[MD] Plato's Good

[david buchanan]

Tuukka said:
Pirsig definitely says Plato says Good is a fixed idea. But is he right?



dmb says:
Yes, according to the very first sentence of the opening paragraph of Stanford's article on Plato, Pirsig is right. 

1. Plato's central doctrines
"Many people associate Plato with a few central doctrines that are advocated in his writings: The world that appears to our senses is in some way defective and filled with error, but there is a more real and perfect realm, populated by entities (called “forms” or “ideas”) that are eternal, changeless, and in some sense paradigmatic for the structure and character of our world."

The opening paragraph also points out that this is "the most fundamental distinction in Plato's philosophy" and, the author says, "nearly every major work of Plato is, in some way, devoted to or dependent on this distinction".

If we made a list of debatable assertions, this one would be at the very bottom. Pirsig is only saying what everyone already acknowledges about Plato's work and anyone who doubts it can easily look it up. It's about as reasonable and realistic as doubting the blueness of the sky. It's silly.