Morality

[The Grand Nudger]

"Is seen with an effort"...? Is Plato referring to the "effort" it takes to believe a dogma when it is presented to you? Or is he referring to something else?

No, he’s referring to the effort to see The Good. And by this he doesn’t mean, that it takes such effort to see what’s right, but  the ultimate root, or source of such perception. Our perception of what’s right, is like seeing light from the sun, but not the sun itself, it takes considerable effort to see the sun.

“. It cannot be clearly seen or explained, but once it is recognized, it is the form that allows one to realize all the other forms.”

Non-natural realism.  That's usually where I start with realism no matter who's asking.  I'll even add the proviso that it doesn't always take great effort.  I arrange it in the reverse, however.  Let's you and I go watch the gang beating of a small child.  I wager that I won't need to explain anything at all.  The force of the observation will signify the thing we call "The Bad".  If we know "The Bad" - that which those terms signify, can see and observe and intuitively recognize it, then...by extension, we can understand the good (I'd make a second wager that the good and the bad, at least in archetypal forms, are equally recognizable). We can point at either representative and say "this, this is what I mean when I say x, do you understand?" - and the answer will be affirmative.