Plato's Theories Analysis
Stramel
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Response to Questions; Philosophy
Plato very much wanted to answer the sophists’ skepticism about morality and reason. To do so, he spent much time studying epistemology (knowledge). He realized that to answer sophists’ doubts, he had to first solve three problem that the earlier philosophers had failed to answer. The problem of the “one, and the many,” of change, and the problem between reality and appearance. Heraclitus had said that everything is constantly changing, and Parmenides, basically thought of the universe as a brick, and that nothing ever changes. (Jones 121) Plato started where those two had left off, saying that Heraclitus is correct in the sensible real; it exists, and is a flux conforming to the ‘measures,’ as he suggested. Parmenides was correct in the intelligible realm. Plato said that beyond the world that physical objects exist in, there is another world that is non-spatial, nonphysical, and non-temporal. He called this the world of ideai (forms.) (Jones 123)
The forms were objects of thought that are more real than anything else. When we are thinking, we are thinking of a form. For example, any triangle in a physical form, no matter how perfect and real it may seem, would be but a copy of the form of a “triangle;” a plane figure enclosed by 3 straight lines. It only looks like a triangle, and looking at this copy of the form helps us think of the ‘real’ triangle, but it can only to relate, or “participate” to its real, true form. This applies to the entire sensible realm, since nothing stays exactly as it is, and everything changes. However, in the world of forms, everything is always what it is and never another thing. Since the world of forms is Parmenidean (eternal and unchanging,) it is possible for us to know it. (Jones 124)
Plato used the image of the “divided line” to explain forms. Take a line, divide it into two unequal parts. One part represents the physical world, and the other represents the world of forms. Then,
2942
Response to Questions; Philosophy
Plato very much wanted to answer the sophists’ skepticism about morality and reason. To do so, he spent much time studying epistemology (knowledge). He realized that to answer sophists’ doubts, he had to first solve three problem that the earlier philosophers had failed to answer. The problem of the “one, and the many,” of change, and the problem between reality and appearance. Heraclitus had said that everything is constantly changing, and Parmenides, basically thought of the universe as a brick, and that nothing ever changes. (Jones 121) Plato started where those two had left off, saying that Heraclitus is correct in the sensible real; it exists, and is a flux conforming to the ‘measures,’ as he suggested. Parmenides was correct in the intelligible realm. Plato said that beyond the world that physical objects exist in, there is another world that is non-spatial, nonphysical, and non-temporal. He called this the world of ideai (forms.) (Jones 123)
The forms were objects of thought that are more real than anything else. When we are thinking, we are thinking of a form. For example, any triangle in a physical form, no matter how perfect and real it may seem, would be but a copy of the form of a “triangle;” a plane figure enclosed by 3 straight lines. It only looks like a triangle, and looking at this copy of the form helps us think of the ‘real’ triangle, but it can only to relate, or “participate” to its real, true form. This applies to the entire sensible realm, since nothing stays exactly as it is, and everything changes. However, in the world of forms, everything is always what it is and never another thing. Since the world of forms is Parmenidean (eternal and unchanging,) it is possible for us to know it. (Jones 124)
Plato used the image of the “divided line” to explain forms. Take a line, divide it into two unequal parts. One part represents the physical world, and the other represents the world of forms. Then,