Overlap, relations and relatives

This chapter argues that in extending Anaxagoras’s model of constitutional overlap, Plato uses it to accounts for how: (i) objects are qualified by properties, (ii) objects relate to other objects (and Forms relate to other Forms), (iii) necessity governs the qualification of objects, and (iv) objects are structured. The chapter shows that Plato develops a relationless ontology, wherein what we consider instances of symmetric, asymmetric, and even multigrade relations are all accounted for by a new type of constitutional overlap that involves plural participation. In addition, in the Sophist, Plato enriches his ontology with second-order Forms, the so-called Great Kinds, which, while helping solve some difficulties, are ultimately an unsatisfactory metaphysical experiment.