One of a group of arguments presented by Plato (c.427-c.347 BC) in his dialogue Parmenides (p.131e-3a) in apparent criticism of Plato’s theory of forms.
Briefly, the argument might be put as follows. If a man is made to be what he is by participating in a Platonic Form (though Greek did not distinguish small and capital letters), then another Form will be needed to explain how both the man and the Form can be called ‘man’.
This Form will be a ‘third man’, and yet another Form (a ‘fourth man’) will be needed to explain how these three items can all be called ‘man’, and so on to an infinite regress.
As Plato presents it, the argument requires Forms themselves to have the properties they are Forms of (see paradigmatism), but the argument can be restated to avoid this, and in fact raises fundamental questions about objects and their properties, and predication.
The theory has been copiously discussed in the 20th century, and by Aristotle (384-322 BC) – to whom we owe the name, and also the example ‘man’; Plato’s own example being ‘large’ – for whom it played a major part in determining his reactions to Plato’s metaphysics.
Source:
J A Passmore, Philosophical Reasoning (1961), ch. 2; modern treatment of Plato’s problem
Table of Contents
- 1 Videos
- 2 Related Products
- 2.1 UFOTV Presents: The Mystery of the Sphinx - New Scientific Evidence - Expanded Directors Cut
- 2.2 The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life/The Most Important Year in a Man's Life: What Every Bride Needs to Know/What Every Groom Needs to Know
- 2.3 Tucker: The Man And His Dream [Blu-ray]
- 2.4 The Fountainhead
- 2.5 The Pedophile Hunters
- 2.6 Wordsworth: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
- 2.7 Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul's Letters
- 2.8 Last Argument of Kings (The First Law Trilogy Book 3)
- 2.9 Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television
- 2.10 Dalziel & Pascoe: Season 4
- Plato’s theory of forms (or ideas)
- private language argument
- paradigmatism
- haecceitism
- one over many principle
Videos
UFOTV Presents: The Mystery of the Sphinx - New Scientific Evidence - Expanded Directors Cut
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- JohnAnthonyWest.Dr.RobertM.Schoch (Actor)
- Bill Cote (Director)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life/The Most Important Year in a Man's Life: What Every Bride Needs to Know/What Every Groom Needs to Know
- Wolgemuth, Robert (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 320 Pages - 04/10/2018 (Publication Date) - Zondervan (Publisher)
![Tucker: The Man And His Dream [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tATJOpZlL.jpg)
Tucker: The Man And His Dream [Blu-ray]
- Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau (Actors)
- Francis Ford Coppola (Director)
- Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
The Fountainhead
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Rand, Ayn (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 752 Pages - 04/26/2005 (Publication Date) - NAL (Publisher)
The Pedophile Hunters
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Paul Rhys (Actor)
- Simon Egan (Director) - Lucy Hetherington (Producer)
- English (Playback Language)
- English (Subtitle)
Wordsworth: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
- Audio CD – Audiobook
- English (Publication Language)
- 01/09/2007 (Publication Date) - Lyrita (Publisher)
Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul's Letters
- Payne, Philip Barton (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 512 Pages - 11/21/2009 (Publication Date) - Zondervan Academic (Publisher)
Last Argument of Kings (The First Law Trilogy Book 3)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Abercrombie, Joe (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 642 Pages - 09/08/2015 (Publication Date) - Orbit (Publisher)
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Mander, Jerry (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 378 Pages - 03/01/1978 (Publication Date) - William Morrow Paperbacks (Publisher)
Dalziel & Pascoe: Season 4
- Factory sealed DVD
- Various (Actor)
- Various (Director)
- English (Publication Language)
- Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Last update 2020-04-05. Price and product availability may change.