Q&A: What Is an Idea
What Is an Idea
Question
With God’s help,
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask what is meant when people say the idea of X, for example the idea of the good or horseness?
Is the idea of the good good? Is the idea of horseness a horse?
That sounds strange, because if so, they themselves would need an idea to define them. But if it is something abstract, then what distinguishes it from something physical?
Like a mere instruction manual?
Answer
Good question. It cannot be just a collection of properties, because then it would not be something that exists, and Plato, unlike Aristotle, sees an idea as something that exists. But it is also not a horse. It is an entity that bears the collection of properties and is not a horse. Maybe something like a DNA molecule that carries the full set of human traits.
We discussed this in detail in the book on Platonic thinking in the Talmud, in relation to the paradox of the Third Man.
Discussion on Answer
It’s a book, not an article. I don’t have it.
Do you have that article available to read?