著者

奥田 和夫

出版者

法政大学文学部

雑誌

法政大学文学部紀要 = Bulletin of the Faculty of Letters, Hosei University (ISSN:04412486)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.78, pp.1-10, 2019-03-18

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E. Lask (1875-1915) said that Plato’s theory of Forms is one of two worlds theories. This opinion has been accepting vulgarly. In this note I observe that Plato certainly distinguishes aistheta(sensibles, sensible world) from noeta (intelligibles, intelligible world), but he does not tell they are on an equality with each other nor the former is independent of the latter.We read in the Symposium, the Phaedo, and the Republic that the Forms themselves do not appear as such to us but always are identical with themselves and the objects of our nous (intelligence) as “being of X”. The simile of the line of the Republic VI shows that each segment of the line is partitioned by the degrees of clearness and truth of cognition of the soul. So the simile is mainly intended to tell cognitive range of the soul rather than the kinds of objects. Generally speaking, the same object may appear severally according to the degrees of the line.A learner who imagines that the theory of Forms is one of two worlds theories at initial stage of the study can hardly emerge from incorrigible misunderstandings about the Forms.