Plato's Conception of the Forms: Some Remarks

This is a general account of Plato's conception of the forms insofar as they can be conceived of as universals. I focus on the ontological status of the forms, on the relation (which, I argue, is in the final analysis unproblematic) between their status as universals which sensible particulars instantiate and their status as models of which sensible particulars are copies, and on some of the terminology by which Plato refers to the forms, especially the "ho esti" idiom, which I subject to a detailed analysis.