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the academy in Atens. His mentor was Socrates and his student was
Aristotle. Together they helped to lay the foundations of western
philosophy and science. Plato wrote many dialogues which have been
used to teach phiolosophy, logics, retorics and mathematics. The place
and time of Platos birth are not known but it is certain that he was a
member of aristocratic family. It is believed that he was born in Atens
around 425 bc. It is also known that his father was named Ariston. In
his childhood Plato was a student of a school named Apelius and was
a mindfull and modest boy. His major studies were grammar, music
and gymnastics. Later on he attended a few courses of philosophy and
after meeting Socrates it became his lifestyle.
For the science of linguistics Platos works and dialogues on science
of linguistics made a huge impact. The idea is that the material world
as it seems to us is not the real world, but only an image of the real
world. Forms are abstract represantations of many types of things
which we can see and feel around us. Therefore there are 2 worlds: the
world which can be seen and is constantly changing, and one which
can not be seen and is unchangable.
To understand Platos account of the relationship between words and
objects we need to understand his theory of forms.
Plato talks about ideal forms also known as Platonic Ideals. These are
perfect versions of qualities and objects which enable us to make
sense of the world around us. Our knowledge of them is within us fom
our birth till our death. We can not gain it through experience, it is
something which is in our existence.
Ideal forms can be imagined as patterns or the ability to think and
understand everything around us. For example the meaning of the
word justice cannot be experienced form its word form but we can
experience justice in its manifestation. The main idea is to think about
a word or an object and connect it wih its manifestating form in real
life.
Plato describes his ideal forms as categories which we use to differ
qualities and objects in real life. For example we can say that someone
is beuatiful not because he or she is the same as the ideal of beauty but
because it is similar enough to it to be given that name. Because these
forms or patterns are actually abstracts which cannot directly be