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Socrates seeks to find the the proper object of opinion. He questions "What could it possibly be for something to lie in between 'being' and non-being'?"
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He argues that sensible objects (objects in the physical world perceived with our senses, otherwise known as 'particulars') lie in between 'being' and 'non-being', thus are the proper object of opinion.
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Socrates then goes onto argue that as all particulars lie in between 'being' and 'non being', they must all have 'opposite epithets', which means that a pretty flower may participate in the Form of Beauty, but also in the Form of Ugliness.
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This is because the pretty flower is is not beautiful in itself, so may have some aspects that deviate from beauty, which mean it is partly ugly also - the opposite of beauty.
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"Particulars" have opposites as they are not intelligible and exist in the physical realm thus are subject to the subjective tastes, interests and opinions or the individual. This means, through use of opinion, and individual can declare a particular object to not be beautiful. They are relative and qualified bearers of predicates. They are mutable, in motion and transitory. For these reasons, they can never be an object of knowledge.
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This stands in stark contrast with the Forms. For instance, the Form of Beauty has no opposite, as this is beauty in itself, not dependent on opinion because it is transcendent, static and eternal. Unlike the particulars, they are not changeable and ambiguous. They are of universal and timeless character. They are unqualified bearers of predicates. As the Form of Beauty is concerned with 'what is', then it follows it cannot have opposite epithets - it is of true, justified knowledge.
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Are we obliged to accept the Theory of Forms that underpin this argument? For instance, although we may accept that a pretty flower may never be truly beautiful, and may also be the opposite of beautiful (ugly), this doesn't mean that there is something that exists that is truly beautiful.
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What about particulars that have no opposites? Plato deploys terms to suit his theory. For instance, "beauty" has an opposite, which is "ugly". However, what about terms such as "red" and "fish"? These do not have distinct opposites. Plato's exclusion of such terms makes his argument appear much less plausible.
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