plato’s theory of forms, and the sun, line and cave a falasafaz! presentation 1
TRANSCRIPT
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Plato’s Theory of Forms, and the Sun, Line and
Cave
A falasafaz! presentation
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Plato
What is justice?What is the ideal state?What is the human soul?What is knowledge?What is reality?
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Understanding Plato
• How does Plato understand the nature of reality?
• What is the relationship between existence, knowledge, and virtue?
• How successful are Plato’s Sun, Line & Cave similes?
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Plato’s overall position
• Metaphysics (Reality)
• Epistemology (Knowledge)
• Ethics (Good)
THE THEORY OF
FORMS
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What is real?
RealityAppearance
• Sensations• Empirically
observable data
• Particular examples of ‘X’
• Beyond senses
• Mind/reason• ‘The Forms’• ‘The X-in-
itself’
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The Forms
Particular beautiful things
BEAUTY-ITSELF
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The Similes/Allegories
The SunRepublic Bk VI 507a
The Divided Line
Republic Bk VI 509d
The CaveRepublic Bk VII 514a
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The Sun
Source The Sun The (Form of the) Good
Provides what? Light, growth Reality, truth – ‘light of
reason’
Where? Sensible world Intelligible World
In order to… See Know
With what? Objects i.e. ‘particulars’ FORMS
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The Divided Line
Objects Epistemic States
Forms
Physical Objects
Shadows / Images
Dialectic
Belief
A
B
C
D
Mathematical Reasoning
Illusion
Inte
lligib
le R
ealm
Vis
ible
Realm
KN
OW
LED
GE
OPIN
ION
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Evaluating Plato
• What are the similes meant to achieve? How successful are they?
• What are Plato’s arguments? How persuasive are they?
• What objections can we identify and develop?
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