Assessing Plato

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Plato's Argument

The one over many arguments 

- when observing objects (particulars) we see that they are the same type of thing, for example, all chairs have legs.

- Children also have the ability to do this 

- Plato argues we innately know what something is because we recognise it to the Forms that our soul saw

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Plato's Argument

The ideal standard 

- can be used to look at moral rules also

-Higher Forms, like Goodness, Justice and others are too important to just be opinion

-we have an absolute idea of what goodness is when looking at the Form of Good 

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Arguments against Forms

Wittgenstein 

- family resemblance theory 

-not one over many

-there are overlapping characteristics 

-some family members resemble family members but there isn't one specific thing to the family 

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Arguments against Forms

Third Man Argument 

- When finding the Form of something, you have to see what the Form and the Particulars have in common 

- Then you would have to look at what they have in common and see that there is a third thing to explain 

- the process could go on forever, you would never get an explanation for anything

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Arguments against Forms

Form for everything?

- some Forms seem absurd 

- Is there a need for the ideal Form of hair, dirt, etc 

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