What Plato Meant by the Form of the Good Essay - 1456 Words

What Plato Meant by the Form of the Good The basis of Platos philosophy is his theory of Ideas, or doctrine of Forms while the notion of Forms is essential to Platos philosophy, over years of philosophical study, it has been difficult to understand what these Forms are supposed to be, and the purpose of their existence. When examining Platos forms and evaluating the theory, some conclusions have proved to be unclear and unanswered. However, the doctrine of Forms is essential to Platos philosophy. Plato came to his view of the Forms based on two premises: first that knowledge cannot come through the senses; and second, we do nevertheless manage to know things - in mathematics, for instance.†¦show more content†¦The slaves know nothing of reality except the one of which they are presented as the Sun, which represents the Form of the Good is outside the cave but the slaves have no idea of its existence. One day a prisoner is released from his shackles and goes up to the upper part of the cave and sees the fire and the objects, which are casting the shadows, and he also sees the sun and is blinded by this higher form of reality. Plato believed that the way to find or realise true reality is not through gathering empirical evidence or through deep scientific tests such as studying the shadows to determine what they are. But rather that in order to break the chains we can only do so through inner contemplation or philosophical investigation in order to ascend out of the cave and see the sun which gives light to all the forms. For every sense object in the empirical world, there is a corresponding perfect Form. These Forms are non-physical, permanent, eternal, and invisible. How then, you may ask, can one ever know of the Forms if they cannot be known by sense perception? Plato answers this question by stating that the Forms are known in thought. They are the objects of thought, therefore, whenever you are thinking, you are thinking of Forms. An important point to note about the Forms is the idea of permanence as the Forms are forever unchanging. AnShow MoreRelatedThe Myth Of The Cave1391 Words   |  6 PagesDecember 14, 2015 The Myth of the Cave What is real, what is not, how can I really know the world around me? These are simple questions that philosophers have pondered on for hundreds of years. This type of questioning falls under the topic of metaphysics which deals with two broad questions of what is there and what is it like? Philosophers that discuss metaphysics question what we perceive in this world and attempt to clarify the sensations that we feel. Plato a renowned philosopher and student toRead MoreWhat Good Is Good?1716 Words   |  7 PagesConcept of Good What really is the meaning of good? Good can have many meanings and can be used in many ways. 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EJERE DEPT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF UYO, UYO AKWA IBOM STATE MAY, 2012 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PLATO AND ARISTOTLES POLITICAL THOUGHT In order to compare these great philosophersRead MoreThe Allegory Of The Cave872 Words   |  4 Pagesnow used to describe what something is. â€Å"The Republic stresses that true dialectic is performed by thinking solely of the abstract and nonsensible realm of forms; it requires that reason secure an unhypothetical first principle (the Good) and then derive other results in light of it† (Meinwald). In later dialogues like Parmenides, dialectic is used to understand forms in the proper manner. Although The Allegory of the Cave was mentioned in relation to the Republic, Plato also used it to describeRead MoreEssay on Comparing and Contrasting Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle708 Words   |  3 Pagesis basically what a philosopher is. 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