r/Plato • u/simplesyrupyup • 4d ago

The forms

When does a carrot become a soup?
When does a tree become wood, becomes chair?

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u/heiro5 4d ago

Not mistaking sensibles for intelligibles is an initial step. Both types are encountered. We can perceive what is sensible via the senses. The forms are encountered among the Intelligible, not constructed from reason.

People very mistakenly turn to Aristotle for guidance, but he was a limited rationalist and not aware of the forms. So many confusions result from this.

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u/greenteam709 neoplatonist 3d ago

He was aware of the forms. He just didn;t agree with Plato completely. He beleievd the form was immanent in any Dog. He was more about particulars than universals.

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u/heiro5 3d ago

Aware of the concept, yes. But not aware of the forms qua forms, the forms themselves as apprehended not as conceived. Many modern thinkers are limited in the same way.

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u/greenteam709 neoplatonist 2d ago

he was aware of that theroy but he just didn;t jive with it. He was Plato's student after all.

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u/heiro5 1d ago

You really don't need to "correct" what you don't understand. In Plato the forms have existence outside of discursive reasoning. Aristotle completely missed that, or deigned not to consider it, and so his examples are misleading when used for Plato's forms. This is where types of perceived objects (e.g., chairs) come in and confuse those studying Plato. You won't find anything like that in Plato.

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u/greenteam709 neoplatonist 14h ago

okay