Ancient Greek Philosophical Influences - Plato

Ancient Greek Philosophical Influences - Plato

Plato’s understanding of reality:

Plato was a rationalist.

Rationalist:Knowledge comes from our use of reason and not our sense experiences.

Reason is a priori.

A-priori: Knowledge prior to experience.

Plato distrusted information that comes from our senses and believed that our senses can be deceptive.

“The body is the source of endless trouble.”

He said that it is impossible for us to gain true knowledge from the world around us because it is constantly changing and is imperfect. This is the basis for his understanding of the theory of the forms.

Physical world is given its reality by the Forms, the physical ‘phenomena’ participate in their Ideal Forms.

Plato’s theory of Forms:

Plato believed that our world is a world of ‘appearances’- it is an imitation of the World of the Forms.

World of the Forms: Perfect, unchanging and eternal.Our soul belongs to the World of the Forms because it is perfect. The World of the Forms is where the soul accesses true knowledge.

Forms: Ideal, eternal single versions of things found on Earth.

Forms are:

• Concepts and not physical objects. This is how they are able to reach perfection. They are constant and unchanging and therefore we are able to have true knowledge of them. If we have knowledge of the concept we are able to recognise examples of it in the world. EG: Justice, we recognise examples of justice in the real world.

• Archetypes of particulars. The reason we are able to recognise these particulars/objects in the real world is because they are participating in the concept of the form which our soul has a priori knowledge of. The form of something is its most perfect state and then the particulars are trying to imitate the form.

• Can be accessed through our use of reason. In order to have a full and comprehensive understanding it is vital that we use our reason.

• We are born with the knowledge of the forms it is innate and so we must have encountered them before we were born and so we must have immortal souls.

Hierarchy of the Forms:

For Plato, the Form of the Good is the highest of all forms and it is the source of all other forms.

“Responsible for everything right and good.”- The Republic.

1.Form of the Good.

2.Forms of Truth, Beauty and Justice.

3. Mathematics and Geometry.

4.Form of abstract ideas.

5. Forms of material objects.

The Form of the Good is the highest form it brings enlightenment to the rational mind. All other forms are participating in the goodness of perfection of the Form of the Good.

The Analogy of the Sun:

• The Form of the Good is likened to the sun.

• As the sun is the source of life on earth, the Form of the Good is the source of all other forms.

• In the same way that the sun enables us to see through giving light, the Form of the Good enlightens us to all other…