The Concept of Reality of Socrates
nor his sufferings, nor his fears are the
❖ Reality is dualistic, made up of two
dichotomous realms. One realm is
changeable, transient, and
imperfect, whereas the other realm
is unchanging, eternal, immortal.
The physical world in which we
live—comprising all that we can see,
hear, taste, smell, and feel—belongs
to the former realm. All aspects of
our physical world are continually
changing, transforming,
disappearing.
❖ In contrast, the unchanging, eternal,
perfect realm includes the
intellectual essences of the universe,
concepts such as truth, goodness,
and beauty. We find examples of
these ideal forms in the physical
world—for example, we might
describe someone as truthful, good,
or beautiful. But these examples are
always imperfect and limited: It is
only the ideal forms themselves that
are perfect, unchanging, and eternal.
Plato
“ Although we speak of an individual as
being the same so long as he continues to
exist in the same form, and therefore
assume that a man is the same person in
his old age as in his infancy, yet although
we call him the same, every bit of him is
different, and every day he is becoming a
new man, while the old man is ceasing to
exist, as you can see from his hair, his flesh,
his bones, his blood, and all the rest of his
body. And not only his body, for the same
thing happens to his soul. And neither his
manners, nor his dispositions, nor his
thoughts, nor his desires, nor his pleasures,
same throughout his life, for some of them
grow, while others disappear. . . . Thus,
unlike the gods, a mortal creature cannot
remain the same throughout eternity; it can
only leave behind new life to fill the vacancy
that is left as it passes away. . . . And so it is
no wonder that every creature prizes its own
offspring, since everything is inspired by this
love, this passion for immortality.”
Three part-soul/ self constituted by:
​ REASON—Our divine essence
that enables us to think deeply,
make wise choices, and achieve
a true understanding of eternal
truths.
​ PHYSICAL APPETITE—Our
basic biological needs such as
hunger, thirst, and sexual
desire.
​ SPIRIT OR PASSION—Our
basic emotions such as love,
anger, ambition,
aggressiveness, empathy.
Plato’s Theory of Reality
He believed that everything on our
planet is just a copy of a perfect form
that exists on a different planet.