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Examples Of Plato's Theory Of Forms

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Plato’s Theory of Forms explores the ultimate structure of reality, and questions what reality actually is, as opposed to what it appears to be. The Theory of Forms is an epistemological response to the nature of reality. Plato came to conclude that everything in our world is only a copy of a perfect form existing in an eternal, unchanging realm attainable to us only through contemplation. At the centre of the Republic, Plato displays the features of his theory through three analogies; The Cave, The Divided Line and The Sun. Through these analogies, in addition to the Theory of Recollection and the Two Worlds Theory, we can piece together a resemblance of understanding and consider a critical interpretation of the Theory of Forms. Plato’s reasons for locating truth and ultimate reality on a dimension that is outside of space and time are because of the forms transcendence. A material object, for example a tennis ball, exists at a particular place at a particular time. A form, roundness, does not exist at any place or time. The forms exist, or subsist, in a different way. This is especially important because it explains why the forms are unchanging. A form such as roundness will never change; it does not even exist in time. It is the same at all times or places in which it might be instantiated. A form does not exist in space in that it can be instantiated in many places at once and need not be instantiated anywhere in order for the form to exist. The form of roundness can

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