The following Greek philosophers used visual analogies to illustrate the different types or stages of knowledge in the human mind. What is common to these analogies is that the highest knowledge is a comprehensive, holistic or integrated understanding of the whole and is closest to objective truth. It is an intuitive knowledge or direct insight of the wise man or philosopher.

Parmenides

Parmenides presented a foundational philosophical distinction between two paths of inquiry in his surviving poem, often referred to as On Nature. These are known as the "Way of Truth" (ἀλήθει...

The term 'archetype' (from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον = archetype, pattern, model, also original image or idea (Urbild)) was first used by Plato to refer to the metaphysical forms or ideas, in which the sensible and perceptible things participate.

In modern philosophy, both Locke and Descartes introduced the term as the foundation of representations in our mind:

...dass in uns keine Idee oder kein Bild einer Sache sein kann, von dem nicht irgendwo in uns selbst oder ausser uns ein Urbild (archetypus) existiert, das...