Plato: "The Good"
“The Good” Plato Midterm Paper
Plato was one of the most prominent Greek philosophers, influencing the very core of philosophy for years to come. His early analysis of society and its values began the quest for answers to questions of existence and awareness. In “The Republic,” Plato explains the concept of Forms and Ideas while also inquiring on both justice within a person and what exactly makes a person ‘just.’ Plato argued that the human soul innately searched for the Form of Good which could only be found through philosophical reasoning. Plato believed in two worlds, the material world and the world of the Forms. The Forms differ from material objects because they are perfect and pure; while material objects are a complex mixture of imperfect properties of the Forms. Plato stated that the Form of the Good is the highest reality of all as well as the ultimate source of knowledge. Plato believed that ‘goodness’ was a quality that all the individual Forms possessed, linked together by the Form of Good. In a passage he states:
“So what gives truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower is the Form of the Good. And though it is the cause of knowledge and truth, it is also an object of knowledge. Both knowledge and truth are beautiful things, but the good is other and more beautiful than they” (Classics of Western Philosophy, Republic, 173).
In this paper I will argue that the concept of the Good represents perception and the ability of the human mind to perceive its surroundings and its internalities.
Why Does Knowledge Depend on the Good?
In The Republic Plato states that the Good in the realm of Forms corresponds to the Sun in the physical realm. The Sun in the physical world gives life to all things; it is the foundation of the world around us. Additionally the light of the Sun gives us the ability to see and understand the world we inhabit. This is best explained in the famous Allegory of the Cave in which a group of men are
Plato was one of the most prominent Greek philosophers, influencing the very core of philosophy for years to come. His early analysis of society and its values began the quest for answers to questions of existence and awareness. In “The Republic,” Plato explains the concept of Forms and Ideas while also inquiring on both justice within a person and what exactly makes a person ‘just.’ Plato argued that the human soul innately searched for the Form of Good which could only be found through philosophical reasoning. Plato believed in two worlds, the material world and the world of the Forms. The Forms differ from material objects because they are perfect and pure; while material objects are a complex mixture of imperfect properties of the Forms. Plato stated that the Form of the Good is the highest reality of all as well as the ultimate source of knowledge. Plato believed that ‘goodness’ was a quality that all the individual Forms possessed, linked together by the Form of Good. In a passage he states:
“So what gives truth to the things known and the power to know to the knower is the Form of the Good. And though it is the cause of knowledge and truth, it is also an object of knowledge. Both knowledge and truth are beautiful things, but the good is other and more beautiful than they” (Classics of Western Philosophy, Republic, 173).
In this paper I will argue that the concept of the Good represents perception and the ability of the human mind to perceive its surroundings and its internalities.
Why Does Knowledge Depend on the Good?
In The Republic Plato states that the Good in the realm of Forms corresponds to the Sun in the physical realm. The Sun in the physical world gives life to all things; it is the foundation of the world around us. Additionally the light of the Sun gives us the ability to see and understand the world we inhabit. This is best explained in the famous Allegory of the Cave in which a group of men are
Bibliography: Classics of Western Philosophy. Eighth Edition. Steven M. Cahn. Indianapolis/Cambridge : Hacket Publishing Company, Inc. 2012. Print.