What are Platonism's strengths and weaknesses?

What are Platonism's strengths and weaknesses?

NOTE: This mini article is compatible with the reading of the book: The Love of Wisdom: A Christian Introduction to Philosophy.

Platonism is one of many views of realism. It “provides a straightforward solution to the problem of the one and the many” through characteristics. Cowan and Spiegel gave us the dogs, Rover and Fibo, as an example to display their similarities and differences through Platonism. Universals were used to establish a relationship between these dogs, by claiming they are nonexistent in time and space. The example was using their shared color of brown and the fact that Fido was smaller than Rover. This view also “provides a ready account of predication[s]” (Cowan and Spiegel, 2009). This goes to apply that both the dogs are brown and not another color. That statement is a predication.

This view also fits with the Christian view, in that the existence of God is neither in space nor time. We can’t identify God as a physical object that has space and/or time because he is merely a belief that we have no evidence to support. According to Christianity belief, God is everywhere. In Psalm 139 it claims that God is omnipresent, meaning that he is present everywhere. However, how can he be everywhere when he doesn’t take up space? This concept would also be considered a universal because it is an “abstract entity” (Cowan and Spiegel, 2009).

The main weakness I see is that propositions are a part of the view of Platonism. As a Christian when I hear the son of God, I am assuming that it means Jesus. While there are other religions out there who believe that Jesus was merely a prophet and another prophet was the son of God. Who is right? Well, according to Platonism, they both would be right because that is what they were taught and have experience to believe. This supports the fact that we are all entitled to our own beliefs, but it doesn’t support solely Christianity, but other religions as well.

Questions I was asked:

Q#1: What about universal prepositions? Is it a weakness or is it a strength when it comes to Platonism?

I agree with you in that the universal preposition is indeed a weakness. However, I view this weakness differently than you. A universal preposition can be one statement with multiple meanings. According to the view of Platonism, it doesn’t rule out any other beliefs if they have the same statement. An example, previously mentioned, is that when we hear the statement, “son of God,” we instantly think that it is a reference to Jesus. That is because that would be from a Christian viewpoint. However, there are other religions out there that view Jesus as a prophet and believe another prophet is the son of God. The question on this matter is who is right? Platonism supports not only Christianity, but also supports other religions out there.

Q#2: I have heard the in concept of Platonism; women are men being punished for not fulfilling the requirements in a previous life. Is that true? Also, is Dualism flawed because there are a lot of arguments against it?

According to Genesis in the Bible, all men and women were created equally. I disagree with that concept in that women are punished men. In fact, I have never heard that. The only one I have heard is that women were created for men to be their companion. With that said, I agree. Platonism does have some flaws, in that it accepts untruthful things to be true. However, technically thinking through philosophy, who are we to say what is and isn’t truthful?

Anyways, I notice you mention that the book states that Dualism is flawed, in that they address more than one argument against it. I find the concept of there being a spiritual world and a physical world intriguing. This concept also makes biblical sense, in that the spiritual world is the heaven and the physical world is earth.

References

Cowan, S. B., & Spiegel, J. S. (2009). The love of wisdom, a christian introduction to philosophy. (pp. 172-175). Nashville: B&H Academic.