1 definition by William Bartley
Ancient philosopher who propounded his theory of the Forms, a core philosophy based upon a fundamental belief in unchangeable perfect eternals from which everything in the phenomenal world is manifested as mere reflections or exact relations.
Plato's idea of the Good, an external form, is the absolute form from which all forms manifest. And as such, values are objective, says Plato, and a moral gradient exists wherein actions can be said (and judged) as to whether they represent true representations, or false ones, of the Forms.
Plato's thoughts on issues of life:
- On death/philosophy: Philosophy is the art of dying. Philosophy itself is the medicine for the soul. The goal of philosophy is to separate the soul from the body. And in doing so, philosophy prepares man for death. Death also brings about recollection of the Forms when the soul part existed among the gods. Death released the soul back to heaven.
- On Justice: Exists when each part -- i.e. in the city-state, or within the soul's cardinal virtues -- does its own part/job.
Plato's idea of the Good, an external form, is the absolute form from which all forms manifest. And as such, values are objective, says Plato, and a moral gradient exists wherein actions can be said (and judged) as to whether they represent true representations, or false ones, of the Forms.
Plato's thoughts on issues of life:
- On death/philosophy: Philosophy is the art of dying. Philosophy itself is the medicine for the soul. The goal of philosophy is to separate the soul from the body. And in doing so, philosophy prepares man for death. Death also brings about recollection of the Forms when the soul part existed among the gods. Death released the soul back to heaven.
- On Justice: Exists when each part -- i.e. in the city-state, or within the soul's cardinal virtues -- does its own part/job.
by William Bartley November 19, 2004