Interestingly, the American philosopher William James (1842–1910) believed that, in the world of ideas, ideas are connected by a kind of next-to-next relationship. James believed that the highest form of intellect is manifested in the ability to perceive similarities in apparently dissimilar things. James called this the ability to "subsume novel data." It is said that, in applying these ideas to the world of "things" and empirical phenomena, James anticipated the science of modern physics. James' theories are interestingly similar to Plato's.
The conversation of the Allegory of the Cave is highly allusive. At that point when we lead our prisoner from the darkness into the light, the prisoner will likely be physically dazed and intellectually perplexed. This condition (perplexity, confusion) is similar to that of Cephalus, who exits our conversation early, and Polemarchus at the very beginning of the present dialogue. Too, Socrates says that, in order to avoid perplexity, students should be schooled first in mathematics, then in moral philosophy, before they may understand the Good. Socrates suggests, further, that when the prisoner returns to the Cave in order to lead his fellows to the light of understanding, they may be so dismayed at their having been wrenched from their comfortable state of ignorance that they may want to kill him — a likely allusion to the death of Socrates, the historical man. And the allusion is amplified: If the first prisoner, now enlightened by his contemplation of Justice itself, were to be hauled into a courtroom and faced with the unenlightened quibbles of lawyers trained in sophistry, he probably would not be able to defend himself. A character named Callicles, in a different dialogue, derides Socrates with Socrates' inability to defend himself in a court of law (Gorgias 486 A).
We now continue the conversation in order to discover how the Guardians are to be given a higher education.
