Plato's Theory of Forms

Plato's Theory of Forms

1. World we live in is a world of 'appearances' but the 'real world' is a world of ideas he calls FORMS.

2. World of appearances not important or real world

   • World of Forms more important due to them being timeless, eternal and unchanging
   • Only has shadows and images of the Forms
     • Imitate the Form
   • Forms go beyond human comprehension

3. In material world things that exist like cats and trees all die - they are contingent

   • What makes a cat a cat or tree a tree is the way which it corresponds to the Form of tree or cat.

4. FORM - idea of what a thing is.

   • Many types of cat but all conform to some degree the idea of what a cat is
   • Unchanging because concept, not physical object that imitate or copy Form, they die
   • Everlasting
   • Exist in different reality

5. True Form MUST exist somewhere - THE WORLD OF FORMS

6. Not concerned with Forms of objects like beds or animals, cat

7. Concerned with concepts

   • BEAUTY
     • Applied to different objects
       • Flower, person
       • Not whole story or definition of beauty
     • Led Plato to believe that there was an underlying beauty, the real Form of beauty
       • To which things correspond to a greater or lesser extent
   • TRUTH
   • JUSTICE
   • THE GOOD

8. When born - dim recollection of Forms

   • Have immortal soul that observed Forms before incarnated into body
     • In body - memories of soul, dim
     • People can have basic understanding of truth, justice or beauty without being taught
       • Instinct

9. Philosopher - tries to escape world of appearances and with mind, see the Forms that lie behind appearances

   • Because they have knowledge of Forms, Plato suggests philosophers most suitable to rule society

10. Education

    • Matter of remembering and recalling Forms
      • Knowledge in the soul, but hidden by the incarnation of the soul in the body
    • People don't learn new things
      • Process of understanding the reality of how things are
      • If learn lying is wrong, not matter of being taught
        • Acknowledge that lying is wrong, from the Form of truth that your soul knew before incarnation

11. Most important Form = Form of the Good

    • In world of appearances we can label things as good, but they don't tell us of all that goodness is
    • Analogy of the sun
      • Form of the good makes things knowable and is source of all other forms
    • Allows us to understand and assess things
    • Analogy of sight
      • Sight requires light and the eye to see clearly
        • Light symbolises Form of the Good
        • Without the knowledge of the Form of the Good, one does not see clearly
          • Like trying to see in the dark

12. Forms are:

    • Transcendent
      • Not located in space and time
        • No particular place or time at which 'redness' exists
    • Pure
      • Forms only exemplify one property
      • Material objects impure, they combine a number of properties in one object.
    • Archetypes
      • Perfect examples of the property they exemplify
        • Perfect models on which all things are based
    • Ultimately real
      • Real entities not material
        • Materials, imitate the real entities, they reality comes from them
    • Causes
      • Causes of all things
        • Provide explanation for the way things are
        • Source, origin of the being of all things
    • Systematically interconnected
      • Comprise a system leading down from the Form of the Good