Behind Concept
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Behind every concept (such as beauty) or every object (such as trees or buildings) in the visible world there is an unseen reality – a Form. Therefore, there is a Form of Beauty and a Form of a Tree. Forms can be seen as ideal blueprints for visible earthly examples of beauty and trees etc, which Plato calls Particulars, which only APPEAR to exist and are pale reflections of the infinitely real Forms.
Forms exist in their own right in the world of the Forms. They exist seperately from their Particulars. The Form of Beauty therefore exists seperately from our ideas about beauty and from beautiful people/places/things and so on.
Forms are not made of or dependant upon physical matter unlike Particulars, which are, and are therefore changable and imperfect. Plato saw Forms as the source of all knowledge and as such, the Forms must be eternally consistant and unchanging. Being so would suggest that they are immaterial, which is why they cannot be detected by the senses. The Forms are different from the visible world but they dont relate to it.
Plato believed that we only recognise Particulars because of resemblances they hold to their Forms. Although cats come in
different shapes, colours and sizes, they all share something of the Form of the Cat. Since we have some awareness of this in our minds, we can regonise their identity. The same is true with concepts like beauty or equality. We recognise two shapes as being equal because we have some awareness of the Form of Equality.
So how can we be aware of the Forms if they are beyond our senses? Plato answers this by saying that every human has an immortal soul that had access to the Forms before it was implanted in the body. Therefore, we have an innate knowledge that can be developed through rational thought (like: this Particular has four legs, a tail, is a mammal and says meow. Therefore I recognise it as a Particular of the Form of a cat). This rational thought enables the soul to recall its memories of the world of Forms.
Plato believed that Forms are all connected to each other in an order of importance, the most important being the Form of Good which is central to the existence of the entire universe. It structures other Forms, giving each its own nature. Without the Form of Good there would be no other Forms.
The Form of Good illuminates all knowledge, enabling us to recognise other forms. A philosophers highest task, according to Plato, is to gain knowledge of the Good because this will lead to full understanding and rational behaviour.