How Things Work – A Brief History of Reality
Book I – Dualism (Plato's Realm of Forms)
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Tuesday, November 16, 2021
“I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal.”
― Groucho Marx
Preface
Welcome Everybody!
In our previous Newsletter we considered the Eastern approach to dualism which essentially consisted of unifying, or transcending, the illusion of opposites that constitute duality. This passive perspective of duality is in sharp contrast to the Western viewpoint regarding dualism. Whereas the Eastern approach is one of complete unification, the Western approach is one of complete dissection, union versus demarcation. The West takes a more aggressive interactive approach to understanding and manipulating the mechanics of reality. Using reason as a “balance” for the extreme opposites of dualism, Western philosophy focuses on logic and abstraction as tools for allowing human beings to fully understand their own reality and create new ones. The capacity for utilizing abstract thought in order to further understand the possibilities of reality is what separated the West from the East; thereby resulting in a dynamic expansion of ideas eventually leading to the Scientific Revolution. The roots of rationalism begin in ancient Greece.
“Plato believed that our physical reality was actually just a reflection of a more perfect eternal reality he called the Realm of Forms.”
Although considered the “Father of Western Philosophy,” Socrates never actually wrote anything. However, he did ask a lot of questions. The Socratic Method consisted of questioning virtually everything until reaching a point of true understanding. Socrates focused human reasoning on the critical issues and ideas most important for human development. His student, Plato, chronicled the life, times, and teachings of his famous teacher; also establishing the first Western institution of higher learning called the Academy. Plato believed that our physical reality was actually just a reflection of a more perfect eternal reality he called the Realm of Forms. Although a world of complete abstraction, Plato considered it “more real” than physical reality itself.
Plato taught his students that all of us want to be part of something higher, a transcendent reality of which the world we see is only a small part, and which unites everything into a single harmonious whole. All of us, he said, want to crawl out of the cave of darkness and ignorance, and walk in the light of truth.
“There is no other road to happiness,” Plato concluded, “either for society or the individual.”
Arthur Herman – 5 Reasons Why Plato and Aristotle Still Matter (December 6, 2013)
Plato’s philosophy and metaphysics would have a major impact on Western Civilization, and in the development of Christian theology within the Catholic Church, shaping many Christian concepts and dogma such as the nature of Heaven. Plato firmly establishes the concept of two worlds; a physical world of the five senses, and a higher alternative non-physical reality of eternal perfection called the Realm of Forms.
Consideration #5: Plato’s Realm of Forms
(Emphasis in quotations such as italics and bolded text are mine)
Chapter 2: Eastern & Western Dualism
Western Dualism
“Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.”
– Rene Descartes, Discourse on the Method (1637)
Western dualism focused not on experiencing the “unity of one” through the transcendence of illusionary opposites, but ironically, or perhaps naturally, focused on the very opposite possibility instead. Western knowledge and understanding centers on breaking down the whole into its smaller constituents in order to understand how a system works. It is a process of systematic division based on knowledge gained from previous division; a step-by-step process of building insight and understanding from prior insight and understanding one step at a time. This involves a rational, logical, and reasonable approach to problem solving based on comprehending the basic elementary principles constituting an entire system or process. It is a reason-based approach to obtaining the truth about reality. In Western history and tradition, the essential paradox of dualism would become epitomized through The Mind-Body Problem, as expressed by Rene Descartes. However, considerations regarding the essential duality of physical and nonphysical realities are recorded as far back as Plato.
The Theory of Forms
“In the knowledgeable realm, the form of the Good is the last thing to be seen, and it is reached only with difficulty. Once one has seen it, however, one must conclude that it is the cause of all that is correct and beautiful in anything, that it produces both light and its source in the visible realm…”
Plato – Parmenides
The Greek philosopher Plato argued that there were in fact two separate worlds, or realities. The physical world that we know is the shadow world of a more perfect abstract world that is not available through the five senses. However, it is the foundation from which our reality originates. The physical realm is constituted of material stuff that we interact with daily through our five senses. This physical world is imperfect and constantly changing. However, the spiritual realm exists beyond the physical world we recognize with our senses. Plato called this spiritual reality the Realm of Forms, or the Realm of Ideas and Ideals. Here is how it works.
“Plato suggested that the physical world was a mere shadow-world constituted of corrupted images reflecting the perfect unchanging true reality of the original “Forms” that transcended time and space.”
The Realm of Forms represents a perfect abstract world in which the original essence of everything we experience as physical is perfectly manifested and generated eternally. Plato suggested that the physical world was a mere shadow-world constituted of corrupted images reflecting the perfect unchanging true reality of the original “Forms” that transcended time and space. Although the Realm of Forms, and even the Forms themselves, are completely abstract, Plato believed they were in fact more real than the physical forms themselves, because they were perfect and never changing. Abstract concepts such as “Redness,” “Roundness,” “Beauty,” “Justice,” or physical models such as “Cat” and “Human,” all resided eternally perfect in the Realm of Forms.
We recognize the physical attribute of an object because of its eternal Form. We say, “the ball is round,” because we recognize the eternal “a priori,” (perfect, eternal, abstract knowledge that can be deduced through logic and reason) Form of Roundness in the specific object “ball.” All of our knowledge stems from the Realm of Forms.
“All physical reality is a shadow-image reflection of the perfectly abstract Forms constituting the spiritual world.”
For example, we recognize a “cat” because all physical cats reflect the eternal Form of Cat that abstractly resides in the Realm of Forms forever perfect and unchanging. The physical cat is only a shadow image of its true eternal Form and all physical cats are “cats” because they reflect the eternal abstract Form of “Cat.” All physical reality is a shadow-image reflection of the perfectly abstract Forms constituting the spiritual world.
Plato’s Forms represented not only the causes and manifestation of everything in the physical world, they also represented a unique model of abstract a priori knowledge that could be accessed through reasoning, logic, and intellect. Plato’s Theory of Forms heavily influenced his student Aristotle, who later revised Plato’s material and spiritual realms into the more philosophic and scientific inquiries which became the study of Physics and Metaphysics.
Postscript
One of the most important things to understand about Plato’s insight into the Realm of Forms is that it sets up a fundamental philosophical paradox that has influenced Western philosophy and thought up to the present day: where does “thought” or “reason” come from? Where does our ability to imagine abstract possibilities and situations originate? Plato’s argument is that our innate knowledge and understanding of the physical world is only possible because of an “a priori” knowledge that comes from another abstract reality.
We recognize the idea of “roundness” because we have an inherent recognition of “roundness” due to an inherent connection through reason to its perfect abstract form that eternally resides in the Realm of Forms; in this sense we intuit roundness. It is this a priori knowledge that allows abstract thinking to be possible. The argument over the existence of “a priori” knowledge would eventually result in two opposing philosophical groups: Rationalists and Empiricists.
“Plato’s argument is that our innate knowledge and understanding of the physical world is only possible because of an “a priori” knowledge that comes from another abstract reality.”
Rationalists, like Platonists, believe that our ability to recognize unique abstractions, such as a triangle, involves more than just recognizing that it has three sides. We have an intuitive understanding related to other relationships in terms of sides, angles, and measurements. In addition, there are even deeper relationships, such as the triangle being the first step in manifesting three-dimensional space, known as a plane in geometry. Plato, Platonists, and Rationalists all believe that the ability to recognize and understand these types of abstract relationships originate from knowledge that comes from “outside” of our individual self.
In other words, Empiricists argue that all possible knowledge involves only the physical brain, whereas Platonists and Rationalists argue that this unique kind of knowledge and reasoning originates from outside of the physical brain and is related to another reality or dimension of understanding. Plato argued that this “a priori” understanding originated from the Realm of Forms. This leads to one of the most basic questions related to reality: is reality the product of our brains, or something else? Does our brain generate reality, or interpret reality? East or West?
“Plato argued that this ‘a priori’ understanding originated from the Realm of Forms.”
Plato used the knowledge gained from his teacher, Socrates, to expand the investigation into the nature of reality. He saw a duality consisting of a material world constituted of physical stuff and a spiritual world of eternal abstract perfection from which it sprang. His student, Aristotle, would pursue this duality from a slightly different perspective.
Next week we will consider Aristotle’s understanding of Physics and Metaphysics.
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