Plato's Arguments for Rationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Plato's Arguments for Rationalism - Essay Example Plato’s arguments can be summarised in the following contest: a) Justification is simply by reason instead of senses. This means that there is need to move away from that world of cave that is explored by our sensory experience and move outside the cave to discover the world of forms by means of reason. b) Objects of knowledge such as forms are necessary, unchanging and external. Therefore, we are looking for the permanent order which underlies the flux. c) The most basic and important knowledge is priori that means that it does not rely on sensory information. Thus this is true knowledge of goodness, of mathematics, of justice and many others. d) Mathematics is simply like a model for the entire knowledge process. This implies that the easiest way that an individual can think of forms is by thinking of mathematical objects being the perfect circle.The theory of form is regarded to as one of Plato’s most powerful theory. It proposes that on top of the physical world tha t we sense in our midst, there is also another realm based on reality. This kind of realm is intelligible instead of being an observable sphere in existence; it is made up of absolute, unchanging, external, perfect forms that define that which exists imperfectly and fleetingly in our world of senses. The forms therefore provide knowledge regarding the objective truth. The theory of forms assists Plato’s epistemological theories in a number of ways.Epistemological theories are based on the account of what is meant by knowledge.