How can we Know the Nature of Reality - Essay Example

The idea of Socrates that the concepts contain the true and sustainable knowledge was the basis of Platos philosophy, but the philosophy of Socrates considered primarily ethical concepts, while Plato extended this position to all concepts without exception. Socrates did not question the relatedness between the concepts and reality: the ethical concepts could reflect reality at least in order to be its positive samples, despite the fact that nothing corresponded to them in reality. By extending the theory of ethical concepts on all the concepts, Plato had to put a new problem: what is the reality that people learn using concepts?

Similar to all Greek philosophers, Plato was a realist (Kraut). For him it was an oracle that if the concepts contain knowledge, there must be a real object of this knowledge. Nevertheless, what is that object? Plato understood the matter as follows: the characteristics of concepts are their individuality and sustainability. This is the first prerequisite. The objects, about which people have some idea, should have the same characteristics as their concepts. This is the second premise. At the same time, all the things known to people from experience, do not have these characteristics because they are more complex and fluid (changeable).

This is the third premise. Hence, Plato concludes that things are not the objects of the concepts and thus they are not real. According to Plato, stable characteristics belong to the concepts, not to the things. For example, Plato considered the question of what is the object of the concept of "perfect." Beautiful things cannot be the real object of the given concept since they are heterogeneous and unstable. It remains to assume that there is something perfect unknown to people from direct experience.

It is always one and unchanging, and therefore has a genuine reality. Beautiful things are the object of experiences and