PLATO - THE SEARCH

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>PLATO</FONT><BR> THE IDEALIST</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Search for Truth</B></FONT><P> <TABLE ALIGN=Left BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="0403a.jpg" WIDTH="186" HEIGHT="250" ALT="LADDER"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BLOCKQUOTE>"In the world of knowledge, the idea of the Good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and the lord of the light of this visible world, and the source of truth and reason in the intellectual."<P> from "The Republic"</BLOCKQUOTE> Plato and the students of his Academy, the first school of philosophy in Athens, were to climb the ladder of knowledge, leave the concrete world of perception and ascend to a level of true understanding based on intellect and reasoning. This involved coming to understand the universal concepts or "forms" which represented a higher level of reality than the objects that embody them. The objects of perception were changeable, in <A HREF="../02/02f01.html" TARGET="_top">Heracleitian</A> flux, the objects of intellect, the "forms" were in <A HREF="../01/01f01.html" TARGET="_top">Parmenidean</A> eternal immutablility. Medieval thinkers adopted the metaphor of the ladder to the highest level of understanding, but translated Plato's Good into the Christian God. <P> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>