They are perfect patterns embedded in the very nature of things. They do not depend on human thought, but exist entirely in their own right. More generally put, Plato’s concept of ‘ideas’ or ‘ideal forms’ is based upon the assumption that the universe is a perfect creation. It is very important to understand that Plato based his idea of forms on an acute sense of the mathematical structure of the universe, an idea that we find especially promoted by Pythagoras. They constitute the veiled essence of things. They manifest themselves within time and yet are timeless.
Platonic archetypes form the world and also stand beyond it. Rather, they possess a quality of being, a degree of reality, that is superior to that of the concrete world. Platonic Forms are not conceptual abstractions that the human mind creates by generalizing from a class of particulars. More specifically regarding Plato, the author then explains: In Tarnas’ holistic view of history, it was the entire Greek culture that was the ‘inventor’ and more so, the promoter, of a world view based on archetypes. I was quite surprised reading this, and of course thought right away of Carl Jung, who is claimed to be the ‘inventor’ of the theory of ‘archetypes of the collective unconscious.’ Well, this would be highly misleading as a statement, but it would likewise be misleading to attribute the theory of archetypes solely to Plato. To approach what was distinctive in a vision as complex and protean as that of the Greeks, let us begin by examining one of its most striking characteristics-a sustained, highly diversified tendency to interpret the world in terms of archetypal principles. He then starts the narrative with ‘The Greek World View.’
The following narrative is organized chronologically according to the three world views associated with the three major eras that have traditionally been distinguished in Western cultural history-the classical, the medieval, and the modern. The author first explains how the book is grossly structured: This being said, this current review is intended to provide the potential reader with quotes from the text that are going to show by themselves the quality of this book, the depth of the research the author did, and the brilliant diction in which it is written. It is a must-read for any intellectual around the world. It is one of the best and most fascinating books I have read in my entire life. I have nothing to evaluate in regard of the brilliance of this book and its author. The present book review is less an evaluation than a testimony. The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View, by Richard Tarnas, New York: Ballantine Books, 1991.
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