ancient philosophical influences

rationalism?

the view that the primary source of knowledge is reason, in the strictest sense, a priori reason

empiricism?

the idea that observations via our senses lead us to understanding of the world

reason?

using logical thought in order to reach conclusions

plato’s views on reason?

* Plato believed that there was a greater reality beyond the world we experience.
* he believed that a priori reasoning was the key to unlocking this reality.
* his most famous illustration of these views in his analogy of the cave

plato’s allegory of the cave?

* the analogy of the cave plays a key role in Plato’s philosophy.
* he uses it to sum up his key philosophical ideas.
* In the story he asks us to imagine that a group of prisoners are chained in an underground cave.
* They have been there since birth and are chained by their neck and ankles. They can only see the shadows projected on the wall by a fire. They believe that the shadows are all that exists.


* If one day a prisoner were released and were to venture outside the cave, once his sight adjusted he would realise that it was the outside world that was real and that the cave itself was just a shadow world.
* If the prisoner were to return and attempt to pass on his new knowledge, Plato argues that he would not be believed and the other prisoners might even threaten to kill him.

features of the allegory?

* **prisoners** - ordinary people in our world
* **cave** - the empirical world that we see and hear around us
* **chains** - senses that restrict the way we experience things
* **shadows** - our everyday sense experiences
* **escapee** - philosopher who is able to access knowledge
* **outside world** - the real world, the world of the Forms
* **sun** - highest of all forms, form of the good
* **return to cave** - once enlightened its the philosophers duty tp educate others
* **difficulties in adjusting to darkness** - once a philosopher knows the truth, it is difficult to experience things as the ordinary person does
* **persecution from other prisoners** - like Socrates, who was executed by leaders of Athens, the philosopher will be ridiculed and threatened

key messages of the cave?

* **meta-physics** **- what is real?** Plato’s view is that this world is not real and that the real world is an unchanging world of the Forms.
* **epistemology** **- how do we gain knowledge?** Plato’s view is that knowledge is through the mind (a priori) not the senses (a posteriori). the senses only provide opinions and shadows.
* **politics** **- who should rule?** the philosopher is the only one who has knowledge and, thus, philosophers should rule. Democracy puts power into the hands of the majority who lack knowledge, the cave dwellers in the story.
* **ethics** **- what is good?** it is the philosopher who is able to see and understand the good; they know what goodness is

assessing the allegory of the cave?

* it is not clear why it is important for the philosophers to rule if this is only a shadow world
* plato may be right to suggest that our senses are not always reliable; however, the information we get through our senses is not unimportant; we need this to survive
* plato does not offer proof of the existence of another realm and he is unclear how the two worlds relate to each other.
* he is guilty of elitism. the philosopher is not completely different to the ordinary person. while he may be correct to say there are differences in knowledge, these are differences in degree of knowledge. Having two groups of people - those who know and those who are ignorant - is too simplistic.

plato’s views of the forms

* in the analogy of the cave, Plato has argued that the objects in our world are merely shadows of real objects; the philosopher is bale to ‘leave the cave’ and understanding the Forms - the true objects - in the real world

understanding the forms?

* to understand why Plato believes that there are forms, consider the difference between our world and the mathematical world.
* in our world, everything is in a process of change: people grow old and die, trees grow and shed leaves, water continually flows - mathematically tryst do not change: triangles always have three sides, 2+2 will always be 4
* Plato believes that there is a similar unchanging truth about every type of object or quality.
* eg. examining lots of types of chairs - we would see that despite their differences, there is something that they have in common - likewise there are many beautiful things, but they all have the Form of beauty in common

what are the forms and particulars/

* in contrast to the Form, there are many different objects in our world which may to some extent participate in the Form.
* these objects, which are imperfect imitations of the form, are called particulars
* they may to a greater or lesser extent have the quality of beauty for example, but none of them are beauty themselves.

describe the world of the forms?

* each form is one singular thing (there is one idea of perfect beauty)
* they are known by the intellect or reason
* they are eternal
* they are immutable (unchanging)
* they are non-physical
* they are perfect

describe the world of particulars?

* there are many particulars (many beautiful things)
* they are known through empirical senses
* they pass in and out of existence
* they are constantly changing
* they are physical
* they are imperfect

what is the form of the good?

* the Form of the Good is the ultimate Form according to Plato.
* just as a form is what all particulars have in common (all dogs share in the form of the dog) ‘good’ is what the Forms have in common.
* the perfection of the Forms comes from the Form of the Good.
* in the allegory of the cave, the Good is represented by the sun in the outside world.
* just as the sun lights up the real world, the Form of the Good illuminates the other Forms:
* it is the reason why the Forms are good
* it enables us to ‘see’ the Forms
* it is the ultimate end in itself

what was plato’s one over many argument for the forms?

* when we observe different Particulars, eg. chairs, cats or beautiful things, we are able to recognise that they are the same sort of thing even if we cannot explain exactly why it is.


* even a small child can correctly identify that new thing in front of them is a cat even if never seen one like that.
* plato argues that we have an innate ability to recognise the forms that our souls knew before we were born.
* without the form, it is not possible to explain the sameness.
* We are able to recognise the ‘one’ over the ‘many’

what was Plato’s ideal standard argument for the forms?

* the idea of the Forms can be used to support a belief in absolute unchanging moral rules.
* the form is the ideal standard of a property.
* while it may not seem important to judge which is the best dog or who is more beautiful, some of the higher forms, such as goodness and justice, seem too important to be a matter of opinion.
* the form of the good, gives us an absolute idea of what goodness really is, it is not a matter of opinion.

Wittgenstein’s argument against the forms?

* he rejected the one over many argument with his family resemblance theory.
* he suggested that there is no ‘one over many’ but rather a series of overlapping characteristics
* just as members of a family may each resemble other members of the family, but there is no one thing that is specific to the family

what is the third man argument against the forms?

* responds to the theory’s claim to explain reality.
* if, as plato argues, we need the idea of forms to explain what objects have in common then what is to stop us once we have arrived at the form asking what the form and the particulars have in common and thus requiring a third man to explain this.
* this process could proceed indefinitely and we would never get an explanation of anything

what is Stephen Law’s ‘form of the bogey’ argument against the forms?

* Plato’s claim that there must be forms for everything can be carried to absurdity.
* must there really be the ideal form of dirt, or ‘bogey’

what is plato’s response to the criticisms?

* it can be argued that these criticisms only arise wen we take Plato’s theories too literally.
* Plato is ambiguous about whether all objects have Forms.
* he is primarily concerned with properties such as, goodness, justice and beauty