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Philosophers and Knowledge (Book VI)

• Philosophers possess knowledge, qualifying them as rulers if they match non-philosophers in virtue. (484d)
• Socrates argues philosophers are supremely virtuous. (485a-487a)
• Adeimantus notes public perception: philosophers are either vicious or useless. (487a-d)
• Socrates agrees, stating those perceived as philosophers are flawed due to improper upbringing. (487d-496e)
• True philosophers, raised correctly, should rule. (497a-b, 500e-501a)
• Guardians must be philosophers mastering key subjects, especially the form of the good. (503b, 503e, 504e-505b)
• Socrates describes the good using the Sun analogy. (506b-e, 507a-509c)
• Line analogy completes the portrayal of Plato’s views on knowledge and reality. (509d-511e)

Qualities of Philosophic Natures

• Philosophic natures love constant learning about unchanging being. (485a-b)
• They love all learning and are unwilling to give up any part of it (485b)
• Philosophers must love truth and hate falsehood. (485c-d)
• Lovers of learning focus on pleasures of the soul and abandon bodily pleasures. (485d-e)
• Philosophic natures are moderate and not money-lovers. (485e)
• They must not be slavish, as pettiness is incompatible with grasping the divine and human. (486a)
• Philosophers consider human life unimportant and death not terrible. (486a-b)
• Orderly, just, and gentle souls are philosophic. (486b-c)
• Quick learners with good memories are essential. (486c-d)
• They should be measured, graceful, and easily led to the form of each thing. (486d-e)

Corruption of Philosophic Nature

• Few possess all qualities for becoming a complete philosopher. (491a-b)
• Qualities like courage and moderation can corrupt the soul. (491b-c)
• External factors like beauty, wealth, and powerful relatives also corrupt. (491c)
• The best natures become the worst when unsuitably nurtured. (491d-e)
• Philosophic nature needs appropriate instruction to grow in virtue. (491e-492a)
• The public, assemblies, courts, and theaters act as "sophists," swaying individuals with praise and blame. (492a-c)
• These educators punish dissent with disenfranchisement, fines, or death. (492d)
• Sophists teach the convictions that the majority express, calling it wisdom. (493a)
• They understand the moods of the "beast" (the public) and cater to it. (493a-c)
• They apply terms like "good" and "bad" based on the beast's reactions. (493c)
• The majority cannot tolerate the reality of the beautiful itself and cannot be philosophic. (493e-494a)

Limited True Philosophers

• Only a small group consorts with philosophy in a worthy way. (496a-b)
• Examples include noble characters kept down by exile or great souls in small cities. (496a-b)
• These few have tasted the sweetness of philosophy and lead quiet lives, free from injustice. (496c-e)

Ideal Constitution and Philosophy

• No present constitution is worthy of the philosophic nature. (497a-b)
• Philosophic nature is perverted and altered in alien ground. (497b-c)
• In the best constitution, philosophy would be divine. (497c)
• The manner in which a city ought to take up the philosophic way of life is the opposite of what it does at present. (497e)
• Youths should study philosophy early, abandoning it when they reach the hardest part. (497e-498a)
• As youths and children, they should put their minds to youthful education and philosophy (498a-b)
• Those who are to live happily should graze freely in the pastures of philosophy when their strength begins to fail. (498b-c)
• No city, constitution, or individual will be perfect until philosophers rule. (499a-b)
• A god must inspire rulers with a true erotic love for true philosophy. (499b)

Overcoming Prejudice Against Philosophy

• Remove the slanderous prejudice against the love of learning. (499d-e)
• Define the philosophic nature and way of life accurately. (499e-500a)
• Harshness towards philosophy is caused by outsiders who abuse and quarrel inappropriately. (500b)
• Those directed towards the things that are do not look down at human affairs or compete jealously. (500b-c)
• The philosopher becomes as divine and ordered as a human can be. (500c-d)
• The city will never find happiness until its outline is sketched by painters who use the divine model. (500d-e)
• They refuse to write laws unless they receive a clean slate or are allowed to clean it themselves. (501a)
• They’d look often in each direction, towards the natures of justice, beauty, moderation, and the like, on the one hand, and towards those they’re trying to put into human beings, on the other. (501b)

The Form of the Good

• The form of the good is the most important thing to learn about. (505a)
• It’s by their relation to it that just things and the others become useful and beneficial. (505a)
• Without knowing the good, even full knowledge of other things is useless. (505a-b)
• The majority believe pleasure is the good, while the sophisticated believe it is knowledge. (505b)
• Every soul pursues the good and does everything for its sake. (505d-e)
• The form of the good provides truth to the things known and power to the knower. (508d-e)
• Both knowledge and truth are beautiful, but the good is more beautiful. (508e-509a)

Sun Analogy

• The good is to the intelligible realm as the sun is to the visible realm. (508b-c)
• The sun provides visible things with the power to be seen, come to be, grow, and be nourished. (509b)
• The objects of knowledge owe their being known and their very being to the good. (509b-c)

Line Analogy

• The line is divided into two unequal sections: the visible and the intelligible. (509d)
• Each section is divided in the same ratio.
• Visible Section:
  • Images: Shadows, reflections. (509d-e)
  • Objects: Animals, plants, manufactured things. (510a)
• Intelligible Section:
  • Thought: Soul investigates from hypotheses, using images. (510b)
  • Understanding: Soul proceeds to a first principle without hypotheses, using forms themselves. (510b)
• Four Conditions:
  • Understanding
  • Thought
  • Belief
  • Imaging (511d-e)