Idealism as an Asymmetrical Relationship: A Reconsideration of Plato's Doctrine of Ideas

Through an analysis of Parmenides’ objections to the doctrine of ideas, and in light of recent reconsiderations of this problem by Verity Harte and Franco Ferrari, I will argue that the true meaning of the concept of idea for Plato is to represent an asymmetrical relationship within reality: the idea is incommensurable compared to the things that partake in it. This asymmetrical relationship is the essence of idealism, which affirms the irreducibility and non-immanence of the idea to reality, that is to nature, since nature is characterized by principles of symmetry or conservation. The idea is indeed related to the principle of passage to the other (dynamis) and, more specifically, is understood as that which enables the passage from the first to the second nature.