#theory of forms

[novelties-and-notions]

SOCRATES [a ventriloquist's dummy]: I suppose you'll be bringing Plato on next.

FLOSTRE: Malheureusement, Plato couldn't be with us tonight. He's doing panto up in Cleethorpes.

SOCRATES: What are they doing this year?

FLOSTRE: Aladdin. He gets chained up inside Aladdin's cave so he can only see shadows on the back wall. It's a sell-out. Held over for an extra week.

SOCRATES: He'll be happy there then. But it's a shame Plato isn't here, because, by coincidence, I have a few questions to ask about the Theory of Forms.

FLOSTRE: I thought it was your theory.

SOCRATES: Plato putting words in my mouth again. If you ask me, the Theory of Forms is a load of hooey.

FLOSTRE: Perhaps I can explain it on Plato's behalf.

SOCRATES: You can try I suppose. [Adopts an interrogatory attitude.] How would you characterise a Form, according to the theory?

FLOSTRE: Well, one might say that for all the things we before set up as many, we put each now under one Form, holding that there is but one form of each, and we call that "that which each is".

SOCRATES [stares for a minute]: One might, might one? But is it not the case, that the Forms exist outside of space and time?

FLOSTRE: Certainly, Socrates. For otherwise, Forms might undergo change or be perceptible to the senses.

SOCRATES: Then let us consider dancing girls.

FLOSTRE: Can't you consider something else for a change?

SOCRATES: Do you not agree that, according to the Theory of Forms, each individual dancing girl who is going to perform here tonight – or so you say – is a mere shadow of the Form of dancing girl?

FLOSTRE: That is certainly the case.

SOCRATES: And that such a Form, being a Form, must exist outside of time and space?

FLOSTRE: That must be so.

SOCRATES: Now, what is it that characterises a dancing girl? Is it not her dancing?

FLOSTRE: Certainly, Socrates.

SOCRATES: And how might you describe that dancing?

FLOSTRE: Mostly they kick up their legs in time to the music.

SOCRATES: And is not a kick a movement in space?

FLOSTRE: Of course.

SOCRATES: And is not music made up of sounds that change in time?

FLOSTRE: That is so, Socrates.

SOCRATES: So the essential nature of a dancing girl partakes of space and time.

FLOSTRE: I think I see what you are getting at here.

SOCRATES: Which is?

FLOSTRE: The Form of dancing girl cannot partake of the nature of a dancing girl.

SOCRATES: Well, if that isn't a load of hooey, I don't know what is. So, tell me, philosopher, what's happened to the dancing girls anyway?

FLOSTRE: Sacré bleu! If you must know…

SOCRATES: I must know.

FLOSTRE: They're waiting for their shoes to arrive.

[nerium-aquifolium]

“Platonic sun”

“I thought I knew what I was, now I feel made up, I’m a parody!

You wake me up.

Oh, what you are is hard to find, you could teach the deaf, or you could lead the blind

Just by the shock of your touch, yeah I know how it feels

Or the knife in your stare, and the way that it peels me…

Over and over till’ I’m skinned to the core!, I found a hole in my heart that wasn’t there before.

I’m just a pale little boy, looking out for myself, but I start shaking for you and nobody else.

I’d like to be just simple and dry, but it rains like a storm and I can’t fight the sky.

If you know what it’s best for your friends and yourself, you will sit still and shut your mouth”.

- Winter; Yabadum

[tmarshconnors]

“The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depends upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily. This is the man of moderation, the man of manly character and wisdom.”

Plato, born Aristocles, was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms.

Born: Classical Athens

Died: Athens, Greece

Founder of the Academy: Plato founded the Academy in Athens around 387 BCE, which is often considered the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. The Academy remained an influential philosophical and scientific research centre for several centuries.

Socratic Dialogues: Plato is best known for his dialogues and written works in which he uses the character of his teacher Socrates to explore philosophical ideas. These dialogues cover various topics including ethics, politics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Famous examples include "The Republic," "Phaedo," "Symposium," and "Timaeus."

Theory of Forms: One of Plato's central philosophical concepts is the Theory of Forms. According to this theory, the physical world is not the true reality but rather a shadow of the true reality, which consists of abstract, perfect, unchanging forms or ideas. For example, all circular objects are imperfect copies of the perfect form of a circle.

Influence on Western Thought: Plato's work has had a profound and lasting impact on Western philosophy and science. His ideas laid the groundwork for much of Western metaphysical and epistemological thought and influenced later philosophers, including his student Aristotle and many medieval and modern thinkers.

Political Philosophy: In "The Republic," Plato presents his vision of an ideal state, ruled by philosopher-kings. He advocates for a society governed by wisdom and reason rather than power or wealth. His political philosophy addresses justice, the role of the individual within society, and the importance of education and virtue.

[eskwander]

This is a cup, and this is not-a-cup. While you may say it was a cup just minutes ago (before I smashed it with the hammer), it is not not-a-cup-anymore, but not-a-cup entirely, because only a good cup is a cup altogether, while all the "bad cups" aren't cups at all. The essence in the instant. This is Plato's intellectual dynamism, aka the theory of Forms. (Not the dogmatic two-worlds view we are usually served as propaedeutic, which stems from an overly literal interpretation of the Allegory of the Cave.)

[trc-magazine]

CLASSROOM CURRICULUM

Title: BECOMING YOUR BEING - An Anthropological Study

Part III: THE METAPHYSICAL ESSENCE OF HUMANITY

Homo Sapiens: The Knowing Being

"Man is a being endowed with knowledge: he is Homo sapiens." – Battista Mondin

Introduction: The Centrality of Knowledge

Human beings are uniquely defined by their capacity to know and understand. Knowledge is not only a tool for survival but also a means of transcending mere existence to explore truth, meaning, and purpose. Although human knowledge spans countless branches and applications, this chapter focuses on four key areas:

The Phenomenology of Knowing

The Psychology of Cognitive Activities

The Main Characteristics of Intellectual Knowledge

The Anthropological Implications of Knowing

Phenomenology of Knowing: Consciousness as the Gateway to Knowledge

"To know is to be aware of something."

Human knowledge encompasses everything that we can bring into consciousness through our faculties, which can be broadly categorized as:

Sensory Faculties: The foundation of empirical knowledge, deriving from direct interaction with the environment.

Imaginative Faculties: The ability to visualize, conceptualize, and create mental representations beyond immediate experience.

Intellectual Faculties: The capacity for abstraction, reasoning, and understanding universals.

This tripartite distinction, established by philosophers such as Plato and developed further by thinkers like Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant, underscores the depth of human cognition. While sensory knowledge relates to immediate perception, intellectual knowledge seeks universals and the essence of things. However, to understand the nature of knowing, we must explore the phenomenological structures that underlie human cognition. Husserl’s Ideas offers a deep examination of how we experience and understand the world, which is crucial for understanding the ways we come to know.

1. Natural Cognition and Experience

"Natural cognition begins with experience and remains within experience"

This statement highlights the starting point of our knowledge in Husserl's phenomenology. Natural cognition refers to the way humans naturally engage with the world without questioning the underlying structures of their experience.

Begins with experience: We first encounter the world through sensory and conscious experiences (e.g., seeing a tree, feeling warmth).

Remains within experience: Even when we abstract or theorize (e.g., thinking about "tree-ness"), these thoughts originate from and are tethered to lived experiences.

In the natural attitude, we take the existence of the world for granted, engaging with it as if it is simply "there," without questioning how our consciousness constructs or relates to it.

2. Genus and Species in the Hierarchy of Essences

"Each essence, whether materially filled or empty (thus purely logical), has its place in a hierarchy of essences in a hierarchy of generality and specificity..."

Here, Husserl discusses how essences (the fundamental "whatness" of things) are structured.

Essences: Think of essences as the defining qualities of something. For example, the essence of a "triangle" might be "a three-sided polygon."

Genus and Species:

A genus is a broad category (e.g., "polygon").

A species is a more specific type within that genus (e.g., "triangle" or "square").

This hierarchy is like a family tree of concepts:

Highest Genus: The most general category (e.g., "being" or "object").

Infimae Species: The most specific entities (e.g., a particular triangle or individual object).

Husserl’s idea here is that we can understand the relationship between abstract concepts and concrete instances by exploring this hierarchy.

3. The Natural Attitude

"The world of the natural attitude: I and my surrounding world..."

The natural attitude is how we ordinarily live and think, taking the existence of the world and our interaction with it as self-evident.

"I am conscious of a world endlessly spread out in space, endlessly becoming and having endlessly become in time":

This reflects our experience of the world as vast and dynamic. We perceive it spatially (spread out in space) and temporally (events happening and unfolding over time).

In this attitude, we are aware of things without analyzing how we are aware of them.

Husserl’s phenomenology invites us to "bracket" or suspend this natural attitude to investigate how consciousness structures this experience.

4. Noesis and Noema

"Really inherent and intentive Components of Mental Processes - The Noema"

These are foundational concepts in Husserl’s phenomenology:

Noesis: The mental act or process of consciousness (e.g., perceiving, imagining, judging).

Example: When you look at a tree, the act of "perceiving" is the noesis.

Noema: The content or object of the mental act—the "what" that the consciousness is directed toward.

Example: The tree itself, as it is experienced or intended in your consciousness, is the noema.

Key Idea:

Noesis and noema are two inseparable aspects of intentionality (the directedness of consciousness):

The noesis gives the act of consciousness its form (e.g., perception, judgment, or memory).

The noema is the object or meaning as intended through the noesis.

5. Sense-Bestowal and Intentionality

"Owing to its noetic moments, every intentive mental process is precisely noetic...to effect further productions which become 'senseful' precisely by this sense-bestowal."

Husserl emphasizes how consciousness actively bestows meaning (sense) on objects.

Sense-Bestowal: When we perceive or think about something, we don’t just passively receive information; we actively interpret and assign meaning to it.

Example: Seeing marks on a page as "letters" involves sense-bestowal—you recognize and give them meaning as symbols.

Intentionality: Consciousness is always about something. It doesn’t exist in isolation; it is always directed toward an object, and the "sense" of that object is shaped by the mental process (noesis).

Bridging Husserl with Ancient Thought

"To know is to be aware of something."

In exploring the nature of human knowing, Husserl’s phenomenology offers profound insights into how consciousness structures experience. This modern perspective echoes and deepens key ideas from classical philosophical traditions, particularly those of Plato and Aristotle, who laid the foundation for Western epistemology.

1. The Natural Cognition and Plato’s Theory of Forms

Husserl’s notion of natural cognition—that knowing begins and remains within experience—shares resonances with Plato's Theory of Forms.

Husserl on Experience: While we begin with sensory experiences (seeing a tree, feeling its bark), these experiences point to deeper essences. For Husserl, the tree’s "tree-ness" is not merely an abstraction but is rooted in how it is experienced.

Plato on Forms: Plato argued that the ultimate reality lies in the Forms—eternal and unchanging ideals. For instance, every tree participates in the Form of "Tree." Sensory experiences are imperfect reflections of these ideals.

Connection: Husserl's phenomenology can be seen as a methodological response to Plato. Where Plato seeks to ascend from sensory experiences to the Forms, Husserl urges us to "bracket" assumptions and study how essences (like "tree-ness") are constituted in consciousness.

2. The Hierarchy of Essences and Aristotle’s Categories

Husserl’s discussion of the hierarchy of essences parallels Aristotle’s Categories and his exploration of substance.

Husserl’s Hierarchy: Essences are structured in a genus-species relationship. For example, the genus "polygon" includes species like "triangle" and "square."

Aristotle’s Substance and Categories: Aristotle posited that knowledge involves understanding the substance (the "whatness") of a thing. He categorized beings into ten categories, including substance, quality, and relation, which help us identify the essence of things.

Connection: Husserl’s hierarchy provides a phenomenological reworking of Aristotle’s logical system. It shifts the focus from an ontological hierarchy to the structures of consciousness, emphasizing how we experience and constitute these relationships.

3. The Natural Attitude and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Husserl’s natural attitude aligns metaphorically with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

Husserl’s Natural Attitude: In the natural attitude, we live unreflectively, engaging with the world as if it simply "is." We do not question how consciousness structures these experiences.

Plato’s Cave: Plato describes individuals chained in a cave, mistaking shadows on the wall for reality. True knowledge comes from turning away from the shadows (sensory illusions) toward the light of the Forms (intellectual insight).

Connection: For both Husserl and Plato, stepping out of the "natural" way of perceiving is essential. Plato moves toward the intellectual realm of Forms, while Husserl brackets assumptions to reveal how consciousness constitutes meaning.

4. Noesis, Noema, and Aristotle’s Active Intellect

The interplay between noesis (the mental act) and noema (the object of consciousness) reflects Aristotle’s notion of the active intellect in the process of knowing.

Husserl: The noesis is the dynamic act of perceiving, judging, or imagining, while the noema is the intended object as it appears in consciousness.

Aristotle: In De Anima, Aristotle distinguishes between the passive intellect (which receives impressions) and the active intellect (which actualizes and understands these impressions).

Connection: Both frameworks emphasize the active role of the mind in constituting knowledge. Husserl, however, provides a more explicit analysis of how objects are shaped and given meaning within consciousness.

5. Sense-Bestowal, Intentionality, and Plato’s Dialectic

Husserl’s ideas of sense-bestowal and intentionality resonate with Plato’s dialectical method.

Husserl’s Sense-Bestowal: Consciousness actively assigns meaning to objects. For example, we interpret marks on a page as "letters," giving them symbolic significance.

Plato’s Dialectic: For Plato, knowledge arises through a process of dialogue and reasoning, where we actively engage with ideas to uncover their deeper meaning.

Connection: Both thinkers emphasize the interpretive activity of the mind. While Plato’s dialectic is a method of uncovering truth, Husserl’s phenomenology investigates how this interpretive activity is grounded in lived experience.

Conclusion: Ancient Roots, Phenomenological Perspectives

By connecting Husserl’s phenomenology to the classical insights of Plato and Aristotle, we gain a richer understanding of human knowing. The interplay between ancient metaphysical frameworks and modern phenomenological analysis illuminates the enduring questions of knowledge:

How do we move from sensory experience to abstract understanding?

What is the role of consciousness in shaping our perception of reality?

How do we bridge the gap between the particular and the universal?

In Husserl’s words, "Natural cognition begins with experience and remains within experience." Yet, as Plato and Aristotle remind us, this experience opens onto deeper structures—whether we call them Forms, essences, or the intentional acts of consciousness.

______________________________________________________________

Recommended Resources for Further Research

Edmund Husserl:

Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology (primary text).

The Essential Husserl: Basic Writings in Transcendental Phenomenology (edited by Donn Welton).

Plato:

The Republic (accessible translations by Benjamin Jowett or Allan Bloom).

Phaedo and Symposium for related discussions on the soul and universals.

Aristotle:

De Anima (J.A. Smith or W.D. Ross translations).

Aristotle’s Psychology (critical essays edited by Daniel N. Robinson).

Secondary Sources:

Introduction to Phenomenology by Dermot Moran (for Husserl).

Plato and Aristotle: The Genesis of Western Thought by Jonathan Barnes.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entries on Husserl, Plato, and Aristotle (free online).

Series Link Collection:

Part I: Introduction

Part II: Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology

[planetsandmagic]

"even if no one else accepts you, I'll live with you"

[marisashinx]

How long have they've been sleeping?

[frownyalfred]

Dragon bruce wane that hoards his many children and kids that arnt even his. On an unrelated note clark is wondering why kon and Jon are nowhere to be seen. Who knows🤷🏽‍♀️

Okay. Dragon Bruce Wayne, but the public/media don’t think he inherited the dragon shifter genes from his dad (notable dragon) and the recessive ones from his mom’s side (Martha was a very strong carrier) because he’s so calm in public and doesn’t appear to hoard anything. He’s smooth and charming with media at events, he shakes hands, he’s not twitchy or abrasive like some stronger dragon families are, especially the purebred ones. The Wayne dragon shifters all tended to be prickly in public, even Thomas. Especially when Martha was out of sight too long.

And so, the media writes him off as a non-inheritor, no shifting or dragon genes expressed. Which is strange, considering his parentage. Even Martha had some dragon tendencies as a carrier.

But then. Bruce starts adopting kids, and everyone slowly realizes that this is a dragon. He is the sum of both family lines in the best and worst ways. He is adopting a HOARD of children. He is reasonable about everything except two things: his children, and his city. It turns out, those are the only two things he dragons-out about. But when he does? Holy shit.

Bruce Wayne isn’t a dragon who happens to be in Gotham. He is THE dragon of Gotham. Gotham is his hoard, and god protect you if you touch his kids. All 78 of them running around under his broad wings.

[egophiliac]

YOU MANIFESTED THE TWEEL CARDS CONGRATS

YOU'RE WELCOME EVERYBODY!

seriously though I was probably like. 60-80% thinking we'd get at least one tweel for chapter 10. but I was NOT expecting it so soon! both of 'em! in August! a shame we're not getting a Coral Sea event after all...but I guess I can be resigned to that and ALSO excited for getting shiny sparkly glowing(!!!!) mertwins along with Azul fighting his inner demons and going right for the eyes! AHHHH I CAN'T WAIT

(also heeeey I recognize that rowboat... 👀)

[headcanonthings]

Bernard: My fetish is saying some incredibly stupid shit and watching Tim speedrun the five stages of grief as he realizes with horror that he still wants to fuck me.

[clownowo]

Sisters :]

[bixels]

As cameras becomes more normalized (Sarah Bernhardt encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use cameras because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by manufacturing companies. I paint not because I want a painting but because I love the process of painting. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

if i have to explain to you that using a camera to take a picture is not the same as using generative ai to generate an image then you are a fucking moron.

[willyhoos]

you, and what little remains of your brother.

[tmarshconnors]

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. In Athens, Plato founded the Academy, a philosophical school where he taught the philosophical doctrines that would later become known as Platonism

[valkugo]

Acts 2:23: "This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge [...]"

[zecoritheweirdone]

wanna preface this by saying that i am. So normal. anyway i just spent the last week redrawing scenes from mystery skulls animated but as that hermitcraft au i posted about a couple times. you guys should watch msa it is. so so good.