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general:elements [2012/02/13 21:25] alexandersy created |
general:elements [2012/03/12 19:01] (current) alexandersy [Elements of Platonistic Thought] |
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| ====== Elements of Platonistic Thought ====== | ====== Elements of Platonistic Thought ====== | ||
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| + | Gerald Press give a succinct overview of Plato's thought: "The core of his philosophy is a vision of reality as having two levels or aspects: we register the lower level of change and materiality via sensations that derive a shadow of reality and value from the higher, unchanging, immaterial level; that ideal or formal level is the more truly valuable, knowable, and real and is, therefore, the proper focus of human life and activity." ((Gerald A. Press, "Plato", in //The Columbia History of Western Philosophy// edited by Richard H. Popkin (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 32.)) | ||
| Platonism is not a monolithic system of set doctrines. Each generation of Platonists adds and advances upon the knowledge that has been gathered by those before, and this process has allowed the tradition to develop and improve, and in so doing, has generated a variety of positions on singular issues. If you compare the ideas of any two Platonists, you would sometimes not believe they belonged to the same school of thought. Having said this, someone may ask, if they differ on their ideas, what then is does it mean to be a Platonist? | Platonism is not a monolithic system of set doctrines. Each generation of Platonists adds and advances upon the knowledge that has been gathered by those before, and this process has allowed the tradition to develop and improve, and in so doing, has generated a variety of positions on singular issues. If you compare the ideas of any two Platonists, you would sometimes not believe they belonged to the same school of thought. Having said this, someone may ask, if they differ on their ideas, what then is does it mean to be a Platonist? | ||