Φίλοι,
Attached is the reading that is to be completed by Session 4: The Forms.
Plato’s alleged Theory of Forms remains one of the most contested, lively, and paradigmatic elements of Platonic philosophy. What is a Form? How do they inform our embodied lives, and how do we know which Forms there are? Here, we will attempt to elucidate Plato’s ToF via Socrates’ animated journey of the soul traveling through the cosmos.
We will start class by revisiting the charioteer allegory for the soul, since we didn't have time for it after the proof for the immortal soul (ergo, I talked too much. And you guys did too. A lovely problem for us to have, honestly!). And then we shall knock out the Forms...
Required:
Plato, The Phaedrus, 244a-257e (with special attention to 246e-248a and 250b-252a).
Optional:
Plato, The Republic, 508b-520a.
Harte, Verity. “Plato’s Metaphysics” in The Oxford Handbook of Plato, 191-217. (PDF)
Yes, you are once again reading The Phaedrus 244a-257e, but this time with special attention to 246e-248a and 250b-252a. Here, Socrates outlines the journey the soul takes into the cosmos. What is a Form in the Phaedrus? What Forms are there? (hint: these are usually capitalized). What is our relationship to the Forms before our souls enter our physical bodies? What our relationship to the Forms after our souls enter our physical bodies? And so on.
*optional* The most famous passage about the Forms in the Platonic corpus occurs in the Republic (508b-520a), where Plato submits his Allegory of the Cave to illustrate our knowledge of the Forms. Check it out for fun, but remember, there could be tensions between what the Phaedrus has to say about Forms and what the Republic has to say about Forms... (PDF of the Republic below)
*optional* Finally, I've included an excellent secondary source introduction to the Theory of Forms by Verity Harte. If there is an optional reading to dig into for this class, it is this one. In "Plato's Metaphysics," Harte looks closely at the Platonic corpus to parse out what can be said about Forms, while also honestly tackling what can't be said about Forms. Indeed, for being one of Plato's most famous and supposedly developed theories, we actually receive very little explicit doctrine on them from Plato. Sticking closely to the actual primary source text instead of relying on interpretations from Aristotle and Neoplatonists, Harte develops an earnest account of the infamous Theory of Forms whilst helping us understand the limits and boundaries of our source material. PDF attached.
Happy reading.
-S