Extended Essays 2021

Government by AI

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T his epistemological argument shows that Plato’s rule of reason is rooted in a faith of power

of knowledge which is a logical and prevalent idea in Western philosophy, advocated by

subsequent philosophers like Descartes and Leibniz. However, upon close examination, the

soundness of fundamental claims in this argument is questionable, namely the universal and

objective existence of forms, and the Form’s ability to achieve the Good. Upon evaluating these

claims, the power.

The foundation for the epistemological belief --- the objective and universal existence of forms

--is questionable. While it is reasonable to doubt and reject the physical appearances which is

an attitude prevalent in Western philosophy, Plato took it to an extreme in saying that ideas are

objectively the only true being and they have objective significance, meaning they can be

applied universally to other scenarios outside of its original setting, like how Plato assumed

that the form of justice within an individual is applicable to the situation of a polis . 6

This assumption is criticized by many subsequent philosophers, for example, nominalist

Thomas Hobbes would argue that universal ideas are merely “ collective names, arbitrarily

imposed by men on roughly resembling particulars, by the standard of subjective human

convenience, ” therefore, have no objective significance. 7

I would argue that classification of particulars is not completely artificial. Although there is no

distinct, intrinsic classification, there are different degrees of similarity between objects, for

example, a human would be similar to a lesser degree to a tree than a strand of grass. Hence,

the categorizations are somewhat meaningful. However, as they are based on human perception,

the platonic form may not be objectively true isolated from human perspective, hence, could

not be universally applied in the physical world outside of its conventional circumstance.

6 Plato. 2021. The Republic . Chicago: Otbebook publishing. 7 Rand, Ayn. 1999. Glossary of Objectivist Definitions .

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