Plato Metaphysics:
Key to understanding Plato’s Metaphysics is his distinction between the
Realm of Being / Realm of Becoming
Plato synthesizes two opposing Metaphysics:
Heraclitus- world of our experience is constantly changing.
Parmenides- reality (Being) must be eternal and unchanging (therefore
not the same as the world of our experience.)
Also, he barrows heavily from Pythagoras: -we have a priori knowledge of pure forms which are constant and unchanging.
"The Realm of Being"
Realm of Immaterial Objects (Invisible)
Level of reality which is timeless and eternal.
Residents of the Realm of Being Include- Forms of Truth, Justice, Goodness,
Beauty, Geometric Forms, Abstract Ideas, Forms of Natural Kinds (Dogs, Trees, Houses).
Note: you must not imagine that the abstract ideas which we come to understand through reason are some how “created” by reason. The Pythagorean Theorem was true long before anyone knew it. Just actions are just (embody the Form of Justice) whether anyone understands them to be just or not.
Key concept: “Forms”
Known as "Ideas" gk= "edios"
But, not from human thought.
Like perfect examples, blueprints, definitions of particular reality.
That which all and only things of a kind have in common and are what they are in virtue of possessing that.
“What is it that all on only good things have in common in virtue of the possession of which they ARE good?” The answer to that question is “The Form of the Good.”
The forms are the “most real” aspect of reality because these objects are more lasting and regulate the world of appearances. Further the only reasons particulars are the particulars they are is in virtue of embodying the form they do. Thus the very existence of particular things is itself parasitic on (thus less real then) the Forms.
Note: Any particular courageous act DEPENDS on there being a FORM of courage. Thus, according to Plato, the forms are metaphysically prior to the particulars.
The Ultimate Reality (of the Forms) is “reflected in/ shadowed by” the constantly changing (less perfect) world of our experience. Plato refers to this as "The Realm of Becoming"
Forms are themselves arranged into a hierarchy, the arch form being the Form of the Good.
“The Realm of Becoming”
Realm of Material Objects (Visible)
Refers to the world of our experience, the “visible realm.”
Residents of the Realm of Becoming Include:
· Particular true statements
· Particular Just Acts
· Particular Good Things
· Particular Beautiful Objects
· Representations of Triangles
· Actual Dogs, Trees, Houses.
All of these endure only for a time and then pass away.
Note: Plato is a metaphysical dualist. That is, he believes that in order to explain reality one must appeal to two radically different sorts of substances, in this case, material and immaterial substance.
Epistemological Ramifications of this Metaphysical View:
Forms are NOT learned through experience because we never experience to forms (sensuously). We have never seen, nor could we ever see a triangle. Yet we do know them and lucky for us we do since the laws of geometry govern the world. Just try to build a deck on the back of you house without it.
So, if we don’t learn the forms through experience how DID we acquire knowledge of the Forms? Plato reasons that we must have acquired the knowledge of the forms somehow sometime before being born (since it was no time after). Otherwise we would never recognize the truth when we see it.
Paradox of Knowledge: Either pursuing truth is futile or unnecessary. Either we don’t know what the truth is, and therefore can never recognize it, even when we see it, or we already know it and therefore there is no need to look.
Plato’s Solution: We know it but forgot. The world around us and good teachers serve to jog our memory.
Therefore:
Plato believes that our Consciousness (Soul/ Mind/ Psyche) predates of bodies and will, in all likelihood, postdate our bodies as well. (We are immortal- like the forms themselves.)
All real knowledge is a matter of remembering the forms. Truth must be in us, innately. Thus Plato defends the claim that we have “innate ideas.”
Innate Ideas: knowledge and ideas already gained by the time of our birth.
Experience is useful only in so far as it jogs our memory of the forms. But it does not/ cannot give us any real knowledge of Ultimate Reality. (This makes him a Rationalist)
Note: A Rationalist is one who believes that the senses are a poor or unreliable source of knowledge and the true knowledge comes from introspection and there exists innate ideas. (This is contrasted with Empiricists who take exactly to opposite positions to those of the Rationalist.)
Note: Even further, he is a mystic- Real/ Ultimate knowledge is imparted to humans by means of a supernatural extraordinary experience. (Thus he has an affinity with certain religious traditions.)
Knowledge of reality is never changing: gained only through thinking. 2+2
=4 : facts are eternal and necessary.
Education is best served by asking the student questions and allowing the student "see" the truth on one's own (Socratic Method).
Real knowledge is conceptual and verbaliz-eable. That which does not yield words or cannot be expressed in words does not merit the title “knowledge” or wisdom or intelligence.
Philosophical/ Dialectical Project:
The successful conclusion of a philosophical argument will yield the correct definition of the concept under discussion, the intellectual articulation and apprehension of the FORM. (E.g. What it is that all and only courageous acts have in common by virtue of which they ARE courageous acts.)
Ethical Ramifications of this Metaphysical View:
The attainment of knowledge of eternal forms is the only worthwhile activity for humans.
What is most real and lasting and important about reality (of value, worthy or attention and service) is the immaterial realm.
What is most real and lasting and important about an individual (of value, worthy or attention and service) is the immaterial aspect- the psyche or immortal soul. It is the only thing about you that could possible survive the death of the physical body.
One of Plato’s ethical slogans: “It is better to suffer an injustice (which does not jeopardize the welfare of one’s immortal soul) than to do an injustice (which does jeopardize the welfare of one’s immortal soul).”
To pursue wealth, physical pleasure, worldly glory for their inherent rewards is to be metaphysically misguided. The wise man realizes that these are not to be sought to the detriment of one’s soul.
(Some) Aesthetic Ramifications of this Metaphysical View: (Beauty)
When we recognize that something is beautiful we do so because we recognize that it participates in the eternal form of beauty.
Beauty names a transcendent object which does not exits in the world of sense objects, but of which beautiful objects are mere imperfect copies.
Further, since whether an object participates in the form of beauty or not is an objective relation with no logically necessary consequences for perception, it follows that judgements about whether an object is beautiful or not are not mere subjective reports, but rather claims about objective states or affairs. They cannot be based solely on sensual appeal and are subject to revision and correction.
(Some) Aesthetic Ramifications of this Metaphysical View: (Art)
If art is merely an imitation of nature (as Plato thought it was -Mimetic Theory of Art), then art is an imitation of an imitation. This makes it VERY LOW on the metaphysical ladder.
Since art primarily appeals to our senses and not our reason this makes it VERY LOW on the epistemological ladder.
Since art directs our attention to the physical qualities of things, and the physical in general, it is ethically dangerous.
Since art appeals to our irrational emotions, prompting us, sometime to weep at playacting and the like, it is psychologically dangerous.
The wise person regulates the art that he or she allows into his or her life according to the directives of reason.
The wise polis (city-state, community) regulates the art that it allows into the lives of its citizenry (censorship of art).