Empirical knowledge not valuable
because our senses can't be trusted
as the world is constantly changing.
as everything's in a state of flux, EK
is subjective opinions.
Innate knowledge - gained through
the mind, have it from birth
Dualistic view - body and
soul exist separately from
each other but are linked
Spiritual beings = souls Material
beings = chairs, dogs etc. Each
has its own realm.
Realm of reality = world of the souls and
perfect concepts. Intelligible world. world
beyond the senses. True knowledge. Eternal
and unchanging.
Realm of appearances = our world of imperfect
phenomena, the visible world of the senses and
opinions, decaying and changing constantly.
We have an idea of what beauty is because we
have IK of true beauty/the Form of beauty. We
have examples of imperfect and reflected beauty
e.g flowes
Due to our souls which
knew the Forms before
we were born as they're
immortal and eternal
Forms are interconnected and arranged
in a hierarchy. The Form of the Good is
the highest and most important.
Like the sun in the
Analogy of the Cave, it
illuminates and is the
source of all other
forms.
It's the greatest thing
we have to learn.
Knowledge of it is an
end in itself. Gives
meaning and purpose to
life.
Evaluation
Dawkins: 'memes' passed
through generations. Why
we know things without
being taught.
Aristotle: The 3rd Man Argument. What's the
origin of the Form of a man?
Realm of reality can't
be proved.
If there are forms of everything, there are forms of disease and suffering!
If 2 people can
come to different
conclusions about
goodness, it's
subjective and
relative, so what is
true goodness?
He says the world of appearances isn't
valuable, but without it we couldn't survive.