Plato's world of forms and eudaimonia:

Plato was one of the gratest philosophers of all time and also the very first metaphysical
thinker who was determined to define the existence of the true being. Most of his work is
in the form of dialectic dialogue between him and Socretes who said that Knowledge is
virtue and in order to obtain knowledge , we first must know ourselves.
In the famous painting the Scool of Athens Plato can be seen walking behind his student
Aristotle. Plato is pointing his finger upwards. He is an idealist and this can be seen in
various aspects of his philosophy.Plato believe sthat this world is based on ideas.
Aristotle on the other hand has his palm on level 0. He is a realist. He bases his ideas on
experimentation. Plato's and Aristotle's ideas confllict on the fact that while plato
believes in the world of forms existing beyond this real world , Aristotle believes that the
only thing that is real is the world that we exist in , the physical world. Rest all is a figment
of our imagination.
According two Plato, reality has two different realms, that is, our world in its true sense
is divided into two - the physical world , and the world of perfect forms or ideas. The
physical world is constantly changing. We live in an illusionary world. This world is a
world of senses. It lacks order and everything in this world is a poor immitation of the
world of forms. We rely on our senses to determine our true being in this physical world.
We are ourselves imperfect reflections of the world of forms. Physical world is tangible
and highly transient, short lived. The world of forms on the other hand is the real world
where knowledge exists .
The real world is different from the world we live in. Plato says that Knowledge is virtue.
We can find a true being of knowledge aand justice and that resides in the world of
forms. Here perfect forms of the things we know on earth exist. Plato believes that our
soul was a part of this world of forms before we came into existence. We are part of this
material world. We can find our true being only in the world of forms. Everything in this
world is an apperance, an illusion of the truth.
This is the reason why the imperfect world undergoes a constant state of change. We
can grasp the visible world with our senses whereas the intelligible world is eternal and
has knowledge exists. In order to be a part of this world of forms we need to think
independently of our senses.
Things in the physical world loose their identity along the way which is why we can
conclude that the real world is simply a shadow of the world of forms. It is our job to
break free from the shackles and proceed into the world of forms. The roundness of an
orange, the blueness of the sky etc are all considered to be forms. Plato utilizes the toolmaker's blueprint as evidence that Forms are real.A common topic of discussion in the
greek philosophy was that how can we determine the truth if our world is constantly

changing form one moment to the next?. Plato's answer to this was a brodened
perspective centered around the theory of forms. He said there is an answer for sure but
the material world cannot reveal it.Plato said that the world of forms is only available
through the intellect unlike the physical world which relies on senses.
In this regard he talks of the allegory of the cave.Plato asks us to imagine a situation in
which certaine prisoners are trapped in a cave. They are chained in such a way that they
can only see the wall in front of them. Behind them is a burning fire. Also there is a
walkway between the prisoners and the cave. Now everyday some or the other people
or animals walk by that passage. But all that the prisoners are able to see are their
shadows on the cave wall in front of them and hear their distorted sounds. Now the cave
is signifiacant of the material world or the phisical world whereas the world outside is the
real world or the world of forms.
Now imagine that one of the prisoners is set free. He takes time to get accustomed to
the real world outside which is beyond his imagination and experiences eudaimonia. He
is astounded by the beauty of the world outside which is vast and till now was non
existent. Having learned about this world outside, He is eager to inform his friends about
it. So he returns to teh cave and tries to tell them about the same. But his friends do not
believe him at all. To them he cannot be recognized and appears like the shadows on
the wall. His voice too is distorted echo and he is merely a shadow. They are afaid of this
transformation and hence do not believe him.
The prisoners can be thought of to be trapped in the world of senses as they are trying to
form conclusions based on their senses which is why they cannot learn to appreciate the
beauty of the outside world as they are trapped in the physical world. In a similar way we
too are trapped in this material world. We are so confined to are mindsets and comfort
zones that we do not wish to accept the truth. We do not know enough. This is the
tragedy.
Plato believes that once we broaden our horizon's to the world of forms we reach a state
of fulfilment or eudaimonia. For this he encourage us to 'know ourselves'. He in his
dialogues with Socretes reveals that an unexamined is not worth living. Eudaimonia is a
sense of well being. When we express ourselves to the highest possible level we
achieve a sense of eudaimonia. We need to close the gap between what we are capable
of doing and what we are actually doing at present. eudaimonia is associated to higher
pleasures. Eudaimonia is a choice. It is dependent on the fact on how we choose to act
in a particular moment.To achieve a state of well being we need arete or excellence.
Excellence in human nature can help us find the true being. Thus Arete which is a termc
oiineed for excellence is necessary.
Plato later goes on to explain that we all goon to fight an inner conflict from time to time.
Once the questions are raised and their difficulty is acknowledged it is important for us to
reflect upon them and find answers and plato just gives us basic theories to answer

them. An entire world of such Forms is envisioned within the theory of forms, a world
that lies much beyond outside of time and space, where qualities like
beauty,temperance, courage exist unaffected by the atrocities of the physical world.
Plato wants us to believe that the rational part of our soul is superior. That part which
wants to in itself exist beyond the narrow boundaries created by mankind, the narrow
thought.
That is our soul which after death attaches itself to the world of forms. Plato believes that
the non material abstract world is of the highest order and we must strive to know the
trusth and escape from the imperfections of this imperfect transient world. In regard to
his theory of forms plato argues that if knowledge is part of our physical world which is
constantly changing with time then there is no knowledge and nothing to be known.
Therefore knowledge must be constant and so should be the real world which exists
beyond our imagination. The soul after detaching itself from the human body becomes a
part of this world of forms.
My concluding thoughts are that in order to achieve a state of eusaimonia we all must
first sense well beig and stricve for excellence through arete and that this can be done
only if the person is willing to thing beyond time and space and resides in a world of
theory of forms.