WAY, AN SO PLATO SAYS THAT THE RULERS MUST "BRING COMPULSION TO BEAR" UPON THEM TO ASCEND UPWARD FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT, SIMILARLY, THEN THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN LIBERATED FROM THE CAVE ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST KNOWLEDGE, THEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN THE HIGHER WORLD OF CONTEMPLATION, BUT MUST BE MADE TO COME BACK DOWN INTO THE CAVE AND TAKE PART IN THE LIFE AND LABORS OF THE PRISONERS. ARGUING, AS PLATO DID, THAT THERE ARE THESE TWO WORLDS, THE DARK WORLD OF THE CAVE AND BRIGHT WORLD OF LIGHT, WAS HIS WAY OF REJECTING THE SKEPTICISM OF THE SOPHISTS. FOR PLATO KNOWLEDGE WAS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, BUT IT WAS VIRTUALLY INFALLIBLE. WHAT MAKE KNOWLEDGE INFALLIBLE WAS THAT IT WAS BASED UPON WHAT IS MOST REAL. THE DRAMATIC CONTRAST BETWEEN THE SHADOWS, REFLECTIONS, AND THE ACTUAL OBJECTS WAS FOR PLATO THE DECISIVE CLUE TO THE DIFFERENT DEGREES TO WHICH HUMAN BEINGS COULD BE ENLIGHTENED, PLATO SAW THE COUNTERPARTS OF SHADOWS IN ALL OF HUMAN LIFE AND DISCOURSE, DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN MEN CONCERNING THE MEANING OF JUSTICE, FOR EXAMPLE, WERE THE RESULT OF EACH ONE'S LOOKING AT A DIFFERENT ASPECT OF THE REALITY OF JUSTICE, ONE PERSON MIGHT TAKE JUSTICE TO MEAN WHATEVER THE RULERS IN FACT COMMAND THE PEOPLE TO DO, ON THE ASSUMPTION THE JUSTICE HAS TO DO WITH RULES OF BEHAVIOR LAID DOWN BY THE RULER. JUST AS A SHADOW BEARS SOME RELATION TO THE OBJECT OF WHICH IT IS THE SHADOW, SO THIS CONCEPTION OF JUSTICE HAS SOME MEASURE OF TRUTH TO IT, FOR JUSTICE DOES HAVE MODES OF BEHAVIOR, AND THERE COULD BE NO SINGLE COHERENT CONCEPT OF JUSTICE IF MEN'S KNOWLEDGE OF JUSTICE WERE DERIVED FROM THE WIDE VARIETY OF EXAMPLES OF IT. THE SOPHISTS WERE SKEPTICAL ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE THEY WERE IMPRESSED BY THE VARIETY AND CONSTANT CHANGE IN THINGS, AND THEY ARGUED, SINCE OUR KNOWLEDGE COMES FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, OUR KNOWLEDGE WILL REFLECT THIS VARIETY AND WILL THEREFOR BE RELATIVE TO EACH PERSON. PLATO AGREED THAT SUCH KNOWLEDGE AS IS BASED UPON OU...
