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    Plato's Theory of Man

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    Paul Olea
    This document discusses Plato's theory of forms and the idea that everything in the visible world is a copy of a perfect form that exists beyond time and space. It connects this theory to Plato's views on music, arguing that beautiful music gives us a glimpse of the perfect world of forms by satisfying our souls. The document suggests that music reveals order and beauty in the world, as philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras and Boethius described centuries ago. It argues that music transcends worlds and gives hope by connecting us to the perfect, divine source of all beauty.

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    Plato's Theory of Man

    Uploaded by

    Paul Olea
    505 views1 page
    This document discusses Plato's theory of forms and the idea that everything in the visible world is a copy of a perfect form that exists beyond time and space. It connects this theory to Plato's views on music, arguing that beautiful music gives us a glimpse of the perfect world of forms by satisfying our souls. The document suggests that music reveals order and beauty in the world, as philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras and Boethius described centuries ago. It argues that music transcends worlds and gives hope by connecting us to the perfect, divine source of all beauty.

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    This document discusses Plato's theory of forms and the idea that everything in the visible world is a copy of a perfect form that exists beyond time and space. It connects this theory to Plato's views on music, arguing that beautiful music gives us a glimpse of the perfect world of forms by satisfying our souls. The document suggests that music reveals order and beauty in the world, as philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras and Boethius described centuries ago. It argues that music transcends worlds and gives hope by connecting us to the perfect, divine source of all beauty.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    505 views1 page

    Plato's Theory of Man

    Uploaded by

    Paul Olea
    This document discusses Plato's theory of forms and the idea that everything in the visible world is a copy of a perfect form that exists beyond time and space. It connects this theory to Plato's views on music, arguing that beautiful music gives us a glimpse of the perfect world of forms by satisfying our souls. The document suggests that music reveals order and beauty in the world, as philosophers like Plato, Pythagoras and Boethius described centuries ago. It argues that music transcends worlds and gives hope by connecting us to the perfect, divine source of all beauty.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Sem. John Paul D.

    Olea

    SSP II

    Platos Theory of Man


    The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful.1

    Plato, who trod this earth around 429 347 B.C., is one of the most impressive and influential author in the history of
    philosophy. He is known for his disconcerting but profound idea on Theory of Forms (or Theory of Ideas). A concept that
    refers to the belief that everything we see in this visible world is just a copy of a perfect world somewhere beyond time
    and space: the Perfect, Pure, Beautiful and Good! (as depicted his Allegory of the Cave). Vlastos discusses Platos theory
    of Forms while analyzing further its traditional concept, examining, and pointing out other misconceptions surrounding
    the idea. He scrutinize, admitting fairly that he misunderstood his most admired philosopher, Platos method and accusing
    it as dogmatic and apologetic, rather than historical and scientific.
    ________________________+_________________________

    Contemplating on the sacred art of music, I realized that human beings are born with an affection to what is noble, good
    and beautiful. He will always hate and disgust the ugly no matter how objective or subjective his taste seems to be. It may
    sound far-fetched but I want to put a bridge between Platos two ideas: Theory of Forms and On Music. Plato mentioned
    in his book the potency of music, he said Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm
    and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul
    of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful. 2
    We may ask why I should mention music here in this commentary. I do believe that beautiful music (objective beauty) is a
    foretaste of that perfect world of Forms. It is a window where we can have glimpse of what is beyond satisfying our
    souls and quenching, for a while, our thirst for that longing to be transported to that place: a paradise which philosophers
    until now have difficulty describing. I cannot just set aside or refute any of Platos ideas since much of it bears a
    fingerprint of the Divine. And when I say Divine, Truth and Wisdom resides within it.
    Much has been refuted and almost if not all buried back to its ancient soil some out-of-this-world ponderings of these
    sages. Music, for instance, has been found out by scientist to be a celestial energy bringing order and beauty, and
    somehow chaos if mistakenly tune, to everything. Pythagoras, Boethius and Plato were right then when they commented
    on this thousands of years ago. They tried to explain things or a phenomena in their own formula of words, methods and
    beliefs which cannot be place at same level of scientific explanation and expression that we have today. There might have
    been a problem in expressing it but I know, if Plato, Anaxagoras or Democritus and their contemporaries are still alive
    today, they will reign like Hollywood stars in TESLA, FERMILAB and CERN!
    Music for me is an art of precision and perfection. It transcends all. It is like a string connecting two worlds apart the
    mundane and the Divine. It gives hope to all regardless of belief that there is a perfect world we left somehow and now we
    strive to be with. Today, we appreciate all these beautiful things that surrounds us, what more if we will see the Source of
    all that is Perfect, Beautiful, and Good.

    1
    2

    Platos Republic, III


    Platos Republic, III

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