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Two famous passages in Plato’s Republic are commonly known as “the divided line” and “the cave”, they are placed right next to each other, one at the end of book six, and the other at the beginning of book seven. We will read and consider both and explore how each enables us to understand the other–how the first is primarily cognitive and the other primarily vivific, and how the two together are particularly suitable for cultivating the soul. For the soul, according to the Platonic tradition, is a life-bearing and knowing being, only able to play its fullest part in the great drama of the cosmos if it combines both elements of its nature.
This event is free but donations are encouraged, circumstances allowing. We’ll start the session at 6.30pm: tea/coffee and cake will be available just beforehand. No need to book.
This event is free but donations are encouraged, circumstances allowing. We’ll start the session at 6.30pm: tea/coffee and cake will be available just beforehand. No need to book.
Please download here a PDF of the extracts we’ll be using: The divided line and cave
These evenings include short talks and/or readings from Platonic writings – but we hope they will be genuinely interactive, with all participants invited to contribute to our collaborative search for truth. No previous experience of formal philosophy is required. Every effort is made to make these type of evenings accessible to the newcomer, while allowing the great profundity of the Platonic tradition to step forward and speak to us at whatever level our present understanding sits.