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The Form of the Good
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plato describes "The Idea of the Good" in his book, The Republic, speaking through the character of Socrates. The Idea of the Good is the child or offspring (ekgonos) of the Good, the ideal or perfect nature of goodness, and so an absolute measure of justice. Plato also explains his theory of justice in The Republic, in relation to his conception of a city in speech, both of which necessitate rule of the rational mind; in other words, philosopher-kings, who can grasp the Idea of the Good.
Plato said that the highest form of knowledge is the Idea of the Good, from which things that are just gain their usefulness and value. Humans have a duty to pursue the good, but no one can hope to do this successfully without philosophical reasoning.
The Form of the Good in Plato's philosophy was identified with God by Augustine of Hippo.
From goodness is something called the "Hierarchy of Forms". This suggests that from goodness comes such things as justice, truth, equality and beauty, among many others. There are abstract ideas, for example horse, chair and tree. Beneath this are the mathematics and sciences, which train us to understand the abstract ideas. At the very bottom are the material objects - the opinions based on perception.
