Assignment 1 Explain Plato's Concept Of Forms
a) Explain Plato's concept of "Forms" [33]
Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher living around 400 BCE, came to an belief that as well as the visible world, there was in fact another, separate 'world' which contained the 'Forms'. Forms are what Plato understood to be the reality that lies behind each concept and object in the visible world. Plato was exploring how the human senses know how to categorise objects, animals and concepts, however warped they may be from their mundane Form. He believed there to be a difference between that which we recognise with our senses and that which we understand with our minds, if able to access this 'world of Forms'. Plato thought that what we as humans see in the physical world is flawed, whereas the world …show more content…
These concepts and discoveries are constantly changing and being altered - how do we know what to take as true and what to take as false? Having belief in the world of the Forms dismisses all these scientific concepts - the Forms are almost an easy way out, they explain everything that 'exists' in the physical world, resulting in no need for science, or perhaps religion.
However, Plato's theory has many weaknesses, resulting in little understanding of the physical world through his concepts. If there is a Form of everything in the world this must include unpleasant things and as these are 'mere shadows' of their Forms, the Forms have to be much worse and more unpleasant than that which exists in the physical world. On the other hand it could be argued that these imperfections of the world do not have Forms - they are merely human adaptations of original Forms.
Plato said that the Forms were more real than the visible world, yet this is a completely illogical idea; either things are real or they are not. Since we can experience the visible world through our senses, it must be real in some way. Most would say that things that exist physically, to a point where we can sense them, are more 'real' than things that are beyond the reach of human senses, therefore creating a imperfection in Plato's
Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher living around 400 BCE, came to an belief that as well as the visible world, there was in fact another, separate 'world' which contained the 'Forms'. Forms are what Plato understood to be the reality that lies behind each concept and object in the visible world. Plato was exploring how the human senses know how to categorise objects, animals and concepts, however warped they may be from their mundane Form. He believed there to be a difference between that which we recognise with our senses and that which we understand with our minds, if able to access this 'world of Forms'. Plato thought that what we as humans see in the physical world is flawed, whereas the world …show more content…
These concepts and discoveries are constantly changing and being altered - how do we know what to take as true and what to take as false? Having belief in the world of the Forms dismisses all these scientific concepts - the Forms are almost an easy way out, they explain everything that 'exists' in the physical world, resulting in no need for science, or perhaps religion.
However, Plato's theory has many weaknesses, resulting in little understanding of the physical world through his concepts. If there is a Form of everything in the world this must include unpleasant things and as these are 'mere shadows' of their Forms, the Forms have to be much worse and more unpleasant than that which exists in the physical world. On the other hand it could be argued that these imperfections of the world do not have Forms - they are merely human adaptations of original Forms.
Plato said that the Forms were more real than the visible world, yet this is a completely illogical idea; either things are real or they are not. Since we can experience the visible world through our senses, it must be real in some way. Most would say that things that exist physically, to a point where we can sense them, are more 'real' than things that are beyond the reach of human senses, therefore creating a imperfection in Plato's