Shadows, Sun, Evil

While for many, the main function of Sense-Experience is Cognition, and, hence, is a topic in Epistemology, for others, it is also a factor in behavior, and, hence, a topic in Psychology and Ethics.  Now, when considered in its entirety, as well as in its general context, the scenario at the beginning of book VII of the Republic is plainly a representation of a corrupt Polis--Sophists manipulating Citizenry by pandering to their prejudices--as relevant today as ever.  So, if shadows do indeed represent Sense-Experience, as the medium of manipulation, it is qua behavioral, not qua cognitive.  Accordingly, the structural significance of a shadow, as opposed to that of mere copies such as an echo or a reflection, is derived from the meaning of the Sun in the passage.  That is, if the Sun is the Idea of Good, and a shadow is the result of a blocking of the Sun, then a shadow represents Evil, an interpretation that coheres with the classification of Sense-Experience as Psychological and Ethical, but not Epistemological.