Plato Flashcards
What did he think about a posteriori knowledge?
It is unreliable and can be easily manipulated, like an oar appearing to bend under the water. Logic and a priori knowledge is the only true way to verify something, as it can not be manipulated. Oar in the water example: appears to bend, but it does not.
Define dualism.
There are 2 worlds: the world of appearances and forms. The earth is in a constant state of flux and change. The earth is of the appearances. This is why a posteriori is unreliable: it is limited by touch, taste.
Example of dogs to illustrate the forms.
All dogs can be recognised as such despite all being different. In the world of the forms, there is the perfect form of a dog. Humans’ immortal souls remember this form before entering bodies in the world of appearances. All dogs are just imperfect copies of a form.
Summarise the world of forms.
Everything in the world of appearances exits there in its most objective form. There is a form of everything (beauty, dogs, trees) that humans saw before being sent to the world of appearances. Everyone has the same idea of what things are because of this, but there are slight disagreements due to culture.
Hierarchy of forms.
The good: How the forms can be comprehend. Perfect and unchangeable.
Dialectical reason: investigating and discussing. Ideas that are reflective of the good eg beauty, justice.
Understanding: The form of each object eg maths.
The senses (unreliable): objects like plants, animals, objects.
Images and imagination: shadows (cave) and reflections (oar.)
Summarise the form of the good.
It doesn’t change due to its perfection- it is the highest form.
(Analogy of the sun.)
Sun(form of the good)-> reflects light (truth)-> onto a tree (forms)-> which can be seen (gaining understanding)-> which is received by an eye (gaining knowledge and reason.)
How is knowledge gained innately?
All humans are born with all the knowledge of the forms, as the souls saw them in the world of forms- recollections of a past life. There must be a perfect world Knowledge is drawn out of people through education and questioning, which can only use reason and a priori knowledge due to the unreliability of the senses.
An example to show the innateness of knowledge.
Plato questioning an enslaved boy on maths. He had no knowledge but came to the correct answer with careful questioning, proving that knowledge is within people from birth.
The cycle of opposites.
Every quality comes from its opposite eg awake and asleep, alive and dead. This supports the world of forms. Life must have come from somewhere.
Plato’s elitism :(
-Enslaved or poor people may not be able to access education.
-People with certain disabilities may not be able to reason to that extent.
-Women had less education.
-Philosopher kings> everyone else.
The third man argument.
If the perfect forms of everything existed, then there has to be many sub-sections of a form, like with the example of dog breeds.
Person-> gender-> ethnicity.
Socialisation criticism.
People know the names of things from being taught them from a young age, not because of innate knowledge.
