Theory of Forms
DO NOT tell anyone what you are making!
You have 1 minute to create
your assigned animal…
The Idea of Cat
Plato calls this ‘idea’ a Form.
Even though each of your creations were slightly different, you were able to identify them as CATS because you have an idea of what a cat is.
What makes a CAT a CAT, is the way in which it corresponds to the eternal, immutable idea
(or Form) of CAT.
Forms (ideas)Plato believed that these ideas or Forms have an actual existence in the Realm of the Forms.
REALMof the
FORMS
What then must Forms be like?
absolute
temporalfinite
eternal
immutable
impermanentpermanent
experienced by the senses
changeable
TEST YOURSELF
non-extended
perfect
imperfect
physical
non-physical
accessed using our reason
only one of each kind
illusions
real
known a priori
known a posteriori
objects of opinion/belief
objects of knowledge
The things we experience in the empirical world are merely imperfect copies, reflections or shadows of Forms.
Plato called these particulars.
Particulars
Create a list of descriptors for the nature of particulars in the empirical world.
Hint: think about the nature of the empirical world
and what it is like.Hint: use antonyms of words describing the Forms.
TEST YOURSELF What then are Particulars like?
REALMof the
FORMS
TheEMPIRICAL
WORLD
Include pictures and key terms
Create a PosterHOMELEARNING
What are the particulars? What are the Forms?
WeaknessesThe 3rd Man Argument(Infinite regression of Forms):
Does Plato need a Form of the Forms to explain what the Forms have in common and then a Form of the Form of the Forms and so on?
In a way Plato does have a Form of the Forms but he has good reasons for thinking that the chain stops there. Keep an eye out for this in our next couple of lessons…
EXTEND
Number of forms unspecified:
Broadly speaking everything has a Form. There are Forms for values like Beauty, Justice and Wisdom. There are Forms for living things like dogs and frogs, and Forms for objects like tables and chairs. There are also Forms for mathematical concepts like circles and triangles.
But how far do these divide up – is there a Form of dogs, or of Corgis?
What about forms for new inventions? How would this work if they are supposed to be eternal?
New Inventions: