The Sun and the Form of the Good Are First Causes or Principles

The form of the good is said to be beyond being in dignity and power, a kind of super form which gives other forms their goodness and intelligibility. Just as the sun makes the visible objects around us visible to sight, so the form of thegood renders the other forms intelligible to the soul. In this middle part of the republic, the divided line and the allegory of the cave are also shown.