Plato's Theory of Being and Becoming

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the basic philosophical revelation which leads from the idea of "being" and "not-being" into the theory of forms, is, if truth does not reside in objects or in names or semantics, then truth must be external to the physical and mental experiences of humankind. The author points out that the dichotomy between "being" and "not-being" becomes a dichotomy between "being" and "becoming", based on the same principles; the ideas of "being", "not-being" and "becoming" are all tied together in a single purpose, which is to make the ever-changing, yet ever-constant, world intelligible. The paper concludes that Plato establishes many impressive ideas in his work on "being" and "becoming" particularly when one takes into consideration the heavy intellectual load of previous Sophism, which he had to overcome.

From the Paper:

"So Plato and Socrates had from these forerunners a heritage of thought which may have distorted their own vision to some degree. As the introduction to the Project Gutenberg edition of Plato's Sophist suggests, the idea that ""no-being" or reality can be ascribed to "not-being", and therefore not to falsehood, which is the image or expression of "not-being". Falsehood is wholly false; and to speak of true falsehood, as Theaetetus does (Theaet.), is a contradiction in terms...The fallacy to us is ridiculous and transparent... It is a confusion of falsehood and negation, from which Plato himself is not entirely free." Yet this was a vast, overarching preoccupation among philosophers at the time, and much of what might now be considered somewhat absurd in the argument was at the time a very serious question of the questionable possibility of full human communication, or as to whether humans could truly affect the world around them and see it change, or if it was essentially unchangeable."

More papers on Plato's Theory of Being and Becoming:

• Analytical Essay # 121922 : "Plato's Theory of Forms"
• Essay # 97000 : "Plato's Concept of Forms"
• Essay # 60870 : "Allegory of the Cave" in the Air"

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