Question

How would Plato account for the nature of a square (i.e. what makes a square a square according to Plato)? What would make a table a table for Plato? How do you think Plato would explain a table changing (e.g. breaking, being destroyed in a fire, being used as material to make a chair)?

Answer 1

Plato gave a theory of forms. It keeps main focus on superiority of ideas. It says that ideas are basically something which talks about non physical forms. Our ideas provides more accurate knowledge about reality of this world.

Forms of anything is just like a blueprint. It can be understood through an example. We consider a table as a table because we have blueprint of table in our mind. We know the characteristic of a table and that's why we can not claim a chair as a table and vice versa.

It is our thinking and the blueprint in our mind which inspires us to think in a particular fashion and manner. We compare anything with the blueprint present in our mind. If matching takes place in an appropriate manner then we start believing on the fact otherwise we start arguing about the existence of that object.

We gain knowledge through observation in our surroundings. We know what happens when a chair burns. We know the results of breaking of different different material. Anything that happens in our surrounding is being compared by the pre existing knowledge present in our senses.

If any deviation takes place then we call it unnatural and try to explore each and every possible dimension to provide the valid reasons for changes which are taking place. Our ideas play main role in all these processes.