Do Realismo Moderado ao Realismo Extremo em Platão

Abstract

Plato defends, in the course of his dialogues, visions quite distinct on the nature and knowledge of Ideas (ei[dh) or, in more Porphyrian terms, of universals. In this paper, we follow the explanations given by the master of Aristotle on this subject in two works pertaining to distinct periods of his intellectual life. First, we examine the conception of these Ideas in the Meno, in which Plato seems to expound the Socratic convictions or to inaugurate his own reflections on the matter. Next, we see his vision of the same in the Phaedo, which certainly presents Plato’s traditional thinking on this question. Finally, we try to explain whether this amounts to an evolution of his thought or simply an adaptation to the distinct kind of abstraction used throughout his career.