Forms and Reality of Life

Forms define the reality of our life. The reality which surrounds us and the reality which we believe in. To understand more, let’s start with the concepts of ancient Greek Philosophers.

When we talk about ‘forms’ in Philosophy, the theory of Plato and Aristotle rules our mind. They have their different concepts on the ‘forms’, but the notions were almost the same. The intentions as we can speak of, was to define an object under some classes to give proper identification.

Plato Forms

Plato ‘form’ was a purely independent concept. According to him, ‘form’ has got its different world. It’s completely different from the world of matter. They are eternal and limitless. He called the forms as ‘ideas’. It is the most fundamental thing in the universe.

Aristotle Forms

Aristotle forms seek a classification for all the objects in this world. It is called as an archetype for all the creations. For example, ‘beauty’ is a category where all the related beautiful things could be defined and identified. ‘Horse’ is a category which could be used to define any particular figure which resembles like a horse. ‘Woman’ is a category where we can put and define any women of the country.

The Aristotle form could again be categorized into the following two concepts-

1. The Substantial Form– It is the actual category of a form which couldn’t be altered in any conditions. It is a substantial form. For example, the substances ‘horses’, ‘woman’, etc.

2. The Accidental form– It is the altered category of a form. It is the deceived form which is not verifiable from its actual category. It is non- substantial. For example, beauty, wise, justice, cruelty. The nature and definitions of all such things alter from time to time and therefore couldn’t be called as a substantial form.

Conclusively, the forms have different types but the notions are the same. It is the process of identification of some being through the use of some category, principles, and classifications.

Why Forms matters?

Forms, when defined briefly, is a principle which reflects the concepts of a particular person, place or a thing.

In our life, we are conscious of all the forms around us. We are aware of all the natural and unnatural laws. We find the essence of a thing in its process of working. We find the essential character of a thing by its forms. Form matters very much in life. It matters to such an extent that we don’t care to look for the essence when there is some widely accepted form. For example, if there is a certain political idea, we may not care to study its essence until it’s producing sound results.

Forms as a principle matter too much for us. We are habituated to look at the forms that we forget to analyse its essence.

The books, the scriptures, the thoughts of a nobleman are so much meaningful for us. We don’t find it useful to verify the same by our own. We so much believe in the theory produced by others, that we often neglect to verify the theories by our own effort.

There is a story in Chinese scripture which would make the theory of ‘forms and essences’ very much clear.

A meaningful Story

A Chinese monk would use to deliver his sermons on a regular basis. The peculiar thing about the monk was that he would deliver the sermons only when his cat would sit next to him. His love for his cat was admired so much by his disciples that they created a small throne for the cat too. This process of monk delivering his teachings with his cat goes on for years and years. The monk died one day, and a new monk sat on the throne to deliver his first sermons. People got disturbed and found something wrong in the manners of the lecture delivery of a new monk. They claimed that the cat should be there when a monk delivers a sermon. This was crazy. Isn’t it? How people could believe in the forms or procedures so much that they forget the real essences?

This same thing is going on in our society. We are so much conscious of the procedures, methods and systems that we often neglect the real essences. The damn system has spoiled our mindset. We aren’t understanding the essences. We are just claiming the system to be right because it was so throughout the years.

When are we going to realize the essences of a particular system and start working on its positive effects on the society?

The thought pattern which we believed to be true for the years could also be wrong. We should learn to understand the essences of a thing, before completely accepting it as true.

The forms and the reality of life are very well connected through the link of essences. When we understand the essence, we won’t make a mistake to understand the forms and the reality of life.

Thought for the day

The best thing we can do is to identify any system and compare its essences and the meanings towards a society or being. This would directly impact the choices we make in our lives for a smarter living.

Thank you for reading my post. If you liked this idea and want to share some more, then do comments your valuable thoughts on this.