I deny Plato's Theory of Forms on three basic grounds: that the existence of .
Forms contradicts itself by denying the possibility of negations; that his illustrations of.
Forms are merely empty metaphors; and that the theory uses impermanent abstractions.
to create examples of perception. Though the theory is meant to establish concrete.
standards for the knowledge of reality, I considers it fraught with inconsistencies.
and believe that the concept of reality depends upon all Forms' correlations to other.
elements. Forms, Plato believes, are permanent, self-contained absolutes, that answer.
to each item of exact knowledge attained through human thought. In addition, the theory.
claims that states of being are contingent upon the mingling of various Forms of.
existence, that knowledge is objective and thus clearly more real, and that only the.
processes of nature were valid entities. .
I also find fault in this theory on the grounds that Plato's arguments are inconclusive .
and his arguments sometime lead to contradictory conclusions. For example, many claims by Plato's arguments lead one to conclude that entities (such as anything man-made) and negations of concrete Forms could exist - such as "non-good" in opposition to good. This contradicts Plato's own belief that only natural objects could serve as standards of knowledge. Plato's belief that Forms are perfect entities unto themselves, independent of subjective human experience is absurd. Forms are not abstractions on a proverbial pedestal but mere duplicates of things witnessed in ordinary daily life. I say the Forms are not inherent to their representative material objects, but created separately and placed apart from the objects themselves. Thus, Plato's idea that the Forms are perfect and intangible to subjective human experience, is meaningless, for all standards are based somewhere in ordinary human activity and perception. .
Thirdly, and equally as futile, are Plato's efforts to find something common to several similar objects at once, a perfect exemplar of the quality those things share.
