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The Indivisible Oneness In Plato's Republic

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definition of a whole by being composed of all of these parts (and, therefore, be the limit for these parts) in which exist the indivisible oneness and being, and can be many (145a). In this way, the antinomies of neither having parts nor being whole in Deduction 1 and of both having parts and being whole in Deduction 2 are maintained in light of oneness as indivisible wholeness. Plato would (and should) accept Parmenides’ antinomies of not having parts vs. having parts in Deduction 1 and 2 in order to explain the metaphysical aspects of his Form of the Good more clearly. In Plato’s Republic, he states that the good “gives truth to the things known….and though it is the cause of knowledge and truth, it is also the object of knowledge” (508e). …show more content…

The good in the other things cannot exist without partaking of being or else it would not give these other things their truth in reality. Furthermore, the good in these existent things must compose the good that is in order to form a cosmic whole, like the existent things in which the one that forms a unitary whole. Nevertheless, the good itself must still be transcendent/beyond being such that the “good that is” differs from the form of the good in and of itself, since to disallow this (and, thus, always pair the good with being) would prevent the form of the good from having power over and beyond all existence. If this is disallowed, the good that is always tethered to being would not be the ultimate source of truth and reality, but would always be contingent upon being. Similarly, the one’s oneness must be beyond being such that it remains one in itself, yet it must always exist together with being in the things that are so that all being can have unity. Otherwise, since being would have no oneness, there would be no unity, but an inconceivable multitude. Thus, both oneness and the form of the good must exist without parts in and of themselves beyond being so that they are not equivalized with being, but always give being a structure (whether it be unity or cosmic

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