short note on plato
Plato's Metaphysics in a Nutshell it is vital to know the difference Plato made between sensible "things" and "forms." Things are those aspects of reality which we see though our senses: a boy, a table, fan, television, etc. Everything that we experience in the world of impression is constantly changing (the television will start to get worn down, the boy will age with time), imperfect and often passing away. This is the realm of appearances, and we all know that appearances can be deceptive. Whereas things change, decay, and ultimately fade away, the Forms (the Greek term is Eidos which is sometimes translated as Ideas) are eternal and unchanging. This is the realm of perfect concepts and it is grasped, not by the senses, but by the reason.
The Life of Plato Plato was born around the year 428 BCE into an established Athenian household with a rich history of political connections -- including distant relations to both Solon and Pisistratus. Plato's parents were Ariston and Perictone, his older brothers were Adeimantus and Glaucon, and his younger sister was Potone. In keeping with his family heritage, Plato was destined for the political life. But the Peloponnesian War, which began a couple of years before he was born and continued until well after he was twenty, led to the decline of the Athenian Empire. The war was followed by a rabid conservative religious movement that led to the putting to death of Plato's teacher, Socrates. Together these events forever distorted the course of Plato's life. Aristotle tells us that sometime during Plato's youth the philosopher-to-be became familiar with the doctrines of Cratylus, a student of Heraclitus, who, along with other Presocratic thinkers such as Pythagoras and Parmenides, provided Plato with the foundations of his metaphysics and epistemology. Upon meeting Socrates, however, Plato directed his inquiries toward the question of virtue. The development of a noble quality was to be before all else. Indeed, it
The Life of Plato Plato was born around the year 428 BCE into an established Athenian household with a rich history of political connections -- including distant relations to both Solon and Pisistratus. Plato's parents were Ariston and Perictone, his older brothers were Adeimantus and Glaucon, and his younger sister was Potone. In keeping with his family heritage, Plato was destined for the political life. But the Peloponnesian War, which began a couple of years before he was born and continued until well after he was twenty, led to the decline of the Athenian Empire. The war was followed by a rabid conservative religious movement that led to the putting to death of Plato's teacher, Socrates. Together these events forever distorted the course of Plato's life. Aristotle tells us that sometime during Plato's youth the philosopher-to-be became familiar with the doctrines of Cratylus, a student of Heraclitus, who, along with other Presocratic thinkers such as Pythagoras and Parmenides, provided Plato with the foundations of his metaphysics and epistemology. Upon meeting Socrates, however, Plato directed his inquiries toward the question of virtue. The development of a noble quality was to be before all else. Indeed, it