> From jcwilliams@dialogosweb.com Tue Feb 17 16:11:31 1998
> To: "'adam@cs.caltech.edu'" <adam@cs.caltech.edu>
> Subject: A Platonic Note
> X-Priority: 3
> Mime-Version: 1.0
>
> Take a great excerpt from a great book:
>
> "What has been commonly understood as Platonism revolves around its
> cardinal doctrine, the asserted existence of the archetypal. . .
> [Platonic] Forms. That assertion demands a partial shift, though a
> profound one, from what has come to be our usual approach to reality. To
> understand this shift, we must first ask, "What is the precise relation
> between the Platonic Forms ... and the empirical world of everyday
> reality?" Upon this question turns the entire conception.
>
> It is crucial to the Platonic understanding that these Forms are
> primary, while the visible objects of conventional reality are their
> direct derivatives. Platonic Forms are not conceptual abstractions that
> the human mind creates by generalizing from a class of particulars.
> Rather, they possess a quality of being, a degree of reality, that is
> superior to that of the concrete world. Platonic archetypes form the
> world and also stand beyond it. They manifest themselves within time and
> yet are timeless. They constitute the veiled essence of things."
>
> -- The Passion of the Western Mind, Richard Tarnas, 1991
>
> Make the following substitutions :
>
> Platonism - the Object Model
> Forms - Classes
> Reality - systems
>
> Now read the passage, keeping in mind that Plato expressed these
> thoughts 24 centuries ago:
>
> "What has been commonly understood as the Object Model revolves around
> its cardinal doctrine, the asserted existence of the archetypal. . .
> Object Model Classes. That assertion demands a partial shift, though a
> profound one, from what has come to be our usual approach to systems. To
> understand this shift, we must first ask, "What is the precise relation
> between the Object Model Classes ... and the empirical world of everyday
> systems?" Upon this question turns the entire conception.
>
> It is crucial to the Object Model's understanding that these Classes are
> primary, while the visible objects of conventional systems are their
> direct derivatives. The Object Model Classes are not conceptual
> abstractions that the human mind creates by generalizing from a class of
> particulars. Rather, they possess a quality of being, a degree of
> reality, that is superior to that of the concrete system. The Object
> Model Classes form the system and also stand beyond it. They manifest
> themselves within time and yet are timeless. They constitute the veiled
> essence of things."
>
> Joe Williams (double-l exonerated)
> DiaLogos Incorporated
> Man the pumps! The cantaloupes are coming!
>