Question

The knowledge of Plato's ideas or form is based upon:

• A. Intuition
• B. Sense experience
• C. Reason
• D. Revelation

Hint:

For Plato, sense experience gives opinion, while reason gives true knowledge of Forms.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept:
Plato believed that the world of Forms or Ideas is the real world. The physical world is changing and imperfect. The Forms are eternal, perfect and unchanging.

Step 1: Understand Plato's Forms.
Examples of Forms are: \[ \text{Beauty itself} \] \[ \text{Justice itself} \] \[ \text{Good itself} \] These are not objects of sense perception.

Step 2: Check sense experience.
Sense experience gives knowledge of the changing physical world. It cannot give true knowledge of eternal Forms. So, sense experience is not the correct answer.

Step 3: Check reason.
According to Plato, true knowledge is obtained by reason. Reason allows the soul to rise above the world of appearances and understand the Forms.

Step 4: Final conclusion.
Therefore, knowledge of Plato's Forms is based upon: \[ \boxed{\text{Reason}} \] Hence: \[ \boxed{\text{(C)}} \]