Plato's Concept of the Forms Flashcards
What did Plato believe that the world was divided into?
The World of the Forms (REALITY) and the Material World (APPEARANCE)
What is the World of the Forms?
A world beyond the senses, achieved by using reason, it is an intelligible world of true knowledge
What is seen in the world of the Forms?
The real thing! The concept (Form)
What is reality?
Universal beauty
What is the situation like in the World of the Forms?
Eternal and immutable
What are Forms?
Perfect, universal versions of things
What are particulars of phenomenas?
Imperfect copies of Forms which are seen in the material world
What is in the Material World?
A visible world which is the world of opinions and senses
What is seen in the Material World?
Phenomenas or particulars (instances)
What is appearance?
A reflection of beauty
What is the Material World prone to?
Decay and change
What did Heraclitus say?
“You cannot step in the same river twice”?
Why did Heraclitus say what he said?
Because our world (the material world) is constantly changing around us so we can never do EXACTLY the same thing twice
What is anamnesis?
The ability to recollect knowledge through a process of education. When we learn, we are simply recollecting what our soul has learnt in the world of the Forms
What is an example for the World of the Forms vs. the Material World?
The cookie cutter is the perfect version of the cookie which represents the perfect world because the cookie cutter is immutable, but the actual cookie turns out with dents and a slightly different shape so it is imperfect. The cutter is the Form and the cookie is the Particular
