Plato Theory of Forms Essay

Words: 1086
Pages: 5
Open Document
Plato's Theory of Forms is not something that is easy to understand. According to him the forms are a class concept that is a perfect example of the form itself. To anyone scanning through the forms they might not grasp the full concept Plato is trying to get across. However, if time is taken to examine Plato's theory it can make sense. For Plato everything has a pure form. If you take any property of an object and separate it from the object itself, you are left contemplating a form.
Plato splits up being into two worlds, the material world and the transcendent world of forms. We know of the world of forms through the mind, through reason; this gives us access to an unchanging world, secure from the changes of the material world. By …show more content…
All material objects are copies or images of some collection of forms; their reality comes only from the forms. The forms are the causes that make an object. They provide the explanation of why any object is the way it is, and they are the source or origin of the being of all things. The forms include a system leading down from the form of the "Good" moving from the more particular to more general. The form is never in the particular, it is a participant and resemblance from the form of the "Good."
The theory of forms can relate to other aspects of the Socratic/Platonic philosophy. In Phaedo the form of equality itself is used in order to explain knowledge. Socrates accounts for our knowledge of equality itself from sometime before birth. He says that after we are born we forget our knowledge of equality, and it is not until the process of learning that we come to recollect them. Socrates gives us the example of the sticks and stones. One might say that two sticks or stones are equal but we know from previous knowledge that they really cannot be equal. The reason for this is that we have knowledge of what it means to be perfectly equal. It is not until we see that which is seen as equal but is really unequal that we are reminded of the Form of Equality. It is only because we know the Form of Equality itself that we can tell if something is equal or unequal. Since in the intelligible world forms are immutable we will always have the knowledge of the pure Form
Show More

Related Documents: Plato Theory of Forms Essay

Examples Of Dialogue Between Plato And Aristotle

Dialogue between Plato and Aristotle Jamie Erwin PHI/105 October 5, 2014 Donald Musacchio Dialogue between Plato and Aristotle In the early morning hours student begin to enter into the auditorium of Plato’s Academy, the first thing they see is the two professors’ down in the front of the room. One of the professors begins to speak to the class. Plato: Good Morning Students! Students: Good Morning Professor! Plato: Many of you may know who I am and then there are those of you that do not. For…

Words 1254 - Pages 6

Essay Poi8 Chap03 SG

CHAPTER 3: SOCRATES, PLATO Main Points 1. Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.) was the pupil of Socrates (470–399 B.C.), and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) was the pupil of Plato. Socrates 2. Socrates was not interested in arguing with his fellow Athenians merely for the sake of argument—as the Sophists were—but rather he wanted to discover the essential nature of knowledge, justice, beauty, goodness, and the virtues (such as courage). 3. The Socratic (dialectic) method: a search for the proper definition of…

Words 1003 - Pages 5

Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

figures slide across the wall. They do not know that these dark figures are shadows of people walking across a bridge behind them. Next to the bridge a fire illuminates anyone who walks by casting their figures upon the wall for the prisoners to see. Plato then describes one of the prisoner’s becoming free of their shackles. The prisoner would instantly know that his entire existence has been simply an appearance. A lie that has been going on since the day the he was born. In awe of this new idea, the…

Words 1742 - Pages 7

Plato and Aristotle: a Comparison Essay

Comparing the political theories of any two great philosophers is a complex task. Plato and Aristotle are two such philosophers who had ideas of how to improve existing societies during their individual lifetimes. While both Plato and Aristotle were great thinkers, perhaps it is necessary first to examine the ideas of each before showing how one has laid the groundwork and developed certain themes for the other. Plato is regarded by many experts as the first writer of political philosophy.…

Words 1651 - Pages 7

The King Lives Essay

Both Herclitus and Paramendies assisted Plato in his concept of dualism. Plato viewed both philosophers’ interpretation of knowledge to be partially correct in their efforts to characterize reality. Heraclitus concept of “the one” involved a process or change; an orderly cycle. Parmenides is responsible to referring “the one” as Being; perfect, compete, whole, unchangeable. Plato detected that both philosophers probably thought their beliefs existed in the physical world. Acknowledging that reality…

Words 561 - Pages 3

Analysis of The Republic Essay

retribution or social punishment? Or is it regardless of its rewards and punishments? Greek philosopher Plato seeks to answer these compelling questions in his works The Republic. After criticizing the conventional theories of justice presented differently by intellectuals Cephalus, Plymarchus, Thrasymachus and Glaucon, Socrates gives his theory of justice according to which it is a sort of specialization (Plato, p.14). Individually, justice is a human virtue that makes a person self-consistent and “good”;…

Words 1119 - Pages 5

Essay Platonic Concept of Forms

Explain the Platonic Concept of the ‘Forms’ One of the key questions ancient Greek Philosophers sought to answer is what is described as ‘the problem of the universals’. The problem of the universals is the metaphysical quandary over whether universals exist, and if so, where? Universals are defined as the characteristics or qualities that particular or individual objects have in common, an essence or form which they share recurrently with other particulars. For example, if we were to suppose…

Words 933 - Pages 4

“What is important about any philosophy is not what is explains, but what it assumes” Essay

their assumptions sometimes contradict each other. Well expressed In discussing his notion above it is important to understand the basic theory and ideas of Machiavelli and Plato. Both Machiavelli and Plato produce arguments for order in the state but they have different notions of how to go about order. Plato obsesses with certainty and has an ideal form of order, while order with Machiavelli is learning to live with uncertainty. Machiavelli believes we need to be able to work with insecurity…

Words 1036 - Pages 5

Contrating Plato and Aristotle Essay

Aristotle and Platos Theories of Ethics Uploaded by snwboarder on Oct 27, 2011 This essay examines Aristotle’s and Plato’s theories of ethics, and briefly compares them. Classical Theories of Ethics – Outline I Introduction II Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics III Plato’s Republic IV Brief Comparison V Conclusion Classical Theories of Ethics I Introduction The study of ethics takes us all the way back to classical Greece. Since it does, I thought it might be useful to compare…

Words 978 - Pages 4

Essay on Part B Platos Criticisms

Notes Criticisms of Plato’s Theories Plato’s Analogy of the Cave Plato used the Analogy of the Cave to criticise the unphilosophical and to “get back” at the rulers of Athens who had executed his tutor, Socrates. He argued that the world that we perceive is a world of illusions, of “shadows” of the “real” world of the Form. He thought that every object in our world corresponds to its Form in the World of Ideas. Criticisms Plato believes that our experience of the Form pre-dates our experience of…

Words 807 - Pages 4