Platonism
Americannoun
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the philosophy or doctrines of Plato or his followers.
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a Platonic doctrine or saying.
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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.
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(sometimes lowercase) the doctrine or practice of platonic love.
noun
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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
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the realist doctrine that mathematical entities have real existence and that mathematical truth is independent of human thought
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See Neo-Platonism
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Platonism
From the New Latin word Platōnismus, dating back to 1560–70. See Platonic, -ism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I guess it was the nascent Platonism in me: If it ain't nice or uplifting, avoid it.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2018
Flying against the strong winds of experimentalism, their banner of Platonism called the unbeliever to return to the ancient modes of thought.
From Time Magazine Archive
Down that path ancient religion swung with deepening emotion into that strange medley of thought and mystery, piety, magic and absurdity, which is called the New Platonism and has nothing to do with Plato.
From The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire by Glover, T. R. (Terrot Reaveley)
From Platonism to the realism of scholasticism, from this to the geometry of Spinoza and the dialectic of Hegel, the form of the theory has varied constantly; the substance of it has remained the same.
From Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion based on Psychology and History by Sabatier, Auguste
By this time, however, Platonism itself had undergone much change, and the more liberal adherents had formed a new organization and distinguished themselves by the appellation New Platonics.
From The Great Apostasy Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History by Talmage, James Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
