Platonism
the philosophy or doctrines of Plato or his followers.
a Platonic doctrine or saying.
the belief that physical objects are impermanent representations of unchanging Ideas, and that the Ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known by the mind.
(sometimes lowercase) the doctrine or practice of platonic love.
Origin of Platonism
1Other words from Platonism
- Pla·to·nist, noun, adjective
- an·ti-Pla·to·nism, noun
- an·ti-Pla·to·nist, noun, adjective
- pro-Pla·to·nism, noun
- pro-Pla·to·nist, noun, adjective
Words Nearby Platonism
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use Platonism in a sentence
There was the purest Platonism at bottomOf all his feelings.
My Recollections of Lord Byron | Teresa GuiccioliPlatonism, embraced by the early Fathers, was a collection of abstractions and theories, but was deficient in method.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume V | John LordThis is the more remarkable because it is not an essential element in Neo-Platonism, upon which Gabirol's system is based.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy | Isaac HusikHe shows a better knowledge of Aristotelian ideas than his predecessors, and is well versed in Neo-Platonism.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy | Isaac HusikPlatonism, which offers delightful games for such subtle wit as his, he especially liked to play with.
The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke | Rupert Brooke
British Dictionary definitions for Platonism
/ (ˈpleɪtəˌnɪzəm) /
the teachings of Plato and his followers, esp the philosophical theory that the meanings of general words are real existing abstract entities (Forms) and that particular objects have properties in common by virtue of their relationship with these Forms: Compare nominalism, conceptualism, intuitionism
the realist doctrine that mathematical entities have real existence and that mathematical truth is independent of human thought
See Neo-Platonism
Derived forms of Platonism
- Platonist, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Platonism
[ (playt-n-iz-uhm) ]
The philosophy of Plato, or an approach to philosophy resembling his. For example, someone who asserts that numbers exist independently of the things they number could be called a Platonist.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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