plato

Question 1

What is Plato’s Theory of Forms?

Answer 1

Reality consists of two realms: the World of Forms (perfect, eternal, unchanging) and the World of Appearances (physical, imperfect, changing).

Question 2

What is the Form of the Good?

Answer 2

The highest Form; source of all truth and reality, comparable to the sun in the Allegory of the Cave.

Question 3

What is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?

Answer 3

Prisoners mistake shadows for reality; represents human ignorance and enlightenment through philosophical reasoning.

Question 4

Plato’s view of the soul?

Answer 4

Reason (head)

Spirit (chest)

Appetite (stomach)

Question 5

Strength of Plato’s ideas?

Answer 5

Explains objective morality and universal concepts (e.g. justice, goodness)

Question 6

Weakness of Plato’s ideas?

Answer 6

Forms are abstract and unobservable; Aristotle rejects separation of Forms.

Question 7

What is rationalism?

Answer 7

Rationalism is true knowledge Plato caused this priori knowledge as it is based on reason alone and before sense experience

Question 8

What is the world of the forms?

Answer 8

the world of the forms are the physical representations of the perfect and unchanging objects in the world of appearances

Question 9

What is the world of appearances?

Answer 9

The things that we believed to be true however they are changing and decaying

Question 10

What is a priori knowledge?

Answer 10

A prior knowledge is our knowledge that we have collected ourselves from the forms or recognise on something is not perfect for example her eyebrows are too Close together because we understand the perfect ideal or form of beauty such as mathematical equations justice beauty inequality do not change, however the physical representation of their may change in the appearance world

Question 11

What is the analogy of the cave?

Answer 11

The analogy of the cave is Plato‘s belief that people are changed to a wall and they are sat watching shadows of different objects such as a horse a hand a beautiful face or a rabbit and they are made to believe that the shadows were were appearances, however one day a man escapes and discovers that these are just shadows of the real objects and the physical thing he goes back to the cave to explain what he so to everyone and no one believes him

Question 12

Who does Plato believe that the people are who escaped from the cave?

Answer 12

Philosophers

Question 13

What did Plato use to illustrate the shadows on the wall and why is the significant?

Answer 13

Plato I used Fire to illustrate the trailers on the Wall he used fire as it begins to understand that the world depends on the Sun to exist. The source of all light reflects the shadows. This is the form of the good as the Sun represents true knowledge and the fire/sun is the highlight of all forms the form of the good also lights all of the philosopher’s. The light is the source to be revealed to the truth and as part of all the forms.

Question 14

What is the form of the good?

Answer 14

The Sun

Question 15

What is the hierarchy of forms?

Answer 15

The hierarchy forms is divided into the world of forms at the top progressing down the world of appearances. The form of the good is at the top of the hierarchy forms followed by forms. It is just and then there are forms of abstract ideas (bed) followed by maths  these are considered to be true knowledge gained by using knowledge and understanding

Question 16

What is at the bottom of the hierarchy forms?

Answer 16

 Further down the hierarchy is the world of appearances there are material objects plus opinions gain to be belief at the sense

Question 17

What is the form represented as in the analogy of the cave?

Answer 17

 The Sun the Sun gives lights the world and enables us to see objects the form of good illuminate the mind and enables us to know the forms. The sun enables light the good enables knowledge.

Question 18

What does Plato do in the dividing line?

Answer 18

In a dividing line of pay to use another analogy to depict the hierarchy forms and the two worlds based on ratios this shows that the world of the forms is proportionately more true perfect and good than things in the world of appearances

Question 19

What is the reason to perform being good?

Answer 19

 All the forms participate in the form of good and also shared goodness this is the reason why the forms are good

Question 20

What is a good action in the material or the world appearance is a reflection of

Answer 20

 The goodness in the world of the forms

Question 21

What is Heraclitus’ analogy and how did it help plato?

Answer 21

Do we stand in the same river twice? Plato believed that because the river always flows and is constantly changing this means nothing is ever at its perfect state

Question 22

What is Episteme and how does it link to the analogy of the cave?

Answer 22

It is knowledge mainly based off of reason and it is knowledge only philosophers have discovered

Question 23

What is the main evaluation you can use when it comes to rational knowledge?

Answer 23

How does someone gain reason alone? Plato believes that we are all born with rational knowledge which is gained through when our souls go to the world of the forms when we die? However when we are reincarnated as babies we only have rational knowledge however when we start to interact and learn things through life, we start to gain our sense experience. Our souls goes to the forms before reincarnation. This is known as metempsychosis however he believes that part of the soul remembers the form this is known as anamniemisis

Question 24

What is metempsychosis

Answer 24

When our souls go to the World of the Forms before being reincarnated

Question 25

What is anaminemisis?

Answer 25

The souls remember part of the forms

Question 26

What is a good paragraph to show your introduction about criticisms to Plato?

Answer 26

Plato argues that true reality exists in the World of Forms and that the physical world is unreliable. However, Aristotle rejects this, claiming that form exists within objects themselves rather than in a separate realm. Furthermore, empiricists such as Locke and Hume argue that knowledge comes from sensory experience, not reason. Finally, Ayer dismisses Plato’s theory entirely as meaningless since it cannot be verified.

Question 27

WHO are critics to Plato?

Answer 27

Aristotle – Forms are in things Locke – Mind is blank slate Hume – No experience = no knowledge Ayer – Unverifiable = meaningless Nietzsche – Plato escapes real life

Question 28

Where do Kant and Plato agree and disagree?

Answer 28

Kant agrees with Plato that the physical world is not ultimate reality, but disagrees that humans can know perfect Forms; noumena are beyond direct knowledge.