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Chapter 4 - Are Platonic Forms Concepts?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2024

By
David Sedley
Edited by
Gábor Betegh  and
Voula Tsouna
Gábor Betegh
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Voula Tsouna
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
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Summary

Engaging directly with the question whether Platonic Forms are concepts, David Sedley’s chapter ’Are Platonic Forms Concepts?’ takes its start from the Parmenides 132b–c, where Socrates and Parmenides briefly examine the hypothesis that Forms are ‘thoughts’ (noēmata). Sedley asks what ‘thoughts’ are in that context, and argues that they are not thought contents, but acts of thinking. The chapter offers an ambitious and comprehensive analysis of the classical theory of Forms as showcased in the Phaedo, Republic, Parmenides, and Timaeus, in terms that clarify why Plato was bound to reject the hypothesis considered in the Parmenides (132b–c), namely that Forms are thoughts.

Keywords

AristotlebeingconceptsFormsIdeasparadigmsParmenidesParticipationPhaedoPlatoRepublicSocratesThird Man ArgumentthoughtsuniversalsVlastos
Type
Chapter
Information
Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy , pp. 74 - 95
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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