Introduction:
One of the most discussed topics in Platonic history is Plato’s Theory of Forms. This theory implies that abstract forms or, as common people call it, ideas, and not materialistic things, contain the highest amount of reality within them. In Platonic dialogues, these ideas are spoken through some character, mostly his teacher, Socrates, and they inform that the Forms are the only subjects of study which can give human beings indisputable knowledge. When Plato spoke about the Forms, he was formulating an ideal solution to the “problem of universals”.

The Forms:

The ancient Greek philosophy of Forms came before the existence of an attested language. It was represented by numerous words which generally had something to do with sight or vision. The usually used word was “weid” which meant “see”. This word was also commonly used in the works of Homer, the great ancient Greek poet and author. “Μορφή” was another word that was commonly used to depict the Forms. The literal meaning of the word was shape and its original root is still unknown.

These meaning and depictions remained as they were for many centuries until the age of Philosophy came by. The pre-Socratic philosophers like Thales noticed that these appearances kept changing over the time and wondered what that change is. The very roots of the appearances were shaken up. The answer to their question was nothing but “substance”. And now, there arose another important question; what is form and how is it, in any manner, related to substance?

It was in this way that the modern day theory of matter or forms was created. Plato started realizing that the Forms were starting to be used in something different which he called nature. But the big question still prevailed; what were the Forms? In all Platonic dialogues, Plato discusses that there is a form for everything that is seen in nature; forms of human beings, dogs, colors, mountains and even the forms for abstract things like humility, love, courage and cowardice. The Theory of Forms that Plato came up with is basically summed up within those words. It precisely answers the question, “what is something?” However, Plato doesn’t seem to have been satisfied with that answer. He goes one step ahead and asks the most important question; what is the basic meaning of the word “form”? He speculated that any object, materialistic or abstract, is a form and the ideas around them were mere compliments which portray the Forms in different colors and moods. So he came up with a simple yet self-explanatory answer which said that the Forms were nothing but essences of real objects, both abstract and materialistic, without which nothing would be the way it actually is. This idea later came to be known as the Platonic Theory of Forms.

Description: The Theory of Forms proposed by Plato is still one of the most widely discussed topics amongst modern day philosophers. It touches the core fundamentals of every object, materialistic and abstract, and explains their constitution in a simple manner.

Keywords: theory of forms, platonic theories, platonic theory of forms, ancient greek philosophers