"As many philosophers have noted, in the German language,
the word Schein bears three distinct meanings:
(i) shining, radiance, luminosity
(ii) manifesting, phenomenal appearing, showing itself, coming to light
(iii) illusion, deception, semblance, 'mere' appearance
In the Greek language of Plato's thought, the first two meanings were
bound together by their etymology. But Plato's metaphysics, drawing
a line of irreconcilable separation between the reality of a higher realm
of pure Ideas and the illusoriness of a lower realm consisting of sensuous
appearances, exhibits a logic that he saw connecting inextricably all three
of these seemingly unconnected meanings."
— Levin, David Michael. The Philosopher's Gaze:
Modernity in the Shadows of Enlightenment .
Part III, Section 10: "Where the Beauty of Truth Lies."
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.