Theory of Forms形式柏拉图的理论（PPT58）课件.pptVIP

Plato’s Theory of Forms “Whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not, we are all more or less Platonists. Even if we reject Plato’s conclusions, our views are shaped by the way in which he stated his problems.” ~ W. T. Jones, History of Philosophy: The Classical Mind, 108. “…the copies of the eternal things [are] impressions taken from them in a … manner that is hard to express ….” II. Definitions: Forms are called “Ideas” (eidos). They are not mental but extramental entities, that is, they are not mind-dependent. Rather, they are independently existing entities whose existence and nature are graspable only by the mind, even though they do not depend on being so grasped in order to exist. B. They are eternal and unchanging entities, which are encountered not in perception but in thought. II. Definitions: C. Forms are eternal patterns of which the objects that we see are only copies (e.g., a beautiful person is a copy of Beauty). We can say about a person that she is beautiful because we know the Idea of Beauty and recognize that a person shares more or less in this Idea. D. Knowledge seeks what truly is: its concern is with Being. What really is, what has Being, is the essential nature of things: these essences, such as Beauty and Goodness, which make it possible for us to judge things as good or beautiful, these are eternal Forms or ideas. F. Science: is a body of universal and necessary truths. Every science has its objects, and must have for its objects, forms: nothing other than eternal, unchanging forms can qualify to be the objects of scientific knowledge. II. Definitions: What Plato means by the Forms is that they are the essential archetypes of things, having an eternal existence, apprehended by the mind, not the senses, for it is the mind that beholds “real existence, colorless, formless, and intangible, visible only to the intelligence. III. Two Different Worlds: A. Though the Forms are never systematically argued for, we