Can someone mark this re philosophy essay pls

To what extent does plato’s vie of the forms explain the nature of reality.[40marks]

Plato was a greek philosopher and a rationalist who believed in the forms which was an unchanging, perfect realm.

This essay will aim to demonstrate that Plato’s view of the forms successfully explains the nature of reality through reason and the soul and Aristotle’s view.

Plato successfully demonstrates that Plato’s view of the forms explains the nature of reality. He uses the analogy of the cave to explain this. In the analogy of the cave there are prisoners in a cave facing the wall and they think that the shadows on the wall are reality. One of the prisoners escapes the cave (the philosopher) and sees the real outside world. He then goes back to tell the other prisoners but they do not believe him (they are empiricists). The cave represents the world of appearances (this world) and the outside world represents the forms, where the sun is the highest form of good. Underneath this there are the higher forms of justice and beauty. Aristotle, who was an empiricist, argues that we need to experience thing to believe in them. He argues that there is no evidence of the forms. Plato argues that to get to the forms is a journey and that we need to use our reason to work out how to fulfil our telos (purpose) and reach forms. Also, Aristotle believes there is no evidence of the forms, however, we need to use our reason and logic to work out that this world is the world of appearances. If Aristotle does not use reason he cannot be a philosopher therefore, Plato successfully demonstrates that forms explains the nature of reality.

Plato successfully argues that the forms explains the nature of reality using his view on the soul and the body. Plato is a dualist who believes that the soul and body are seperate. The soul is non-physical and the body is physical, which means they both have different characteristics. The soul has been in the forms and it has experienced perfection. Now that the soul is trapped inside of us, we have an idea of perfection. Aristotle is a materialist and he believes that the soul and body are not seperate and the soul doesn’t live on after the body dies. The soul is non-existent without the body and so it would not have been able to survive in the forms. However, Aristotle is an empiricist and he believes in the soul, which means he has no evidence for which means he is contradicting himself. Plato is therefore correct to say that the soul has been in the forms and lives on after death as we have an innate ability to distinguish good from bad. This is because the soul remembers the forms (anamnesis) and therefore the forms is the perfect explanation for the nature of reality.

In conclusion, Plato’s view of the forms successfully explains the nature of reality as the soul has anamnesis and also we are able to use our reason and intellect (a priori knowledge) to know that the forms is the nature of reality.