(英文)柏拉图的形式论范文

Plato's Theory of Forms

Explain and define Plato’s theory of Forms with your personal Criticism. Plato was born in

Athens on428 BC. He was a Greek philosopher who laid foundations of western

philosophy. He raised basicquestions and problems of western thought, goodness and

virtue, truth and knowledge, body andsoul, ideal political state, and use of Literature and

Arts were some of the pre dominant topics ofinterest to Plato. Plato devoted himself

completely to philosophy. He was a student of Socrates. Hewas a great admirer of

Socrates and he initially joined Socrates school of thought to learn philosophy.

Later after the death of Socrates, he found an academy where geometry was most

prominent in thecurriculum along with mathematics and philosophy. He was also

influenced from pre-Socratic thinkerslike Heraclitus and Parmenides; who rejected

physical world and said that inner is more importantthan believed apparent world. He

was also influenced by mathematical concepts derived fromPythagoras. He learned

dialectical method of following truth in order to derive a philosophy, ideas andopinions.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica literally word Form means, “The external shape,

appearance orconfiguration of an object in contradistinction to the matter of which it is

composed. In AristotelianMetaphysics, the active, determining principle of a thing as

distinguished from matter, the potentialprinciple. ” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012) In

Stanford Encyclopedia it is stated that, Plato’s term‘eidos’ by which he identified the

permanent reality that makes a thing what it is in contrast to theparticulars that are finite

and subject to change.

The Platonic concept of form was itself derived from the Pythagorean theory that

intelligible structuresand not material elements, gave objects their distinctive characters.

Theory of Forms states aboutwhat is real and what is not. The real is thought to be perfect

whereas things which are not real arechanging. Plato advocates that the world of forms

is different from world of appearances. World ofForms can only be understood by

philosophers and those who seek the truth. The dialogues in thistheory portray

knowledge as the process of leaving dark caves for going into sunlight.

People who live in dark caves find their reality in shadows. These shadows are actually

the symbol ofthe apparent world and it is just a shadow of what is real. Plato says that

this world is not real; it isonly the ‘world of forms’ which is real and never changes. It can

be explained by many examples; forexample we all try to seek knowledge but in reality

what we learn is an opinion only. Likewise onething is beautiful for someone but it can

be ugly for someone else. People who have an urge to knowand understand the true

knowledge in the world can only touch the ‘intelligible world’.

This world of objects is not independent because it depends on another real world of

‘pure forms orideas’. Objects in this world have got their qualities from the ideal world.

An object is beautifulbecause it takes that beauty from the ‘higher realm’. This concept

of ideal Forms and forms of theworld can be explained by geometry. Any square or

triangle that we draw or construct is imperfectbecause it is ‘merely approximate the ideal

triangle’. This ideal triangle has no connection with sensesor reason because it is not

concrete but a concept or an idea in the real world.

Plato says that, the world of forms can be characterized as ‘changeless’ , ‘eternal’ and

‘real’ whereasphysical world undergoes many changes and decay. The criticism on Plato’s

theory of forms is that,he could not be able to draw a logical connection between ‘the

realm of forms’ and ‘physical world’.According to Aristotle, this theory does not explain

that how permanence and order can be attained inthis world and how we can have

objective knowledge of this physical world.

Plato separated two worlds so distinctly that it failed to explain a former two points. The

objectivityand permanence of real world does not explain this physical world hence

establishes no strongconnection between the two worlds. In my opinion Plato puts an

argument that intellectual truth istruer than physical truth. This universe is created by God

who is pure and the ultimate reality. He hasno physical being but he has created a physical

universe. This physical world is a copy of the realuniverse which only exists in the mind of

creator.

Similarly all horses are copies of one horse which exists at some higher land of truth.

Likewise allbeds are only copies of an ideal bed which lies in heaven probably. These

examples are given byPlato to prove that world of forms is different from world of reality.

It concludes that forms are relativeand they are mere imitation of the real. The basic

function of theory of forms is unification. It serves tounify ‘groups of objects or concepts’

by connecting them to a pure essence of the real world.