Plato on what the Body’s Eye tells the Mind’s Eye

Author: Frede D.

Source: Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 99, Number 2, 1999 , pp. 191-209(19)

Buy & download fulltext article:

The full text article is temporarily unavailable.

We apologise for the inconvenience. Please try again later.

Abstract:

Though the two-world interpretation of Plato’s metaphysics is no longer uncontested the question of the expendability of the physical world still predominates current discussions. Against this tendency the article suggests that Plato neither intended to dispose of sensory evidence altogether nor to locate the Forms in a separate realm of pure understanding. The Forms should rather be understood as the ideal principles determining the proper function of each entity. Such a ‘functional view’ of the Forms is discussed explicitly in Book X of the Republic, but it can easily be extended to account for Plato’s use of the Forms elsewhere.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Philosopisches Seminar, Universität Hamburg, Germany

Publication date: 1999-01-01