Slide 1:Friday 18th September Plato’s Theory of the Forms & the analogy of The Cave KQ: What is the theory of forms, and how is this shown in the analogy of The Cave?


Slide 2:“You cannot step in the same river twice” -Heraclitus Plato = Knowledge is innate, eternal, permanent, universal, recognisable, objective. Things that change cannot be knowledge, they are mere opinion, perceptual information, subjective emotional responses.


Slide 3:Is beauty an objective quality? Plato argues that beauty is an objective quality, not a matter of opinion.


Slide 4:The form of the Good Beauty Justice Shape Time IdealCat Ideal Flower Ideal Girl Ideal House Quantity Truth Particulars – each particular has the “essence” of it’s form. Theory of the Forms


Slide 5:Cat Object A Object B Ideal or Form of ‘Cat’ What is this creature? Particular of Cat A Particular of Cat B Plato suggests that when we recognise a particular as a category of thing, we are remembering its ideal form and seeing the essence of the form in the particular.


Slide 6:Plato’s assumptions: The body and the soul are different substances The body dies (the body changes and perishes) but the soul is eternal (unchanging and imperishable) There is a ‘life’ after death – the soul comes from and returns to the realm of the forms The purpose of life is to prepare for death


Slide 7:Theory of Forms in ‘the Cave’ Only through philosophy can the sun (the Good) and the outside world (the realm of knowledge) be ‘glimpsed’ by humans. The sun represents the form of the Good. The philosophical life is a life spent trying to elevate the intellect/soul over the constraints of the body, which limits and constrains the soul. This is difficult, like the journey out of the cave. We cannot know what the Form of the Good is (it is hard to see like the sun), but it is essential and permeates everything. Humans have the mental capacity to escape the empirical world, but often choose not to (like the prisoners). We prefer the comfort of what we think we know, rather than the challenge of true knowledge. The objects in realm of particulars (the shadows in the cave) either imitate or they participate in ideal forms of the realm of the forms(outside the cave) . The shadows are poor reflections of the real objects (the forms)


Slide 8:Can we accept the Theory of the Forms? Evidence of the forms? The relationship between the particulars and forms is unclear Problem of infinite regress – where do the forms stop? Are there forms for unpleasant things? The claim that the realm of the forms is ‘more real’ seems logically contradictory. Seems to place undue confidence in human mental capacity. Seems problematic to suggest that the ideals can be meaningfully known distinct from their context in the empirical world. Relies on mind/body dualism & the concept of the immortal soul, which is problematic.