Key Terms
Definition
Every particular thing in the material world participates in an immaterial form or essence that gives it its identity. T
Strength
More honest than the other two. Grounds historical texts while accepting that we can't fully step outside our own framew
Weakness
Can fall into the trap of treating history as a story that was always building toward right now. History may have no goa
EXAMPLE
Reading Plato's Allegory of the Cave purely as epistemology ignores that it was also a political response to Athenian ty
Martin Bernal (Black Athena)
Ancient Egyptians and Phoenicians were foundational to Greek civilization. An "ancient model" accepting African and Midd
Mary Lefkowitz (Not Out of Africa)
The Greek debt to Egypt is real and worth acknowledging; but Greek philosophy was not wholly derived from Egypt, and Wes
Central question
What is the universe fundamentally made of? Two camps: monists and pluralists.
Monism
The view that the universe consists of one basic substance.
Key beliefs
The universe is fundamentally numerical; its mysteries can be revealed through music. Also believed in the transmigratio
Method
Question interlocutors until they realize they do not know what they thought they knew. The Meno dialogue compares Socra
Example
Any drawn rectangle is imperfect. The form of a rectangle - four sides meeting at perfect 90-degree angles - never chang
Implication for politics
True knowledge requires understanding the forms. Therefore rulers should be philosopher-kings - those who have the clear
Material cause
What is it made of? Formal cause: What shape or form does it have?
Final cause
What is its end goal or purpose?
Plato
The soul is an eternal substance that is reborn in various bodies.