"Plato's forms are no more than an invention". Discuss

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Robdeep Sangha L6SB

“Plato’s forms are no more than an invention”. Discuss (17)

It is necessary to analyse Plato’s theory of forms before one can make a valid assessment. After my own analysis, I have formed the judgement that the forms are no more than an invention. This is mainly because of the overwhelming lack of evidence for his ideas which therefore means that there is no empirical evidence for the basis of his theory. I will explain in this essay why Plato’s theory is not feasible. But first we must see where Plato got his theory from and how he came to his conclusion about the world.

Plato believed that the world comprised of reality and appearances. Within reality there is an intelligible world, a world beyond senses and a world of true knowledge. On the opposing side is the visible world; the world of senses and the world of opinions. These make up the appearances side of the world.

His theory was that all objects and concepts in the visible world have reality behind them. Plato called this reality its Form. For example the concept of beauty is in fact the Form of beauty. This applies for every other concept as well. However Plato stipulated that the Forms stand alone in the World of Forms rather than being attached to concepts and objects.

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His analogy of the cave is the premise in which he chooses to emphasise this difference between the appearance of the world and the reality behind this appearance. Different characters and objects represent different things. The prisoners represent the ordinary people who have not yet discovered true knowledge. Their idea of reality does not go past what they see (appearances). The cave that they had been chained up in for all their lives represents the visible world. During the analogy the prisoners see shadows on the walls of the cave that represent the illusion created by our senses. The ...

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