Timaeus by Plato

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Whatever is apprehended by intelligence and reason always exists and has no becoming.
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The world -the universe- must have been created,
for it is a sensible,and not an intelligible,thing ;
the world is a living creature endowed with soul and intelligence.
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The soul of the world is prior in existence and excellence to the body of the world ;
the soul's function is to know the rational and to rule the body.
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The universal nature which receives all things without changing its own nature is ''that which is'' ; it is eternal,formless space.
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The three natures which make up reality are
a.the IDEAS -the eternal forms of things-,
b.the sensible COPIES of Ideas -existing objects-, and
c.the SPACE.
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Philebus by Plato,Pleasure or Wisdom

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Philebus has mantained that PLEASURE is good,
while Socrates contends that WISDOM is better than pleasure.
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To decide the issue,
Socrates considers whether a life of pleasure
without wisdom or knowledge would be worth while ;
and he decides that if pleasure is not known,
or realized,it has no value.
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But life of wisdom which is in no way pleasant is also without value.
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Wisdom contributes more than pleasure does to the good,
for by wisdom order and harmony are achieved,
and they are the essential features of the good.
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In the final ordering of goods,as a result of the discussion,
measure is ranked first ;
second is that which is ordered by measure,the symmetrical and the beautiful ;
third is mind or wisdom,which possesses more of beauty,symmetry,and truth than does pleasure ;
fourth is the class of arts,sciences,and true opinions ; and
fifth is the class of pure pleasures,those accompanying the practice of the pure arts and sciences.
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Sophist by Plato,Σοφιστής

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The sophist claims that
"In teaching the art of rhetoric he teaches all useful knowledge".
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Parmenides claims _that "the real is one being"-is false,
for the term "real'' must refer to one Idea and the term ''one'' to another.
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Those who claims that ''the tangible is real'' is mistaken,for Ideas are real ;
and life,soul,and intelligence are also real,yet none of these is tangible.
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The task of the philosopher in his search for wisdom is to seek to discover
"which Ideas combine and which do not''.
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The sophist claims that ''we cannot speak of what is not'',
but he is mistaken for to speak of what is not is simply to speak of
"that which exists as not having certain forms (Ideas)".
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The sophist is an image-maker who teaches the art of deception through the use of language ;
he is no true philosopher.
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Parmenides by Plato

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Zeno has argued that
"If Being is many,it must be both like and unlike,which is impossible" ;
but Zeno forgetts that,
although the universals likeness and unlikeness are not identical,
particular things can alike in some respect,
and unlike in some other respect.
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Socrates claims that
"There are absolute ideas of
the Just,
the Beautiful,
the Good,and
the Truth ;
but there are no ideas of vile materials such as mud,hair,and dirt".
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Parmenides has various criticsms of the Doctrine of Ideas :
"If an Idea is one and yet exists in many things,it is separated from itself ;
and if Ideas cover things with only parts of themselves,
anything partaking of smallness would be smaller than absolute smallness".
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Furthermore,Parmenides argues,
"The Doctrine of Ideas leads to an infinite regress of Ideas ;
and if the Ideas are absolute,
they cannot be known by us".
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Parmenides then demonstrates his sophistical skill by arguing that
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"IF THE ONE IS,
THE ONE IS NOT ;
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IF THE ONE IS NOT,
NOTHING IS".
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