

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At the third point (Γ)… is partially-preserved “Square Peristyle” (4th c.
B.C.) measuring 40x40 m. The architecture and function of this
building remain uncertain, but it too probably belonged to Plato’s
school. 18
Ruins of Plato’s Academy

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Republic 《
理想國》 / 《
國家篇》

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 Republic
• A Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC
• Plato’s Socrates. Probably NOT historical Socrates
– Plato’s philosophy rather than Socrates’ philosophy
• What is justice?
• The ruler should be a philosopher (philosopher king)
• The ruler should know the good
• One way to know the good is to study
– Arithmetic, geometry, solid geometry, astronomy.
• Branches of philosophy
• Political philosophy
• Epistemology 知識論 (theory of knowledge)
• Seeking to answer the questions “What is knowledge?” and “How is knowledge
acquired?”
• Metaphysics 形而上學
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– Studying the nature of reality and existence
 Fundamental questions
• Questions shared by ancient Greek philosophers
• What is the nature of reality? What is true reality?
– “They [the prisoners] are like us” (Book 7 para.3)
• Is reality revealed by the senses?
• Is knowledge gained only by the exercise of reason?
• How to understand change and stability?
• How did Plato answer?
– Plato’s theory of Forms
• Allegory of the cave
• Analogy of the sun
• Analogy of the divided line

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 An adaptation of the allegory

Link: https://youtu.be/E4XXItJYFKA 24
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 An adaptation of the allegory

Link: https://youtu.be/E4XXItJYFKA 26
Plato’s two worlds
Appearance ≠ True reality

• Outside the cave World of Forms

• Contains the perfect 理型世界
form of everything

• Inside the cave

• The forms or ideas are
imperfectly replicated
Sensible world
可感世界 / 感官世界 27
 Theory of forms
• Where does the changelessness exist? Not in our sensible world!
• The forms
– Incorporeal 非實體 , intangible 無形 , and insensible 不被感覺到
– Eternal and absolutely changeless
– Objectively exist [in the world of forms] (NOT exist in our minds)
– Primary existence
• True reality is located only in the world of forms.
– The sensible world is less “real”
• The sensible world is imperfect and transitory
– The corporeal object is an imperfect replica of the form
• Closer to changelessness, more real

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A perfect circle?

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 Theory of Forms
• Perfect circle
– Every point on its circumference is exactly the same
distance from the centre point
• Does a perfect circle really exist in the sensible
world?
• The “circles” in the sensible world are only
imperfect replicas
• Idea of a perfect circle  Form of a circle
• Geometrical shapes: triangles, squares, etc.

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 Theory of Forms
• The forms
– Incorporeal 非實體 , intangible 無形 , and insensible 不被感覺到
– Eternal and absolutely changeless
– Objectively exist [in the world of forms] (NOT exist in our minds)

• Examples
– Mathematical objects
• Form of circle
• Form of square (“square itself”), Form of diagonal (“diagonal itself”)
(VI para. 41)
– Values
• Form of justice (“justice itself” (VII, para.20))
• “Form of the good” (VI para.27, VII para.18)
• Form of beauty (“beauty itself” (UGFH: Plato’s Symposium 211d-e))

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“ 甚麼是柏拉圖的理型？” https://youtu.be/KOt0WCEbe-k 32
“What is Platonic Form?” https://youtu.be/MEA1GGdv72M
 Plato’s theory of forms
• Plato explained this theory of forms by
1. Analogy of the sun (Book 6 para. 1-33)
2. Analogy of the divided line (Book 6 para. 34-
44)
3. Allegory of the cave (Book 7 para. 1-20)

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Stephanus
pagination

Paragraph
number*

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35
 Allegory of the cave

Metaphysics
World of Outside the Things
forms/ cave
Intelligible Shadows and
realm images of
things
Sensible Inside the Artifacts
world/ Visible cave
realm Shadows of
artifacts

Increasing levels of reality

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 Analogy of the Allegory of the cave
divided line

Epistemology Metaphysics
Knowledge Understanding/ Higher forms World of Outside the Things
Reason forms/ cave
Thought Mathematical Intelligible Shadows and
objects realm images of
things
Opinion Belief Sensible Sensible Inside the Artifacts
objects world/ Visible cave
Imagination Images of realm Shadows of
sensible artifacts
objects
Increasing levels of reality
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 Analogy of the Allegory of the cave
divided line

Epistemology Metaphysics
Knowledge Understanding/ Higher forms World of Outside the Things
Reason forms/ cave
Thought Mathematical Intelligible Shadows and
objects realm images of
things
Opinion Belief Sensible Sensible Inside the Artifacts
objects world/ Visible cave
Imagination Images of realm Shadows of
sensible artifacts
objects
Increasing levels of reality
Analogy of the sun and the allegory of the cave: 38
Sun ~ The Form of the Good
 Forms
• Do forms really exist?
– Very controversial but significant implications
– Aristotle did not believe the existence of Plato’s
forms
– Change (sensible objects) and stability (Forms)

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 Summary
True reality is located only in the world of forms
•Plato’s theory of forms
– Allegory of the cave
– The forms
• Incorporeal, absolutely changeless, eternal, objectively exist.
•What is true reality?
– Plato’s view: true reality is located only in the world of forms
– Plato’s epistemology. What is the route to true knowledge?
• Why truth matters?
– Is it desirable to go outside the cave?

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 Major references
• Plato. Republic. Translated by C. D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2004.
• Lindberg, David C., The Beginnings of Western Science. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2007.
• Mayo, Stephan T. and Russo, Michael S., Plato’s Republic: A Study Guide.
Sophiaonmi, 2012.
• Sheppard, D. J., Plato’s Republic. Indiana: Indianna University Press,
2009.
• Warburton, Nigel. A Little History of Philosophy. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2011.
• Henry, John, A Short History of Scientific Thought. London: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2012.
• Wikipedia, “The Republic (Plato),” 16:30, 5 September 2011.

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 PASS session today
42

Peer Assisted Study Session

 PASS session: NZ (for UGFN1000Z) (Cantonese)
 Date & time: 12 Jan (Fri) 15:30–16:30
 Venue: ELB_304
 PASS Leader: Henry Yeung ( 楊華樑 )
Main discussion question in PASS
How does the allegory of the cave illustrate
1.
Plato’s theory of Forms?
How is the line divided in the analogy of the
2.

divided line?
Timetable of PASS: http://pass.oge.cuhk.edu.hk/
 Study tips
• Understand before evaluate!
– Be open-mindedness yet critical!
• What were the problems which the thinkers
tried to solve or response?
– In dialogue with whom?
• Read the texts with the questions in mind
( 問題意識 )

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 Two worlds
1. World of Forms 理型世界
• (Intelligible realm 可知世界 / knowable realm) /
realm of Forms / realm of Ideas / realm of true
knowledge
• Contains the perfect form of everything
2. Sensible world 可感世界 / 感官世界
• The realm revealed through sight / visible realm /
material realm / the world of sense experience /
corporeal realm
• The forms or ideas are imperfectly replicated

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 Tutorial discussion (tentative)
1. Plato’s view on reality
a) According to the allegory of the cave, what do the objects seen by the freed prisoner inside
and outside the cave represent the four levels of reality? (VII, para. 1-12)
b) Furthermore, how do these four levels correspond to the line sections in the analogy of the
divided line? (VI, para. 35, 36, 41, 43)
2. Difficulties of apprehending the true reality.
a) Why did Plato say that “[the prisoners] are like us” (VII, para. 3)?
b) Apprehending the true reality (the world of Forms) is often challenging. What difficulties do
individuals encounter when trying to grasp and understand the true reality according to
Plato’s philosophy?
3. Does truth matter?
a) If you were the prisoner “who was honored and held power” (VII, para. 15) and you trusted
the freed prisoner (who was your best friend), would you follow him to go outside the cave?
Why? Does truth matter?
b) If you were the freed prisoner, would you go back to the cave and save your friends? Why?
Does truth matter? What did Plato think (VII, para. 17, 19-20)?

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 Reminder
• Next tutorial: discussion on Text 1.
• Read and understand the texts before the tutorial!
• Bring your textbook and name tag
• Read the text in the order of
– Book 7 “Allegory of the cave” ***
– Book 6 para. 34-44 “Analogy of the divided line” **
– Book 6 para. 1-33 “Analogy of the sun” (optional)
• UGFH/FN-animated: watch the whiteboard animation before the
tutorial
– “ 甚麼是柏拉圖的理型？” (Chinese version)
– https://youtu.be/KOt0WCEbe-k
– “What is Platonic Form?” (English version)
– https://youtu.be/MEA1GGdv72M
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 Take a questionnaire to win a prize!
• You are warmly invited to take an online questionnaire (Inquiry of
Conceptual Knowledge on "In Dialogue with Nature") before Monday,
15 January, at the following link and have the chance to win a prize*:
• Link:
https://cuhk.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0CyEbGWpPCHDmJw
• QR code:
• *To be eligible for the prizes for Term 2, 2023-24, you must meet the
following criteria:
• 1. You must be a current UGFN student in Term 2, 2023-24.
• 2. You must have completed the online inquiries at the beginning and
end of Term 2, 2023-24.
• The prizes consist of 55 Gift Coupons of HK$150 each, and they will
be awarded by lucky draw to 55 eligible students.

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 Appendix
• Plato’s forms and modern science?
– An example to illustrate Lindberg’s
interpretation on Plato:
• Recall how we collect the data when doing scientific
experiments.
• Example: falling objects in vacuum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z8g8OSOMzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1iff6nMPFA

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 Idealization

Caution: Szeto’s
interpretation on
Lindberg’s interpretation 

Idealization is a prominent feature of a great deal of modern

science; we develop models or laws that overlook the
incidental in favor of the essential (Lindberg)
Caution: Lindberg’s interpretation on Plato’s theory of forms. Plato did 50
not use the term “idealization”!