Plato’s Critiques And Developments Of Parmenides’ Theory Of Being In The Sophist

This paper concerns about the critics which Plato puts forward in the Sophist about the possible problems in Parmenides’theory of Being, and on this base to elaborate Plato’s own thinkings on the problem of Being. Then demonstrating that the theory of Plato is a whole unity, the later dialogues developed the earlier idealism, and idealism itself is not dualism while is a monism leaded by teleology which aim at unifying the contradictions of one and many, general and special wihtin their differences.First of all, this paper will declare what is the problem that Plato concerned from beginning to end. Since the Socratic dialogues in early period, the dialectic in universal definition tried to reveal that the idea has a transcendental universality which is contained in particulars, the reason why changing appearance can be experienced by people is the universally prescriptive faculty of ideas. In the whole progress, early dialogues told that the definition is subsuming under rules; while its endless end told that this subsumtion is always remained to be done. "X is..." is the structure of universal definition and this kind of judgment structure is the necessary premise of definition. So the copula Be(in Greek is ειυαι) acts an essential part to connect genaral with special.To deal with Being, what is the difference between Plato’s and Parmenides’ thinking? And how Plato conceals Parmenides’ shortage? Socrates, Plato and Aristotle all agree with Parmenides’ proposition of "to be aware and to be are the same". For Parmenides,what-is-to-be is the fundamental basis of every exist things, and this basis cannot break away from appreciable things, but it has no limitation. Parmenides described it as immutable that cannot be changed One which has no part. However, the meaning of what-is-to-be isn’t specific, so it leaded many incorrect understandings, such as Megaric School and Sophists. Sophist replaced universal with special things, and generates relativism and nihilism at last. While Megaric School extremely contradict special with general, and understands what-is-to-be formally.In the Sophist, under criticizing Parmenides’theory Plato declare his own thoughts about Being. The real being is the identity of differences, Plato define being as potential and use this idea to break the opposition between motion and motionless. The intention of theory of the communion of genera is to reveal the identity of universal idea and special appearance, namely the unity of being and not-being. And the foundation of this unity is teleology guided by the Good. In Plato’s idealism, only in the construction of teleology can eventually achieved the identity of differences.