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Daryl Bambic

Plato: A Theory of Forms | Issue 90 | Philosophy Now - 0 views

  • tradition of scepticism,
  • we live in a world which is not an easy source of true, ie, eternal, unchanging knowledge
  • Nothing is ever permanent:
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • it is also unreliable
  • But Plato also believed that this is not the whole story. Behind this unreliable world of appearances is a world of permanence and reliability. Plato calls this more real (because permanent) world, the world of ‘Forms’ or ‘Ideas’ (eidos/idea in Greek).
  • The Idea or Form of a triangle and the drawing we come up with is a way of comparing the perfect and imperfect.
  • If we can conceive the Idea or Form of a perfect triangle in our mind, then the Idea of Triangle must exist.
  • true and reliable knowledge rests only with those who can comprehend the true reality behind the world of everyday experience.
  • Plato’s philosopher-kings, who are required to perceive the Form of Good(ness) in order to be well-informed rulers.
  • already present in a person’s mind, due to their soul apparently having been in the world of the Forms before they were born.
  • Forms cannot be discovered through education, only recalled.
  • cave [see Allegory of the Cave]
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