PlatoRevision

Plato’s Forms

Real WorldForm of the cat:

perfect and eternal

Our world of sensesEcho/illusion/ shadow of the perfect cat.

• Everything we experience in this world is a vague shadow of what it really is

• Forms are the perfect expression of something.• Episteme/epistemology - true knowledge. • True knowledge attained via reason NOT sense

experience (sight, smell, touch, sound and taste.)• Sense Experience creates illusions called Eikasia.• The Forms exist in the Noeton.• Our world that is based on senses is the Horaton

(phenomena) • All physical objects seen with senses are dependent on

and simply shadows of the Forms (concepts.)

Qualities of FormsThe Forms are perfect/ Ideal= • Everything we experience is imperfect, such as

beauty. • We never see perfect beauty in this world • The form of beauty – beauty itself- is perfect.• Each form is the one and only original perfect

example.

The Forms are invisible= • The perfect element of the Forms means they are

invisible.

The Forms are more real= • Forms are more real than the illusion we experience. • For the existence of things in our world depends on the existence on the

Forms. • For example beauty that we see is a distorted and imperfect image of

what beauty really is. • All these images rely on the existence of the Form of Beauty being there.• Without the form there would be no existence of beauty.

The Forms are eternal = • They always have been there • They always will be there. • While beautiful things may come and go, beauty itself remains.

The Forms are changeless = • Always stay the same. • Plato’s world of forms contains fixed truths which are absolutely true for

all time, people and places

Hang on PlatoSo, we ask..... Four legs

Two ears Tail

But a has four legs, two ears and a tail?

=

Plato would answer...• Fairly impossible to get a clear definition to cover

the essence of a dog and rule out other animals,• but a three year old has no difficulty

distinguishing a dog from another animal.• This is because a child can still identify the Form

of the perfect Dog or Horse• The Form is not a shape (not ears, legs, colour,

tail) but the essence.

Form of the Good

Ultimate Form

• There are many Forms, and because there are so many forms there must be a Form of the Forms.

• Plato called this supreme Form the ‘Form of the Good.’

• The Form of the Good is the Form of all other forms. This is because everything has good in it.

• Try describing beauty, justice, truth without mentioning ‘goodness.’

• All perfection flows down from the Form of the Good.

Form of Good

Justice

Universal Qualities (essence that makes up forms)

Concepts and Ideals (Forms)

Physical Living Objects (Humans, animals, plants)

Physical inanimate objects (furniture)

BeautyTruth

• According to Plato, knowledge of the Good is the highest knowledge a human is capable of.

• The ordinary person (that’s you and me) struggle to see past the illusion of this world because we are ruled/controlled by our senses.

• Only the philosopher is capable of seeing beyond, because he can make ‘a priori’ judgments.

• This is because he thinks independently of the sense in his search for Truth.

Body and Soul

• Plato says that we all would recognise the Forms if we saw them because we would remember...??

• Plato explains that we have seen all the Forms before and we will see all the forms again because our soul (eternal part of us) sees them before birth and these memories remain with us.

• This is called anamnesis remembering what we have experienced before.

• So why can’t I remember the Forms now?• Plato would answer that as we grow older we forget

the Forms because we start to believe the illusions that our sense tell us.

Charioteer

Black HorseSymbol of the body pulling down to the land of sense – empirical knowledge. The physical world - Horaton

White HorseSymbol of the mind pulling towards the world of Forms -Noeton

CharioteerThe soul is in control of a chariot with two horses, one dark, one light and these horses pull in opposite directions. One horse pulls up one horse pulls down and it is the souls job to keep the horses on track.

When the body dies the soul is released and the white horse can lead it up to the world of Forms.

• This means that Plato is a Dualist believing in both the body and soul.

• People who don't believe in the soul are materialist

Visible world of Real World Illusion True Knowledge- Eikasia - EpistemeHoraton Noeton