Introduction
Plato is one of the most influential philosophers in western philosophy. His main contribution in philosophical thought is the theory of ideas, also dubbed by many critiques as “Plato’s Idealism” (Nellickappilly 1). Upon careful analysis of Plato’s idealism, it is inferred that while it has many flaws, it still contributed significantly to the development of human knowledge and philosophical thought.
Strengths and Weaknesses
When it comes to flaws or weaknesses, diverse critiques point out that Plato’s idealism is not logical and is hard to understand. In order to understand these criticisms it is first essential to understand what this philosophical theory means. Accordingly, Plato posits that everything that can be seen or experienced by the five basic human senses are not real. They are simple inaccurate copies of abstract, objective, and universal essences.
Even this definition alone is illogical in the sense that abstract ideas cannot be objective, and an objective idea cannot be universal. In order to explain the theory, Plato sets the people’s concept of a cat as an example. Accordingly, all people know what a cat is and can differentiate it from other animals. Yet not every cat is the same because there is variableness among all cats in the world. So how does a person know that a certain animal is a cat, therefore? The answer to this, according to Plato, is that all people have an objective concept of an ideal cat; when a person sees an animal, the mind measure’s the variation of the observable to the ideal cat, then judges whether the animal is indeed a cat or not (Nellickappilly 2-4).
Plato further argues that the ideal cat does not exist in the observable world, but exist in an eternal world. It follows, therefore, that even if all cats in the world die, the ideal cat will always exist. Hence, people, despite not seeing any cat anymore, will still know that a dog is not a cat.
When it comes to strengths, Plato’s theory is hard to disprove since nothing observable will be able to disprove that which is only derived from reasoning. This leads to one more strength of the theory – it withstood the test of time. Lastly, the theory has laid grounds in the extensive study of the metaphysical (Georgescu 144).
Importance in the Development of Human Knowledge and Philosophical Thought
As weird as it may seem, at first hand, Plato’s theory had important repercussions in both human knowledge and philosophical thought. In human knowledge, it somehow emphasizes that our current knowledge of the world is not 100% accurate because it is not the real essence. Those who seek knowledge, therefore, should exert more effort so that they could come closer to that which is real and universal. Plato’s idealism, therefore, help establish the proper attitude for the exploration of deeper knowledge.
This attitude is even encouraged in both science and religion. In science, for example, experimenters want to minimize errors by doing as much research and repetitions of certain experiments to reduce the percentage of errors in their measurements. The reduction of errors is perceived by many scientists as a way of getting closer to the ideal. Scientists also acknowledge errors cannot be totally removed; hence, agreeing with Plato that observables cannot be 100% descriptions of the ideal.
With regards to idealism’s contribution to philosophical thought, Plato has actually paved way to philosophical pursuit in understanding the things that are beyond the observable or the real world. It encouraged the pursuit for understanding hat lies beyond this world. It tried to answer the age old philosophical questions, why are we here, what are we, and what will happen to us when we die. All these philosophical questions are still subjects in philosophy, at present, and Plato is one of the most common names referred to in proposing answers to them. This means that Plato contributed significantly to the study of the Metaphysical (Nellickappilly 4). The concept of the ideal also paved way to the philosophical approach of reasoning. Plato notes that the ideal is observable; therefore, we cannot approach a perfect understanding of the ideal or universal by observing but solely by reasoning (Nellickappilly 5).
Application of Plato’s Idealism
Perhaps there is nothing more pronounced in the application of Plato’s theory than the application of the ideal in Religion in the real world. The western civilization had the most diverse kinds of religion in the world, and almost all of these lay heavy emphasis in the ideal. For example, religion teaches that man should act in accordance to the standards of God. Religion further teaches everything in this are only temporary and that which is eternal is something that we cannot observe, yet we have to strive to become. Religion is therefore Platonic. Interestingly, religion has had its share in shaping western constitutions; hence, it can be validly argued that Plato’s idealism has also made it way in the development of western constitutions (Statham 120). Today, whether aware or not, people tend to strive to become the ideal person that they know. This reflects to the entire community, society, nation, and the world. People tend to mend wrong ways and make them better, in their stride to become a better person and for a better world.
Works Cited
Nellickappilly, Sreekumar. “ Aspect of Western Philosophy: Plato’s Idealism.” nptel.ac.in. n.d. Web. 2017.
Georgescu, Ştefan-Dominic. “Plato’s Contribution to Speculative Logic.” The Academy of Economic Studies. 1993. Web. 2017.
Statham, Edward R. Plato and the Modern Escape from Political Responsibility. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. 2002. pp. 107-130.
