Validity of Plato's Theory of Research Proposal

However, many times, viewing an object in relation to other objects does indeed transcend the permanence of the meaning and create new meaning. Therefore, our knowledge of what we are convinced is real can change, which highlights the question of whether or not our original knowledge was real before it changed; or if knowledge can ever be real. Socrates posed these questions initially, pondering the ability to agree that something "is" no matter what it might eventually be or not be.

Brumbaugh thus presents the following three principles that comprise this argument:

"1. We only contact these objects through subjective images. We never perceive them directly.

2. These objects contain a number of properties that are mixed together. Any description of the object that doesn't separate out these properties cannot explain what makes the object act the way it does. For example, if all you know about [an] & #8230; is that it is the particular thing it is, you will not know as much as if you know that it is black, star-shaped, made of ink on paper, etc.

3. These objects are always changing, taking up different properties from moment to moment, and going in and out of existence" (1).Conclusion

Plato's innovative thinking and courageous exploration of the human psyche essentially laid the groundwork for centuries of philosophical discussion. While his theory of forms is not without its flaws, the fact that it is able to successfully integrate both scientific and philosophical foundations lends a substantial amount of credence to its validity. The true testimony to his insightfulness lies in the fact that his writings can be so easily analogized with such a wide variety of relevant subjects, past, present and future.

WORKS CITED

Banach, David "Plato's Theory of Forms," St. Anslem College, Department of Philosophy, http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/platform.htm

Brumbaugh, Robert Sherrick. Plato for the Modern Age. University Press of America, 1991

Plato, Meno, 380 B.C.E Transl. Benjamin Jowett http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/meno.html

Plato, Phaedrus 360 B.C.E Transl. Benjamin Jowett http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html.....