• Home Page
  • Plato And The Concepts Of Plato's Theory Of Forms

Plato And The Concepts Of Plato's Theory Of Forms

Decent Essays
Show More
Plato’s philosophical work branched out from that of his mentor, Socrates, and the concept of finding ‘absolutes’ in regard to the truth of understanding what things are. This is shown in his theory of forms, where forms are perfect, eternally lasting, and unchanging. Forms fit for both abstract objects and concepts aside from tangible things and the properties and characteristics that fit for each of those objects. However, the material objects around us cannot be seen as real, the forms that those belong to are the most absolute and closest to what is a part of reality. Forms branch into particulars, which can be concluded as many objects (or examples) that fit into a compatible category. The theory of forms and the component of particulars …show more content…
Justice is a good example from class regarding forms, but I preferred the one regarding beauty instead because it fit better for conceptualizing the theory of forms. Beauty as a whole is the absolute for an abstract concept which creates a form. This creates our ‘one’ or absolute that fulfills a philosophical question for discovering what precisely is real. The exploration of discovering the level of reality is metaphysics itself and much of the work that Plato spent his life pursuing. Returning back to the class example of beauty, we all have a semi-innate idea of beauty that only seems to evolve as we mature. The form of beauty is absolute no matter the numerous examples that each person has. This can be because of the various subsidiaries of art, music, thoughts, literature, etc. that are particulars that participate in the form of but are less real than the form itself.

Aristotle’s philosophical work mimicked that of his mentor, Plato, much like Socrates had influenced his pupil so greatly. Aristotle went to reevaluate Plato’s theory of forms and resolved a new theory including substance and universals. His observational study connected to the philosophical content within metaphysics that relate to ontology, the state of being

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Compare And Contrast Plato's Allegories Of The Sun And The Cave
    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Plato's Allegories Of The Sun And The Cave

    Plato also explains how individuals and the Forms are related through the Allegories of the Sun and the Cave. The world, he says, is split up into two realms: the visible and the intelligible. The visible realm is made up of everything that is tangible and able to be perceived by our humanly senses. The intelligible world is made up of the Forms or in other words, the abstract, unchanging absolutes like Goodness and Beauty that exist in the universe. They are objects of wisdom that possess unchanging truths that the rational part of our minds set out to fully comprehend.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Parts Of The Soul In Plato's The Republic
    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Parts Of The Soul In Plato's The Republic

    In this paper, I will be doing a critical summary of the parts of the soul by Plato in The Republic. Plato argues that the soul has three parts. These three parts are the Spirited, the Calculating and the Desiring. The calculating part he says, is that which makes man think rationally while the desiring part is more irrational as it is guided by desires and pleasures rather than logic. The spirited part on the other hand, is that which represents an emotional reaction for what seems to be just, which rises against the desires, when the desiring part pushes an individual to react against the calculating part.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Analyzing Heinrichs Repercussions Of An Argument
    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analyzing Heinrichs Repercussions Of An Argument

    of argument goes with with a certain topic and tense.as an example Heinrichs shows how it would make sense for people would talk about values in the present tense because people think that their beliefs are eternal and unchanging. The Heinrichs implies that Aristotle’s distinction works by controlling the “tense” of an argument, and how people can control the content of that debate by shifting the debate to the future tense, for example, an arguer can shift from discussing values to discussing actions because future represents the action you have yet to do. He shows that when beginning an argument, you should always consider the most appropriate tense for the argument and that determining the correct tense is the most important part of winning an argument. He then draws the conclusion that deliberative debates are more willing to change their actions than their core beliefs.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Compare And Contrast Plato's Cave And The Truman Show
    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Compare And Contrast Plato's Cave And The Truman Show

    Reply Reply All Forward Move Delete Close Previous Item Next Item Close Christian Laskie Plato's Cave Paper Christian Laskie [christian.laskie@apps.schoolcraft.edu] Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2017 4:06 PM To: Jesse Mileo Christian Laskie Professor Mileo Philosophy February 1, 2017 Plato’s Cave and The Truman Show Have you ever questioned your reality and if anything is beyond it? This is a question humans often struggle with because it questions whether or not we are actually free and also ponders what is real and what is not.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's Phaedo: The Imperfection Argument
    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plato's Phaedo: The Imperfection Argument

    The imperfection argument is an argument for both the existence of forms and the concept of a priori. Plato uses this argument as the base of the imperfection of sensible objects and our ability to make judgments about the sensible objects. The basic idea is that we can’s abstract the concept of beauty, from our sense-experience of the objects around us that are beautiful. The imperfection argument goes as follows: 1. “We perceive sensible objects to be equal.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's Examination Of Order
    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plato's Examination Of Order

    Plato was a student of the equally great thinker Socrates, and came into his own by developing his theory of forms. This was the way Plato brought order to the universe in his own mind. Essentially, he theorized that existence was two tiered. The world humans live in is filled with constant change which we perceive with our senses. However, there is another reality in which exists ideal, everlasting truth.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Comparison Of Buddhism, Confucianism, And Greek Platonic Philosophy
    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparison Of Buddhism, Confucianism, And Greek Platonic Philosophy

    The world of reality and then there’s the world of forms. Plato’s philosophy can be broken down to simply this. The world of reality are the imperfect imagines, such as the raw, ugly, and well normal to us. This is the reality we…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's Theory Of Knowledge In Chapter 3 Of Meno By Plato
    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plato's Theory Of Knowledge In Chapter 3 Of Meno By Plato

    To start, I believe that all material objects can be defined in some way by a form. An example which comes to mind is that of a chair. Say we define a chair as a seat with a back and legs. Anything with those forms is a chair. A chair with a seat, legs, and no back is not longer a chair, but a stool.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's Form Of Roundness
    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Plato's Form Of Roundness

    Take a property such as the roundness of the earth. If one were to separate that roundness from the other properties such as weight and color (and all other properties) and think only of the roundness, then one would be considering the form of roundness. Plato holds that properties such as this exist separately from the physical objects that participate in them (Banach, 1). He further holds that the world we experience through senses is actually alive, complete with soul as well as body, and has as its original (what the demiurge modeled it after) a “complex form or series of forms called ‘the intelligible Living Creature’(40).…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave
    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Plato's The Allegory Of The Cave

    Almost anything that we see directly in our surroundings are nothing but just an illusion, a shadow of the object. Plato believes we don't see reality directly. Everything is compared to the mere picture of shadows. And hence, only by thought process and reasoning can we approach the ultimate…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Socrates Argumently Outlasts The Body
    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Socrates Argumently Outlasts The Body

    From this, one can imply that any general concept derived from the category of metaphysical essence will inherently outlast a corresponding sensory or visible essence. Characterized by the silence that follows, Cebes finds this proposition to be an “incomplete” and to a greater extent, a feign argument. This argument is built on the notion that that which is metaphysical lasts longer than the physical. This premise is faulty. Consider an idea that is permanently lost and compare it to an animal that has died.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Research Paper On Allegory Of The Cave
    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Research Paper On Allegory Of The Cave

    Allegory of the Cave Project You have never really thought about life in general until something comes along and makes you question your very existence. When we first went over the Allegory of the Cave, I did not know what to think. It is a very different way to look at life. I probably never would have even thought about if I had not taken this Intro to Philosophy class.…

    • 956 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Forms Of Being Vs. Being In Plato's Republic
    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Forms Of Being Vs. Being In Plato's Republic

    In order to gain a better understanding of how truth is discovered rather than manufactured, one must examine the philosophy of Plato. A quintessential concept in Plato’s philosophy is the idea of being versus Being. In Plato’s Republic, the philosopher claims that there are two different realms within reality: the visible world of being, and the intelligible world of Being. In the world of Being, there exists what Plato calls the Forms. The Forms are Plato’s First Principle; he claims that the Forms are perfect, eternal, and non-changing objects in the intelligible realm, and these are the essences of the physical world; these are how things ought to be (INCLUDE CITATIONS).…

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    The Argument Of Plato: There Is An Immortal Soul
    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Argument Of Plato: There Is An Immortal Soul

    One of Plato’s last arguments talks about composition and simplicity. Plato believes the body is…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Form Of Beauty Essay
    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Form Of Beauty Essay

    Plato repeatedly says the Forms are ‘one’. Each Form has just the one property of which it is the Form: the Form of beauty is only beautiful (and the only thing which is only beautiful). However, Plato also suggests that each Form is good, and that the Form of the Good is the Form of Forms. Furthermore, Plato attempts to give full accounts of each Form that explains what it is. For example, in The Republic, Plato argues that justice is doing one’s own job (433a).…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings