Plato.

Background of Plato...

Follower of Socrates

Argued that this world is like the cave that traps people's souls

True reality can be found in the realm of the forms

Only a philosopher knows this as they are able to understand the truth

The ordinary person is too distracted by their everyday experience

Key ideas...

Prisoners - ordinary people

Outside world - truth and reality

Shadows - illusions

Escaped prisoner - philosopher searvhing for truth

Chains - breaking free from the senses and using mind to gain knowledge

Sun - form of good

Returning prisoner - enlightened philosopher

Remember:  brief retell of the story, focus on the meaning behind it

Plato's epistemology...

Plato argued that empirical knowledge is flawed and we must escape from this world and only use a priori knowledge to know the truth.

Plato's metaphysics...

Plato was a dulist, he argued for the two realms apperances and reality

Plato's politics...

Plato stressed that philosophers should be rulers in society because they can break free from the material world and gain knowledge of the truth.

Plato's ethics...

Plato believed that an ultimate good existed and knowledge of the good is the highest knowledge a human is capable of.

The world of forms...

Each form is one

Intelligible

Eternal

Unchanging

Non-physical

Perfect

The world of apperences...

There are many

Sensible

Always coming in and out of existence

Always changing into something else

Material objects

Imperfect

A form is a perfect idea of something.

World of apperences - this world

World of reality - the forms

Evertything in this world is a copy of its perfect form

Characteristics of the forms...

Transendant

Unchanging

Immortal

Archetype for all things that physically exist

Plato called the form of the good the highest form because it gave life to the other forms, these include truth, justice and beauty.

Strengths...

Some parts are a posteriori - based on experience

Alanolgy makes it easier to understand

Encourages us to not accept things at face value

Helps us to understand imperfections in the world

Weaknesses...

Forms could just be ideas in the mind

Unclear link between the worlds

The third man argument

No proof that the forms exist

He is not clear what exists there - evil suffering