Plato's Forms
- Created by: Grace Lidgett
- Created on: 03-01-13 13:12
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- Plato's Forms
- Behind every concept or object there is an unseen reality.. a Form
- We are aware of the Forms due to our intelligence and reason
- Forms are UNCHANGING, TIMELESS AND ETERNAL
- The world of appearances = the world we live in, it is contingent and imperfect
- The real world = world of forms which is perfect and unchanging, there is one of every form
- Plato's Forms
- Behind every concept or object there is an unseen reality.. a Form
- We are aware of the Forms due to our intelligence and reason
- Forms are UNCHANGING, TIMELESS AND ETERNAL
- The world of appearances = the world we live in, it is contingent and imperfect
- The real world = world of forms which is perfect and unchanging, there is one of every form
- The real world = world of forms which is perfect and unchanging, there is one of every form
- E.g. you can recognise a cat because you know what a cat is, there are many types of cat but they all conform to the idea of what a cat is
- We know the forms through our minds
- The particulars [in this world] are imperfect copies of the forms
- The ultimate form is the form of the good and just as the sun gives light to our world, the form of the good illuminates other forms
- Plato believed there was a hierarchy of forms - THE FORM OF GOOD MAKES POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF OTHER FORMS - SIMILAR TO CHRISTIAN GOD?
- Strengths
- Explains why we recognise the same essential elements in something
- Helps us to understand the imperfections and evil around us and is a possible solution for the problem of evil
- Encourages us to question in order to learn and not accept things at face value
- Recognises that human beings are more than just materialistic
- Weaknesses
- Surely plato needs a form of the forms and a form of that [infinite regression]
- The existence of the realm of forms may not be an obvious conclusion of logical reasoning
- Plato does not make it clear how the two worlds relate
- There is no proof that we recognise forms due to our previous existence
- Richard Dawkins = forms can just be ideas in the mind being spread from person to person like a virus
- Are there forms of everything? [bus tickets, deodorant]
- Plato's Forms
- The real world = world of forms which is perfect and unchanging, there is one of every form
- E.g. you can recognise a cat because you know what a cat is, there are many types of cat but they all conform to the idea of what a cat is
- We know the forms through our minds
- The particulars [in this world] are imperfect copies of the forms
- The ultimate form is the form of the good and just as the sun gives light to our world, the form of the good illuminates other forms
- Plato believed there was a hierarchy of forms - THE FORM OF GOOD MAKES POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF OTHER FORMS - SIMILAR TO CHRISTIAN GOD?
- Strengths
- Explains why we recognise the same essential elements in something
- Helps us to understand the imperfections and evil around us and is a possible solution for the problem of evil
- Encourages us to question in order to learn and not accept things at face value
- Recognises that human beings are more than just materialistic
- Weaknesses
- Surely plato needs a form of the forms and a form of that [infinite regression]
- The existence of the realm of forms may not be an obvious conclusion of logical reasoning
- Plato does not make it clear how the two worlds relate
- There is no proof that we recognise forms due to our previous existence
- Richard Dawkins = forms can just be ideas in the mind being spread from person to person like a virus
- Are there forms of everything? [bus tickets, deodorant]
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