Philosophy and Ethics Assessment: Critical Analysis of Plato's The Good
Philosophy and Ethics Assessment: Critical Analysis of Plato’s the Good
Defining the Good according to Plato is not an easy undertaking. The best approach to understanding the Good is to first understand it as a Form, and then define Plato’s theory of Forms. From there is possible to gain insight of the Good as a Form and its theoretical implications, especially concerning ethics.
According to Plato, everything in the visible world is that of a Form. Forms can be described as “the single unitary entity, the reality, of which its many instances would be the appearances” (Cross, 1964; Woozley, 1964). For example, Plato believed in the Form of Beauty. Many things the human eye sees are beautiful, but these are not the reality. They are only mere appearances. The true beautiful thing exists as a Form, unable to be seen in the human realm. True philosophers can understand the distinction between appearance and reality, because they can understand everything is a Form. Only the man who refuses to accept appearances as truth is a philosopher as “he alone, has knowledge, since he knows the reality (the Forms) of which the many particulars are appearances” (Cross, 1964; Woozley, 1964). The true philosopher has knowledge, which is definite and resolved, where as everyone else only has beliefs. The philosopher is the lover of reason and knowledge, and the non-philosopher is ignorant of reason loving only the appearances of sights and sounds.
For Plato, the body is a “hindrance, in the pursuit of wisdom” (William, 1990), and wisdom is essential to understanding Forms since “we do not get access to Forms through the senses” (William, 1990). We do not get access to Forms through the senses, because Forms do not exists as physical entities in the human world. They are perfect and unchanging ideals of which everything on earth is a lesser imitation. We can partially understand Forms due to Plato’s theory of recollection and properties of the soul, namely that “our souls
Defining the Good according to Plato is not an easy undertaking. The best approach to understanding the Good is to first understand it as a Form, and then define Plato’s theory of Forms. From there is possible to gain insight of the Good as a Form and its theoretical implications, especially concerning ethics.
According to Plato, everything in the visible world is that of a Form. Forms can be described as “the single unitary entity, the reality, of which its many instances would be the appearances” (Cross, 1964; Woozley, 1964). For example, Plato believed in the Form of Beauty. Many things the human eye sees are beautiful, but these are not the reality. They are only mere appearances. The true beautiful thing exists as a Form, unable to be seen in the human realm. True philosophers can understand the distinction between appearance and reality, because they can understand everything is a Form. Only the man who refuses to accept appearances as truth is a philosopher as “he alone, has knowledge, since he knows the reality (the Forms) of which the many particulars are appearances” (Cross, 1964; Woozley, 1964). The true philosopher has knowledge, which is definite and resolved, where as everyone else only has beliefs. The philosopher is the lover of reason and knowledge, and the non-philosopher is ignorant of reason loving only the appearances of sights and sounds.
For Plato, the body is a “hindrance, in the pursuit of wisdom” (William, 1990), and wisdom is essential to understanding Forms since “we do not get access to Forms through the senses” (William, 1990). We do not get access to Forms through the senses, because Forms do not exists as physical entities in the human world. They are perfect and unchanging ideals of which everything on earth is a lesser imitation. We can partially understand Forms due to Plato’s theory of recollection and properties of the soul, namely that “our souls
Bibliography: Cross, R.C., and Woozley, A.D., 1964. Plato’s Republic. London: Macmillian Press Ltd. Gadamer, Hans-George, 1986. The Idea of the Good in Platonic-Aristotelian Philosophy Yale University Press. Irwin, Terence, 1995 Joseph, H.W.B., 1948. Knowledge and the Good in Plato’s Republic. London: Oxford University Press Plato, 2002. Five Dialogues. Translated by G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Thomson, J.A.K., 1953. The Ethics of Aristotle. London: Penguin Group. William, Jordan, 1990 Vlastos, Gregory ed., 1971. Plato A Collection of Critical Essays. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc.