Plato's Realm of the Forms

Created by: LivviR123
Created on: 18-09-16 10:52


	Plato's Realm of the Forms
	Advantages Gives us a reason for how we know what things are- comforting Gives us an ideal Gives us a certainty and explains abstract concepts, e.g. truth, justice Explains why different things can be considered beautiful The world is changeable- fits with our experiences There are 'ideas' concepts in maths, e.g. infinity, prime numbers, square roots etc. Ideal quantities- e.g. truth, justice and goodness 'One over many'- idea that different particulars share a common property that makes them all the same., allows us to explain how they are all beautiful. Family resemblance idea- Wittgenstein (philosopher) suggested that 'one over many' is supported by family resemblance-there are a series of overlapping properties. Aristotle agreed with Plato that objects have forms, if an object didn't exist, it wouldn't have a form- a form simply means that it has the characteristics of something.	Disadvantages Is there a good form of evil? Plato argued that these were the 'absence of good', but surely it works vice versa- e.g. good is the absence of bad. What about controversial topics? E.g. abortion or euthanasia It's unclear what exactly he meant How do particulars play out with the form Who/ what controls it? Ideal standards- unless there is something which is an unchanging perfect standard, it is not possible to compare and rank particular things. Which part of the object is ideal? E.g. it's 'blueness' or it's 'chairness' Are there too many forms? Where does it stop? Aristotle started the 'third man' argument which suggests that there would need to be a 'form of the forms' and so on (bc the form is the thing that all particulars share in) What about things that haven't been invented yet? Science Real pain- to oneself, the pain they're feeling is real and the truth The problem of Incorporation- some forms would logically incorporate others, e.g. s there a form of the triangle and the form of the straight line? Three fingers argument-is there a separate form of medium-ness for the 4th finger? It is a form of small-ness compared to the middle but a form of largeness compared to the ring finger. Ranking the forms- if one can decide how the forms are ranked, there must be human (or some other life source) deciding the ranking- ourselves as a human race could not possibly agree, so what has ranked these forms?
	Evaluation - Plato claimed the different forms were related to each other, and were arranged in a hierarchy, the form of good is the most important form, which illuminates all other forms and gives them their value-'goodness' is something we've never seen perfectly exemplified in the real world, but we have all seen things we recognise to be 'good' due to our intuitive knowledge of the form of good-For plato, true knowledge is knowledge of goodness-Plato believed that philosophers should be kings of countries because they could teach others and set an example. He argued that it is only ignorance that causes immortality and as a result if they become more philosophical and looked for the form of good, they would make better moral decisions. .-Plato believed the world was created by a god called Demiurge, who did it by fashioning out of material that was already there but in a shapeless mess. "Demiurge" comes from the Greek word for 'craftsman'.-

Plato's Realm of the Forms

Advantages

Gives us a reason for how we know what things are- comforting
Gives us an ideal
Gives us a certainty and explains abstract concepts, e.g. truth, justice
Explains why different things can be considered beautiful
The world is changeable- fits with our experiences
There are 'ideas' concepts in maths, e.g. infinity, prime numbers, square roots etc.
Ideal quantities- e.g. truth, justice and goodness
'One over many'- idea that different particulars share a common property that makes them all the same., allows us to explain how they are all beautiful.
Family resemblance idea- Wittgenstein (philosopher) suggested that 'one over many' is supported by family resemblance-there are a series of overlapping properties.
Aristotle agreed with Plato that objects have forms, if an object didn't exist, it wouldn't have a form- a form simply means that it has the characteristics of something.

Disadvantages

Is there a good form of evil? Plato argued that these were the 'absence of good', but surely it works vice versa- e.g. good is the absence of bad.
What about controversial topics? E.g. abortion or euthanasia
It's unclear what exactly he meant
How do particulars play out with the form
Who/ what controls it?
Ideal standards- unless there is something which is an unchanging perfect standard, it is not possible to compare and rank particular things.
Which part of the object is ideal? E.g. it's 'blueness' or it's 'chairness'
Are there too many forms? Where does it stop? Aristotle started the 'third man' argument which suggests that there would need to be a 'form of the forms' and so on (bc the form is the thing that all particulars share in) What about things that haven't been invented yet?
Science
Real pain- to oneself, the pain they're feeling is real and the truth
The problem of Incorporation- some forms would logically incorporate others, e.g. s there a form of the triangle and the form of the straight line?
Three fingers argument-is there a separate form of medium-ness for the 4th finger? It is a form of small-ness compared to the middle but a form of largeness compared to the ring finger.
Ranking the forms- if one can decide how the forms are ranked, there must be human (or some other life source) deciding the ranking- ourselves as a human race could not possibly agree, so what has ranked these forms?

Evaluation

- Plato claimed the different forms were related to each other, and were arranged in a hierarchy, the form of good is the most important form, which illuminates all other forms and gives them their value-'goodness' is something we've never seen perfectly exemplified in the real world, but we have all seen things we recognise to be 'good' due to our intuitive knowledge of the form of good-For plato, true knowledge is knowledge of goodness-Plato believed that philosophers should be kings of countries because they could teach others and set an example. He argued that it is only ignorance that causes immortality and as a result if they become more philosophical and looked for the form of good, they would make better moral decisions. .-Plato believed the world was created by a god called Demiurge, who did it by fashioning out of material that was already there but in a shapeless mess. "Demiurge" comes from the Greek word for 'craftsman'.-

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Plato's Realm of the Forms