Plato’s Critique of Relativism and Dualism

Posted on Jan 21, 2025 in Philosophy and ethics

Plato’s Critique of Relativism

Sophists and Relativism

Plato criticized the Sophists’ relativism, exemplified by Protagoras’s famous statement, “Man is the measure of all things.” Plato saw this relativism as a flawed foundation for ethics and political life.

Reasons for Rejecting Relativism

Plato’s rejection of relativism stemmed from several key reasons:

  1. Ethical and Political Grounds: Plato believed that absolute moral values were essential for a just society and individual well-being. He posited the World of Ideas as the absolute reference frame for wise action.
  2. Logical and Epistemological Grounds:
    1. Epistemological Concerns: Plato argued that only the existence of absolute entities (Ideas) could overcome relativism and establish true knowledge.
    2. Logical Contradictions: In the Theaetetus, Plato presents arguments against relativism, highlighting the contradiction of relativism being both true and false.

Plato’s Anthropological and Ontological Dualism

Anthropological Dualism

Plato’s anthropological dualism posits two opposing principles in humans:

  • The Body: The physical, material component, linking us to the sensible world.
  • The Soul: The immaterial, divine, and immortal component, connecting us to the World of Ideas.

Plato viewed the soul as the true self, temporarily imprisoned by the body. This reflects his concept of the body as a hindrance to the soul’s true nature.

Ontological Dualism

Plato’s ontological dualism divides reality into two distinct realms:

  • The Sensible World: The world of physical, changing, and temporal things.
  • The Intelligible World (World of Ideas): The world of non-spatial, non-temporal, immutable, and eternal forms.

While both worlds exist, the Intelligible World is primary. The Sensible World derives its meaning and intelligibility from the World of Ideas.