The Divided Line

The Divided Line

· One purpose of the divided line is to provide an analogy of the visible to intelligible world.

· Another purpose of the divided line is to show the series of steps by which the mind is led to greater knowledge.

Evaluation of the Divided Line

· Strength. Plato makes a clear distinction between the different cognitive states of the mind, giving us a better understanding of his theory.

· Criticism. The lowest segment, D, ‘shadows and images’ does not seem to correspond with a state of mind, since we do not spend any significant amount of time looking at shadows and images – rather, we learn about shadows and images at the same time as we look and learn about physical things (segment C)
This is because Plato wants the line to do two things at once.

· Criticism. The assumption of Plato’s argument is that real knowledge must be beyond all doubt. There must be absolute certainty and no assumptions. However is such knowledge possible, or has Plato set an unrealistically high standard for knowledge?

· Criticism. Why is knowledge of the unchanging or universal superior to that of the changing particular?

· Criticism. Knowledge without assumptions sounds desirable, but what could such knowledge possibly be? Don’t we always have to make at least some assumptions, for example, that we are not experiencing a dream?