Philosophy 1 Plato and Aristotle

Question 1

What is Plato’s teaching of the world of the Forms in basic terms?

Answer 1

• a non-physical reality
• a world of truth
• non-changing ideals

Question 2

What is Plato’s teaching of the Form of the Good in basic terms?

Answer 2

• the most important Form
• the source of all other Forms
• likened to the sun
• enables us to understand and assess things
• without it one does not see clearly, like trying to see in the dark

Question 3

What is Plato’s idea of the state of belief in basic terms?

Answer 3

• a state of belief where people think the physical world is reality and there is nothing more

Question 4

What is Plato’s idea of the state of knowledge in basic terms?

Answer 4

• people in a state of mind where they see past the everyday things and understand the physical world is not the reality
• for example: people in a state of knowledge see past the basic colors and objects in a painting and understand how the painting is symbolic of a meaning or story

Question 5

What is Plato’s analogy of the cave in basic terms?

Answer 5

• used to help explain the theory of the forms
• allegorical
• symbolic of the difference between the world of the Forms and the physical world we live in
• symbolizes the difference between appearances and reality and the state of belief and the state of knowledge