Start with the Socratic intuition that the most beautiful thing on earth is a human being living well. Extrapolating:
- Persons living well are more beautiful than any impersonal entity.
Add a Platonic assumption:
- Nothing is more beautiful than the Form of Beauty.
(Quick argument: Platonic Beauty is resemblance to the Form of Beauty, and nothing resembles x more than x itself does.)
- There is a person who lives well.
Thus:
If the Form of Beauty is an impersonal entity, then there is a person who is more beautiful than the Form of Beauty. (1 and 3)
So, the Form of Beauty is a personal entity. (2 and 4)
The Form of Beauty is immaterial.
So, there is an immaterial personal entity that is supremely beautiful. (2, 6 and 7)
(A personal entity is one that is one or more persons.)
No comments:
Post a Comment