What is the difference between knowledge and opinion, and why it is important for Plato?

Plato is an ancient Greek philosopher. He lived 400 years BC and was a Socrates’ student. Plato was sceptic about the way Greece was ruled, he thought that democracy is a wrong type of government where the ruling of the state is driven by selfish interests ignoring what is actually good for its people. Plato argues that politicians are incapable of governing the country because they only seek popularity and people’s favour. Instead the country should be ruled by philosophers because they would act towards the wealth of the state and not their own interest. Plato goes on explaining his ideas through introducing the Forms and similes.
Plato believes that the world is divided in to two realms. There is a line, referred as ‘the divided line’, which separates ‘sensible’ realm from the ‘intelligible’. The sensible realm relies on our senses and it is also called ‘the visible world’, our opinion is a reflection of the experiences produced by our environment. It is changing and unreliable. The intelligible world is dependent on our intelligence and understanding of our environment. It is not ambiguous; there is the only truth indisputable and unchangeable. The divided line separates knowledge and opinion placing them on the different sides. Further Plato subdivides each side, making four divisions in total.
Plato describes opinion as ‘the medium between knowledge and ignorance’ (‘The Republic’). Opinion is subdivided into belief and illusion. Arts, literature and drama fall under ‘illusion’. They produce shadows and reflections of the real world. They manipulate people’s feelings and lock them in the world of shadows- untruth and illusions. The opinion about arts is highly changeable and unclear. Under the same category Plato places newspapers and other people’s opinion, second-hand views. People trust these views without questioning their compatibility.
‘Belief’ includes our understanding of morality, natural sciences and...

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