Plato and ancient Greek philosophy

¶ … Evolution of Plato's Ideas on Metaphysics and Epistemology

To understand the relationship between the ideas of Plato, one must understand the natural evolution of his ideas on metaphysics and epistemology, and how they relate to other ideas in his philosophical vein. While one cannot be precise as to his meaning in all cases, an element of rational reconstruction can be applied to understand principles and theses.

Plato's ideas evolved over the three periods of his dialogues - the early Socratic period, the middle period with works such as Phaedo, where we see Plato beginning to come into his own, and the later post-Republic phase. For the purposed of this paper, we shall evaluate the middle period.

The Phaedo is a recounting of Socrates' last hours. His teacher dying, Plato first brings his ideas of Forms. We know that Socrates was the first to look for the universal in ethical matters. We also know that Plato did not separate ethics from epistemology and instead regarded the universal in elements known as Forms. Plato used a combination of the theories of Socrates and Heraclitus, separating the universal from ethical matters, stating that the order of sensibility was always in flux. These separated universals are Plato's Forms. The universal is a technical application (if there can be one) in metaphysical thought. Different things have features in common - the shared features are therefore universal, or to Plato, a Form. Plato's these in this time are heavily based in Socratic theory. For example, Socrates stated that the question "What is X?" (X referring to a typical ethical property) is impossible to answer, being too specific or perhaps too broad. Socrates stated that whatever ethic you choose, that it is a universal in that it makes what it itself is.

Therefore X gives the definition of whatever property is under investigation. Plato, in his early dialogues, rejects the idea that the universal (to Plato, the Form) can be assumed to be predictable.

Plato draws a parallel between Forms (which do not change) and changing material particulars. But in the Phaedo we are only able to reconstruct what Plato truly believed about metaphysics at this point, since his theories are relatively undeveloped, and any form of rational reconstruction may incorrectly attribute to Plato ideas which are incorrect or more fully developed than he was capable at the time.

In all periods of Plato's work, Forms were meant to be one - the only thing true of the Form is the Form itself. Later work, such as Republic show that Plato moved from this thinking into a belief that Forms cannot be this simple themselves, but rather all related to Good. Simply speaking, the middle period demonstrates a time when Plato attempted to take the work of Socrates and break it down into the simplest form, e.g. "What is X" is no longer the question, but rather the question is what do the words "what, is, X" mean? The nature and essence of the words are the most elemental factor in this period. Another example would be considering the sentence "What is red?" To simply state that red is red, is too simple. Plato seeks to demonstrate that the actual meaning of the word, when discovered, will be more complex than is originally thought. In Plato's thought, Forms is its own essence, and each form self-predicates. Because of this, a statement of self-predication is required for each Form since each Form must have its own essence. Self-predication is therefore the essential theory of Forms.

The middle period of Plato's works are focused on the development of the definition of forms, and Plato's attempt to show that souls seek to leave the body in order to understand truth. In Plato's mind, the body is an anchor which holds the soul from enlightenment. That which we know (as we will discuss later) we knew before we had the body and it is only recollection of this knowledge that allows us to know anything while we are in the body.

We will now discuss the application of this idea of Forms and the separation of the same from sensible particulars by discussing Plato's idea of "Two Worlds," or being and partaking. Being does not mean the same thing as partaking is not explained by and does not explain its essence. In fact, Plato postulated that is X lacks essence, it can fail to be. An example given is that of beauty. Beauty is beautiful, and other things become beautiful by partaking in what is beautiful. The question then comes whether the partaking is then dependent on the being. In what Plato uses as demonstration of the immortal soul, when being is confronted with its opposite, the being must then withdraw or die. If the beings do withdraw and exist apart from the forms, then the individuality then exists by particulars, which Plato believed were separate from forms.