Ancient Philosophy: Plato Flashcards
(10 cards)
The forms
Ideal, eternal single versions of things found on earth. The forms are found in the realm of the forms, which is above our daily world, and wholly spiritual. For Plato, only the realm of the forms is truly real, and can be described as truly real.
Plato and cake metaphor (not his)
The idea of the cake in one’s head before they bake the cake, is an indication of the nature of the forms. Plato argues there must be an ideal cake somewhere, and they are permanent and spiritual.
What is our relationship to the forms?
For Plato, our souls belong naturally in the realm of the forms. For inconclusive reasons, we were trapped in bodies and born into this world. The consequence of this is forgetfulness. We forgot the realm of the forms, it we remember glimpses of it, which is why we have an ideal cake somewhere. For Plato, all learning is remembering the forms.
There are two realms for Plato:
The realm of the forms
The realm of appearances
Hierarchy of the forms explanation
In the world of objects, we need eyes to see them and the sun to illuminate them. Similarly, in the realm of the forms, in order to conceive of these forms, we need the force of intellect. To illuminate them, the form of the good exists. This is the highest form, and below it come higher forms such as beauty, which composes of the perfect cake or chair.
The simile of the divided line
Plato asks us to think of a vertical line divided into a 2:1 Ratio. Each divided section is then divided the same way. The upper part AB represents the realm of the forms, while the lower part CD represents the world of appearances. CD has real objects and shadows or illusions. He believes that D has the least reality. A painting has no actual beauty compared to the landscape. Plato believes that this equivalent is found in B, mathematical reasoning. To mathematically reason, assumptions must be made, which technically strays from the truth.
Plato on knowledge and truth
Humans do not have knowledge of things in the material world, as they do not exist fully here. Therefore we only have opinions or (doxa in Greek). So Plato calls ignorance the awareness of what does not exist.
The simile of the cave
Prisoners are chained to a wall in a cave in front of a road that they cannot see. On the opposite side there is a fire, or the sun. This fire allows for shadows to be cast on the wall in front of the prisoners. People walk along the road, and hold objects that cats shadows. They also have voices, so the prisoners only live in a shadow world.
One day a prisoner is released. He sees the truth and the sun.
Then he goes outside, which proves to be difficult, as due to the pain in his eyes, he can only first look at the shadows of the realm (maths), proving the difficulty of enlightenment.
But if he were to return, others would mock him, and reject this truth. This is an obvious reference to Socrates, who was sentenced to death.
Aristotles objections
- What is the good-good can be defined in many different ways?
- Plato assumes that for something to be perfect it has to be eternal. However its perfect nature does not correlate to its eternal nature, as the thing that makes it perfect is irrelevant to time.
- No doctor studies the forms as it has no practical value. The health of a baby is different to the health of an adult, there is no set ‘health’ here.
- The idea that theoretical knowledge leads to be able to do it is wrong. Practice and observation makes this happen. There is no remembering.
Other objections
He does not justify several claims:
1. What ratio? What counterpart?
Empiricists would disagree with him and say that there is no empirical evidence for his claim.
Karl Popper argues that Plato is trying to find a certainty that cannot be found in this world.
‘Love’ ‘good’ and ‘justice’ are not names, like ‘beauty’. They are shorthand for making sentences about their abstract nature, so Plato can’t use beauty in a naming sense.
