The Metaphor of the Sun in Plato's Republic: Illumination, Knowledge

This essay chooses the metaphor of ‘Sun’ from Plato's Republic to signify its importance in the text. In this context, the ‘Sun’ is foundational in the Republic because it represents the source of illumination for the universe as well as the source of knowledge and good, therefore, justice.

In the Republic, Plato uses three metaphors, the second of which is the Sun. According to the Republic, the sun is the source of all light. There cannot be light if there is no Sun. Although Plato uses the Sun to reflect on the physical source of light, he also uses it for reflecting on the idea that Sun is also the source of enlightenment because one can only begin to gain knowledge when one has the ability to see. In other words, the vision that is provided by the means of light is also the source of understanding and comprehension of the world around us. This does not only relate to the physical world but also intellectual comprehension. Therefore, the metaphor does relate to the physical sense of Sun as the source of light and illumination, but also the psychological sense of Sun as the source of knowledge and wisdom. To finally summarise this point, it may be said that the place of the Sun in the Republic is foundational in nature because without the Sun, there is no illumination and visibility of the physical world around us. Without this illumination, there is no access to knowledge and understanding. Without this knowledge and understanding, there cannot be a Republic.

The metaphor of the Sun also illuminates Justice in the city. The ideas of justice, rule of law, and wisdom can be interlinked in the arguments presented by Plato in the Republic. Plato explains that one of the ideal cities in the Republic, Calliopolis, is characterised by certain merits. These can be taken to mean that the city exemplifies justice. However, there is a link between justice and knowledge because the city is ruled by the best for the best and this is because both the citizens and the rulers have comprehension of that which is “Noble, Just and Good”, and they preserve these concepts. The point to take from here is that the city is ruled by those who have knowledge of the just and good and also peopled by those who conceive of these concepts. This conceptualisation is possible only because of knowledge. This can be linked to the metaphor of the Sun, which is the illuminator of both light as well as knowledge. Therefore, the metaphor illuminates justice in the city. Furthermore, the concept of justice is possible only because the ruler is wise and prudence, which is described as combination of knowledge and experience motivated by the love of learning. Again, this relates to the metaphor of Sun because without the Sun, there cannot be knowledge. Thus, it can be summarised that the Sun signifies justice in the city because without the Sun there cannot be knowledge and comprehension of the natural and the intellectual and this is required for there to be justice.

The metaphor of the Sun illuminates Justice in the soul because justice in the soul depends on the comprehension of what a Good Life means; it requires the formulation and comprehension of certain philosophical constructs, which require intellect as well as knowledge. The soul is divine and immortal, but when in the city, it is conjoined with the body. While it is conjoined with the body, soul is illuminated with the sense of wisdom and contemplation. Wisdom and contemplation is not just related to the contemplation of the universe but also reason. These are intellectual efforts, which require access to knowledge and comprehension. There cannot be justice in the soul or the lower orders of the soul because in such souls, there is a conflict with knowledge and truth and absence of rule of reason and the love of wisdom. Such souls of the lower order can be seen to be at odds with the souls of philosopher kings who embody the perfection of virtue in body and soul. They have moderation, courage, prudence and wisdom. The last two qualities are related to knowledge, which is related to the metaphor of the Sun. The Sun is not just the source of life, as per Plato, but also the source that nurtures body and soul. The metaphor of the Sun is therefore more than just a signification of the source of life. Plato argues that it is the source of justice and good. The Sun reveals the vision of all things and objects and concepts.

A counter-argument to the thesis can be that the Sun metaphor is not the foundational idea of the Republic because while Sun does illuminate the world around us, it is not the source of goodness and justice. It could be said that the source of goodness and justice is the innate reason of man. The Sun provides the light with which we see the world around us, but we understand the world around us based on our own reason and sense. In this sense, it is possible to separate the body from the soul and say that they are not conjoined and that the objects illuminated by the Sun and visible to our eyes are only visible to the soul through the inner sense of the individual. The Sun is not responsible for the development of the sense of goodness and justice beyond a physical sense of seeing while the psychological task of understanding is done by the individual. This argument would mean that the idea that Sun itself is goodness or the good, is wrong because it is the human soul that is the identifier of goodness which is part of the universal precepts. In other words, one has to separate the physical powers of the Sun (illuminator of light) from the psychological effect of justice and goodness.

The above argument is however shallow. It may be agreed that the Sun does perform a function that is purely physical in that it illuminates the universe so that objects and concepts are visible to us. However, to say that the Sun does not go beyond this to help create a just and good city would be fallacious. The Sun not only illuminates the universe, it also helps us see how the good life functions. When we are able to see the world and understand the good and bad effects of actions and decisions through this illumination, this helps to understand the morality of these actions.

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