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Lecture by Dr. Walther Ziegler on Plato's core ideas. With his "theory of ideas," Plato shaped the entire Western culture. His name is known all over the world. Over 2000 years ago, Plato expressed an enormous suspicion in his allegory of the cave: people see many shadows on a cave wall and believe these shadows to be real figures. With the parable, Plato wanted to shake up his contemporaries and stop living in a manipulated, illusory world without recognizing the real world. The Athenians were blinded by material pleasures, wealth, and demagogic politicians. His suspicion is astonishingly relevant today, especially in the digital age. Aren't we also in danger of losing ourselves in media shades and projections through the Internet, cell phones, and TV consumption? In order to recognize the truth, according to Plato, people must learn to see with their inner eye again. According to Plato, we are all able to sense the truth if we manage to look behind mere appearances. Because behind the everyday objects that surround us and the visible world there is a second invisible reality - a kind of higher level of being that can reveal the true world to us. This second reality is the realm of ideas, especially the ideas of the good, the true and the beautiful, which we should orient ourselves towards. But what exactly are these ideas? Where do they come from? What does Plato mean when he speaks of the good? And above all, how can we recognize it and lead a corresponding life? Based on his core idea of the theory of ideas, Plato even draws up a detailed proposal for the establishment of the ideal state.