Platonism

American  

[pleyt-n-iz-uhm] / ˈpleɪt nˌɪz əm /

noun

1. the philosophy or doctrines of Plato or his followers.

2. a Platonic doctrine or saying.

3. 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.

4. (sometimes lowercase) the doctrine or practice of platonic love.

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Platonism British  

/ ˈpleɪtəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. 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

2. the realist doctrine that mathematical entities have real existence and that mathematical truth is independent of human thought

3. See Neo-Platonism

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Platonism Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• Platonist noun
• anti-Platonism noun
• anti-Platonist noun
• pro-Platonism noun
• pro-Platonist noun

Etymology

Origin of Platonism

From the New Latin word Platōnismus, dating back to 1560–70. See Platonic, -ism

Example Sentences

These assertions, whether Platonism, the simulation hypothesis or my insane-god theology, can easily become escapist and nihilistic.

From Scientific American • Jun. 14, 2022

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

His confusion of Platonism with Neo-Platonism is especially annoying.

From John Dewey's logical theory by Howard, Delton Thomas

It is an answer to Hobbes’s famous doctrine that moral distinctions are created by the state, an answer from the standpoint of Platonism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various