The Ontology of Plato and Lucretius Essay Example for Free

The Ontology of Plato and Lucretius Essay Ontology is the science involved with the study of nature and the different aspects of being. It is an arm of the realm of metaphysics and is understood to be a mixture of two fields: science and philosophy. It can be considered as the primary philosophy as it serves as an instrument through which different problems regarding the relations of being and nature are examined. Ontology involves many different concepts and has evolved through the years to include many theories and evaluations established by renowned philosophers. It has grown to include a large body of knowledge. The specific ontologies to be tackled here, however, will only include two of the more popular philosophers involved in the field, namely, Plato and Lucretius.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plato’s Theory of Forms states the different aspects of his ontology. The theory was first established in Plato’s Republic, as evidenced in the   Myth of the Sun, the Divided Line, and the Myth of the Cave and is composed of five basic characteristics. First, words are the names of things. This means that words or nouns are names of actual entities. Second, that Forms exist. This second characteristic expounds the first indicating that the words that name things or entities are particular to a certain form. Thus the entity takes form. This is part of Plato’s concept of dualism indicating the presence of two worlds: the sensible-where specific objects exist and the intelligible-where the Forms exist. The third characteristic stresses that the Forms of objects have more weight in reality than do ordinary objects. This is because of the stated fact that Forms are universal indicating more permanence and greater contribution to the identity of a particular object. Fourth, all particular objects in the sensible world are directly related to their counterpart forms in the intelligible world through a process coined by Plato as â€Å"participation†. This process was never expounded and remains problematic to this day. The fifth characteristic of the theory states that the forms residing in the intelligible world are the causes of or are the reasons for events occurring in the sensible world. Lucretius also stated his own ontology through his six-book poem entitled De Rerum Natura or On the Nature of Things. This epic poem is the only known work produced by this Epicurean poet. Lucretius first establishes his ontology through by restating the characteristics of the atomic theory: nothing comes from nothing, nothing becomes nothing, everything is composed of the indivisible bodies called atoms, and atoms are separated by empty space. Thus Lucretius believed that the basic units of reality were only the body, composed of atoms, and void, space between atoms. Everything that is perceived in reality simply stems from the properties present in these two basic units. Thus concrete bodies are simply aggregations of many atoms combined and space is merely extended to exist between these atoms. Thus it is only the combination of these individsible atoms that leads to the formation of more complex structures and beings. It should be noted that Lucretius did not make use of the word â€Å"atom†. Instead, he used terms such as the primordial rerum, seeds, and matter. These terms served the purposes of his poetry better and were more appropriate to the context in which these matters were discussed and used. Both Plato and Lucretius presented their ontologies through literary works. Both were able to maintain the beliefs established in their individual theological commitments in their ontologies. Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura was completely in line with Epicurean teachings. Plato’s ontology was also clearly in agreement with his theologies as it was often restated in many of his writings. References Watt, S. (1997). Introduction: the theory of forms (books 5-7). In Plato:Republic (15-16) London: Wordsworth Editions Englert, W. (2003). Lucretius, on the nature of things. Newburyport, Mass.: Focus. Ross, D. (1951). Platos Theory of Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.