Plato’s Philosophy of the Human Person
Members:
Josef, Emmanuel Louise B.
Leis, Rochelle Anne G.
Lucas, Cyril Denise M.
Porras, Dominic John Vincent G.
Tenedero, Claire Layne Y.
______________________
11STEM – 6
______________________
October 28, 2020
Philosopher Philosophy of the
Human Person
PLATO
Strength of the
Philosopher’s
argument
Weakness of
Philosopher’s argument
Plato’s Idea of The Plato’s Theory of
Form
Forms
Aristotle’s Third Man
Argument
Form is a perfect,
eternal,
and
unchanging entity that
transcends time and
space.
Plato’s
philosophy on the
human person revolved
on these Forms. He
suggested that Forms
are a higher reality than
material
objects,
although they are
abstract. Due to the
abstractness of these
Forms, they were not
accessible to the human
senses but are rather
conceived by the mind.
Examples of these
forms are Beauty,
Justice, and The Good.
Aristotle argues that
every form is a form of
something else. This is a
problem because the main
goal of the theory of
forms is to explain many
things with one thing (the
form). But if we have an
infinite amount of forms,
then does that not break
the whole purpose of the
main function of a form?
Another is that there is no
cause. Why? Because if it
is an infinite loop of the
creation of forms. Then
what
is
the
true
underlying cause of that
form? Thus, nothing is
explained.
Plato believed in two
worlds: The World of
Forms and The World
of Matter, which is the
world of physical
materials and concepts.
According to him, The
World of Matter is an
imperfect copy of The
World of Forms and a
false reality wherein
humans and other
“beings” live. He
exemplified through
the story Allegory of
the Cave, mentioned in
“The Republic,” that
the
imaginary
or
illusory world is like
Plato believed that
our senses are
unreliable in
achieving true reality;
the things that we
perceive using our
senses are merely
imperfect copies of
the perfect Forms in
the World of Forms.
This theory explains
the process of how
humans can think
rather than thinking
just being a biological
process. There is a
deeper and underlying
meaning to things,
other than what we
see using our senses.
Because our senses
are unreliable, Plato’s
theory encourages us
to question to learn
and not accept things
as they are.
Philosophy, a subject
that requires thinking
and thorough analysis,
is given purpose.
The world of forms
is not accessible to
human senses but are
conceived by the
mind. These forms
were identified by
Plato as ‘true reality.’
This encourages us to
be open-minded and
gain more knowledge
Plato’s Parmenides
The main argument
here is the confusion on
how to connect both
worlds. To give an
example, Roanne, a
doctor,
is
treating
Dominic, a patient. So, to
use the two worlds:
Roanne, a doctor, treats
Dominic, a patient, in the
world of matter. While in
the world of forms, the
form of doctor, treats the
form of patient. So, from
this, we can say that there
is no actual relation
Your Critique to his/her
Philosophy of the Human
Person
With the given
arguments, we can
deduce that the theory of
forms has a lot of gaps to
fill. And this is why until
now, it has not been
proven to be a solid
argument regarding the
truth behind beings. In a
sense, it does have some
positive effects such as
the birth of various
beliefs regarding truth.
The theory left
remarkable questions for
philosophers to truly
search for. It provided a
new perspective in the
field of metaphysics for
future philosophers to
consider. To put simply,
Plato’s theory had a
major impact in the
advancement of
philosophy, but at the
same time, the theory is
flawed due to the fact
that it was unclear and
mostly unexplained. It
lacks the evidence
needed to support the
idea that there is another
world beyond the world
we inhabit today. Also, it
is accepted that there is
no way to determine
whether or not it exists,
because we would not
really know if we have
reached such a state as
we do not bring our
human body that is in
charge of experiencing
shadows of concrete
objects, and these
concrete objects are the
physical matter. But
although
physical,
these objects are still
not the reality, as there
is still a bright and
dazzling world outside
of the cave, and this
represents the World of
Forms. Other than this,
in
his
dialogue,
“Timaeus,”
Plato
explained how the
World of Matter was
formed. He proposed
that there is a divine
Craftsman, whom he
called Demiurge, that
arranged in a rational
order the pre-existing
chaos. Chaos, in this
context, is not the
complete absence of
order, but rather a kind
of
order
which
contrasts Reason. The
Demiurge did so by
imitating the Forms,
thus resulting to the
creation of the kosmos,
the physical world.
The kosmos is believed
to be teleological —
created
based
on
purpose, which is the
good of all Forms.
However, there is still
this chaotic tendency
that could ruin the
rational order of the
kosmos, which is why
although the World of
Matter is a copy of the
to improve our
intellect and better
understand reality.
Furthermore, we
recognize the
similarities among
different things like
the different breeds of
cats, because they are
cats. Another
example is, there is
Beauty in art. Since
art is a human idea or
concept of Beauty, it
is easy to distinguish
examples of art, such
as paintings, photos,
and the likes, if one
finds it beautiful or
sees the Beauty in it.
between an abstract form
and an actual particular
being. And so, the
problem comes next.
How do we now say that
there is actually the socalled world of forms if
we have not actually
encountered it in the
material world. As it is
illustrated earlier, that a
particular being cannot be
involved with the form or
basing off from the
example, it is not possible
for the form of doctor to
treat someone particular
such as Dominic, a
patient. And it is also not
possible for someone
particular
such
as
Soul Dualism
Roanne, to treat the form
of a patient. Thus, there is
Scientists and
no
actual
assurance
philosophers are
whether the world of
concluding that the
forms is actually credible.
laws of chemistry and How does the particular
physics cannot explain being in the world of
why human beings
matter partake from the
experience their
world of forms? Since we
consciousness.
now know that there is no
Assuming that the
direct relation between
human mind is limited the two worlds. And
to a physical or the
finally, this then poses the
material brain makes
question of “What do we
it hard to understand
actually
know?
how we are able to
Regarding the world of
form things like
forms”. Since, if there are
consciousness,
no
direct
relations
sensations, thoughts,
between them, we cannot
emotions, desires, and fully comprehend what
the like.
the world of forms
contains since there is no
The journal
experience or knowledge
“Resuscitation”
to be gained from
published a British
the divided worlds.
along with the soul that is
in charge of sensing.
Only one factor can be
brought therefore, no true
realization can be made.
As stated, Plato
concluded that man has
to obtain eternal
knowledge in its
unchanging and
metaphysical form in
order to maintain
harmony and balance.
The problem here is that
Plato relied so much on
the precise uniformity of
the forms, his theory
became very much
unrealistic. Because
according to Plato, forms
are the perfect and
eternal unchanging entity
of something. How can
something remain
constant in a world that
continues to change? For
example, technology.
Surely, the perfect and
constant definition of
technology exists in the
world of forms. But does
that version continue to
be unchanging if the
different needs of
humans continue to
evolve?
Another flaw is that
this theory is very much
subjective. If there exists
a perfect version of
something in the world
of forms, how is that
possible if the definition
of perfection varies from
different people? Whose
World of Forms, it is study providing
still imperfect.
evidence that
consciousness
continues even after
the brain fails to
Plato’s Theory of function and is
Forms
clinically dead. The
study made use of
According to Plato’s those who were
Theory of Forms, the successfully revived
nature of man consists after cardiac arrest.
of
4
dimensions, The revived patients
specifically: Logical, were previously
Epistemological,
declared clinically
Moral
and dead. Ten percent of
Metaphysical Form.
the interviewed
patients reported
Logical Form is the
having wellPhysical Being and the
structured, lucid
individual identity of
thought processes,
man. It is subjected to
with memory
constant change and
formation and
eventual death over the
reasoning during the
course
of
time
time that their brains
nevertheless,
the
were not functioning.
importance of the
Physical Form is to
Plato suggested that
support the existence of
our souls existed in
Man and to know his
heaven (World of
Human Nature.
Forms) before even
The Epistemological our bodies existed.
Form focuses more on Plato’s idea of soul
the
Theory
of dualism incorporates
Knowledge
which his Theory of Forms.
describes the possible Plato described the
kinds of knowledge soul as indestructible
and the degrees of and pre-existed before
certainty man can uniting with the body
acquire from these in the World of
kinds of knowledge. Matter. The soul was
According to Plato, the acquainted with the
key for obtaining the perfect forms,
knowledge
about therefore possessing
Human
Forms
is what Plato calls real
through
proper knowledge. This
education which is establishes a
Some more arguments standards of perfection
and questions:
were followed in the
world of Forms? Let’s
A realist could ask, say for example, the
“how can we determine perfect human being. Is
whether
we
could the perfect human being
actually grasp the essence that exists in the world of
of forms if we know that Forms applicable and
we can only interact with acceptable by
their shadows (imperfect everybody? Apart from
copies in the world of the questions that were
matter) but not the forms posed in the arguments.
itself. Another is that, if One final factor caught
humans are subject to our interest. If the world
error, according to Plato. of forms is unchanging,
How can we, as a human, does that mean that there
discover the truth behind are already forms for
the World of Forms. We those that are nonwould have to be souls existent in the world of
would we not? So, how matter? We know that
do we know that Plato's there are forms for every
interpretation of what the imperfect copy found in
world of forms truly is, is the world of matter, but
actually correct? Due to are there imperfect
the fact that, when Plato copies for every form?
coined this theory, he was We asked this because
in human form, therefore we use the imperfect
he is subject to errors. In copies as the basis of our
addition
to
these knowledge regarding the
questions, the things in forms. Therefore, if there
the material world come is no imperfect copy to
from the forms of the represent a form,
world of forms. Yet, we wouldn’t we cease to
use these “copies” in the truly understand what the
world of matter to world of forms is? Since
represent those forms that there is no actual
lie in the world of forms. visualization of that
So, how do we determine form, then there is no
whether
Plato’s means of fully validating
perception of the forms is the idea of the forms.
truly accurate if he says
that the world of forms
contains
the perfect
version of these copies
that are found in our
world when the so-called
“copies”
that
are
defined as a learning
process in which man
procures ideas and
thoughts from both
sensory
and
environmental
experiences.
The Moral Form is
the most observable
aspect
in
Human
Nature since it is
evident in the Being’s
Actions and Behaviors.
It
is
commonly
associated
with
qualities
such
as
courage,
justice,
equality and ideals of
human conducts and
moral concepts.
Lastly, there is the
Metaphysical
Form
which is the aspect that
is not perceivable by
any of the senses and
that it is absent in the
presence of space and
time for it is beyond the
world of unchangeable
and perishable things.
It is found in the Realm
of unchanging and
eternal forms and can
be fully known through
intuitive
knowledge
which is the knowledge
that we acquire from
subjective judgement.
Plato’s Theory of the
Body – Soul Dualism
According to Plato’s
Theory of Body – Soul
Dualism,
Man
is
connection and
consistency between
Plato’s idea of Soul
Dualism and Theory
of Forms.
imperfect are what we use
to
represent
them?
Basically,
the
main
question is, how does he
determine whether the
world of forms truly
contains
the perfect
version when they are
based
on
the
imperfectness we see
daily. Lastly, if the world
of forms is truly the basis
of reality, what is the
main point in finding
what's real in the world of
matter? Is it not useless to
look for reality in a world
that does not permit it due
to it being the impure
version of the real world?
If everything that can be
found in this world is
merely a copy, then what
is the purpose of finding
something true or real, in
a world filled with unreal
or imitations of what real
actually is?
divided
into
two
categories: The body,
which is the physical
and material entity of
Man, and The Soul or
the non-material entity
which exists apart from
the
body.
Plato
emphasized more on
the latter stating that
the
soul
is
indestructible and that
it already existed even
before birth and will
continue to do so even
after
death.
Furthermore, in his
theory of recollection
or the “Anamnesis,” he
states that learning is
just a matter of the soul
remembering
the
knowledge it acquired
from the world of
forms since it was
forgotten when the
accidental union of the
body and soul came to
be.
Plato theorizes that
there are three aspects
of the soul in which the
well-being of man
becomes dependent on
when these aspects
interact harmoniously.
First, is the Appetite.
This
aspect
is
responsible for the
desires and effortless
cravings of the people
that permits them to
survive like hunger,
thirst, etc. Second, is
Reason. This aspect
allows us to become
rational beings because
this helps us make
distinctions between
right and wrong, and
good from evil. Lastly,
is the Spirit. The
spirited soul produces
the seat of selfassertion, self-interest,
anger, indignation, and
self-pride.
Plato thinks that the
harmonious
interactions between
these three aspects will
only be possible when
the Rational Soul gains
the ability to control
both the Appellative
and Spiritual Soul. To
conclude, man has to
obtain
eternal
knowledge
in
its
unchanging
and
metaphysical form in
order to main harmony
and balance.
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