Plato's Theory of Forms

World we live in is a world of 'appearances' but the 'real world' is a world of ideas he calls FORMS.
World of appearances not important or real world
1. World of Forms more important due to them being timeless, eternal and unchanging
2. Only has shadows and images of the Forms
  1. Imitate the Form
3. Forms go beyond human comprehension
In material world things that exist like cats and trees all die - they are contingent
1. What makes a cat a cat or tree a tree is the way which it corresponds to the Form of tree or cat.
FORM - idea of what a thing is.
1. Many types of cat but all conform to some degree the idea of what a cat is
2. Unchanging because concept, not physical object that imitate or copy Form, they die
3. Everlasting
4. Exist in different reality
True Form MUST exist somewhere - THE WORLD OF FORMS
Not concerned with Forms of objects like beds or animals, cat
Concerned with concepts
1. BEAUTY
  1. Applied to different objects
    1. Flower, person
    2. Not whole story or definition of beauty
  2. Led Plato to believe that there was an underlying beauty, the real Form of beauty
    1. To which things correspond to a greater or lesser extent
2. TRUTH
3. JUSTICE
4. THE GOOD
When born - dim recollection of Forms
1. Have immortal soul that observed Forms before incarnated into body
  1. In body - memories of soul, dim
  2. People can have basic understanding of truth, justice or beauty without being taught
    1. Instinct
Philosopher - tries to escape world of appearances and with mind, see the Forms that lie behind appearances
1. Because they have knowledge of Forms, Plato suggests philosophers most suitable to rule society
Education
1. Matter of remembering and recalling Forms
  1. Knowledge in the soul, but hidden by the incarnation of the soul in the body
2. People don't learn new things
  1. Process of understanding the reality of how things are
  2. If learn lying is wrong, not matter of being taught
    1. Acknowledge that lying is wrong, from the Form of truth that your soul knew before incarnation
Most important Form = Form of the Good
1. In world of appearances we can label things as good, but they don't tell us of all that goodness is
2. Analogy of the sun
  1. Form of the good makes things knowable and is source of all other forms
3. Allows us to understand and assess things
4. Analogy of sight
  1. Sight requires light and the eye to see clearly
    1. Light symbolises Form of the Good
    2. Without the knowledge of the Form of the Good, one does not see clearly
      1. Like trying to see in the dark
Forms are:
1. Transcendent
  1. Not located in space and time
    1. No particular place or time at which 'redness' exists
2. Pure
  1. Forms only exemplify one property
  2. Material objects impure, they combine a number of properties in one object.
3. Archetypes
  1. Perfect examples of the property they exemplify
    1. Perfect models on which all things are based
4. Ultimately real
  1. Real entities not material
    1. Materials, imitate the real entities, they reality comes from them
5. Causes
  1. Causes of all things
    1. Provide explanation for the way things are
    2. Source, origin of the being of all things
6. Systematically interconnected
  1. Comprise a system leading down from the Form of the Good

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Plato's Theory of Forms

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