The Four Stages
A complete, uncut audio lesson from Michael’s course on Heidegger’s interpretation of Plato. About 21 minutes.
Free companion to the Cave
Can you explain the cave without the picture?
Follow the image further with Michael Millerman: a complete audio lesson, a guide to the four stages, and three questions to think through for yourself.
- Shadows. Chained from childhood, the prisoners take the shadows on the wall for the things themselves.
- The turn. One is freed and turned around. He sees the fire, and the objects carried past it that cast the shadows.
- The ascent. He is dragged up the steep way into daylight. He sees reflections, then things, and at last the sun.
- The return. He goes back down to those still bound. His eyes fail in the dark, and they laugh at him.
Plato's own key (517b–c): the cave is the world we see, the way up is the soul's rise to what can only be understood, and the sun, seen last, is the Good.
FROM THE IMAGE INTO THE TEACHING
What changes in the learner?
The turn toward intelligible reality, the meaning of the Good, and the obligation to return.
Three questions. Your account.
Test the difference between an image and an understanding. Take the guide to your desk, a reading group, or the classroom.