Plato, Allegory of the Cave and Plato’s Theory of Forms

Plato was Socrates' most prominent philosophical student. Plato could produce dialogues that not only inspired admiration for his teaching but also gave him the opportunity to grow into an astute philosopher. Plato was distinct from Socrates in that he used the conversional structure to present philosophical dialectics (Welton). Plato, in example, developed a method of reasoning that included studying each subject from numerous perspectives as well as scrutinizing the interplay of opposing ideas. In simple words, Plato is regarded as a more systematic thinker than Socrates. Plato was able to come up with a theory of forms. Forms in philosophy entail appearance of an object which contradicts the matter in which it is formed.

What is Plato’s Form?

Theory of form is one of the renowned and influential contributions to philosophy. Plato’s forms proclaims that the physical world individual see is not the real world, as a substitute, the ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world we live in. In the theory of forms, Plato refers a form to be nonfigurative property. In the discussion, Plato used different dialogues including the republic. The Plato’s Form asserts that there are two realms which are existence and they are spiritual/transcendent and physical/material realm. Plato explains the physical realm to be all objects individuals see and interact with on their daily living. As we all know, the material realm is changing and imperfect. On the other, the physical realm exists far beyond the material realm. Plato refers transcendent realm to be the realm of forms or realm of ideals. Plato sees transcendent realm to be inexistence in time. The form can be understood by looking at the characteristics of forms. The form can either be pure or transcendent.

If a form is transcendent, this entails that it does not exist in time and space. For instance, Plato argues that an objects that are seen as material such as a basketball can exist at a specific place at certain time. Plato also argues that roundness which is a form is inexistence at any place or time. Roundness does not change and does not exist over time. Saying that a form is inexistence in space means it cannot be instantiated in several places at an instance. Moreover, a form needs to be instantiated anywhere to remain in existence. The form can also be pure which means that the pure properties of a form can be eliminated from other properties. Plato argues that when a form is pure, it exists by itself other than space and time. Plato’s form can also be interconnected systematically, archetypes as well as ultimately real.

What can you learn about the world you live in based on Plato’s Forms?

The world we live in relates to Plato’s theory of forms in some ways. In the world, sensible objects are said to acquire their properties by their participation in a form coinciding to those properties. This can be described using real life examples. A carpenter building a roof can join a collection wooden beams to form a triangle. Then the carpenter may decide to come up with other triangles and fix them along the length of the roof. From this, wooden triangles are objects of the sensible world but not a mathematical triangle. From, one simply cannot separate the form from their instantiations. Ideally, sensible objects are not substantial objects in material reality as most people would say, but are in the expression of intelligible form.

Problem with Plato’s Forms

Plato’s form comes about with various problems. The first one is the third man argument in which several people are men, and thus there is a form of Man in which all are participants. In particular, a form of a Man is a man, and therefore every individual is men. In fact, we cannot keep on repeating the same reasoning for the Third Man (Banach). The problem here is that there should be the Fourth, the Fifth and so forth. The other problem is inconsistence of characteristics in that all perfect form of F-ness must contain every characteristic shared by everything of its particulars.

How can you use the Allegory of the Cave to understand Plato's Forms?

Plato makes use of Allegory of the Cave to give an explanation Plato’s Forms. Plato uses Allegory of Cave to express indulgence of the progress of mind starting from lowest stage to enlightenment of knowledge. In the Allegory, Plato associates people unexperienced in the Plato’s Form to prisoners chained inside the cave with no ability to turn their heads. The Allegory of the Cave is simply a metaphor of theory of Forms as described by Plato.

Other things that Plato is trying to 'teach' in the Allegory of the Cave?

Plato put forward the Allegory of the Cave with a concern with human perception. In his theory, various symbols have several meaning. Plato uses a Cave to represent individuals believing that knowledge comes from what empirical evidence. On the other hand, the shadows represent the perceptions of that empirical evidence ensures knowledge. On the other hand, a game acts as a representation of how individuals can become knowledgeable when they have empirical evidence.

Works Cited

Banach, David. Plato's Theory of Forms. 2006. http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/platform.htm. 7 Septemmber 2017.

Welton, William A. Plato's Forms: Varieties of Interpretation. Lanham, Md. [u.a.: Lexington, 2002. Print.