Posted by The Mime's Eye on December 28, 1998 at 15:29:13:
In Reply to: FORMS posted by ALFREDJOHN@WEBTV.COM on December 24, 1998 at 22:08:20:
1. Forms are universals. They're perfect. Anything different than perfect is not perfect. Therefore the forms do not change. Particulars are instances of the forms. They 'partake' in the forms, in order to appear as a certain type of thing, which we can speak about (katalogiai). The particular instances are constantly changing. If the universals do not change, and the particulars do change, what is the relationship between the unchanging and the changing. (Jacque Derrida : Essays on the Phenomenology of Husserl).
2. The forms are one thing. The particulars are another thing. If they are mutually exclusive, then do we need a third thing to bridge between the universal and the particular? Do we need a fourth thing to bridge this third thing, to the original two? This is the third man argument (Aristotle: Physics I).
3. If what is is. And what is as a whole is being, and being is a form and forms are things, then what "is not"? Is what "is not" a thing, or "no thing". Is there a form that captures "nothing"? (Plato's Sophist - the five problems of being and the 6 problems of not being).
4. To create the ideal city-state, we must capture the original form of the city state. Once we capture it, we cannot change the way the city-state operates. Any change must be a change for the worst, since we already have the ideal state! Problem - no improvement or innovation is possible. Also, any change is seen as evil. Remember the city state is suppose to embody the perfect state. (Karl Popper - The Enemies of the Open Society).
5. When you speak of "Forms", make sure you are able to distinguish Beings (ousia) from what we say about being (logos). The distinction is made in the Platonic text, but was not emphasized until about 30 years ago. A bulk of the Platonic scholarship was done by Vlastos, Grube, Cornford, Owens and a bunch of other guys from the turn of the century.
6. What's this for? Class or curiosity?
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