It seems to me that whatever else is beautiful apart from asbsolute beauty is beautiful because it partakes of that absolute beauty, and for no other reason. Do you accept this kind of causality?
PlatoWhat is better adapted than the festive use of wine in the first place to test and in the second place to train the character of a man, if care be taken in the use of it? What is there cheaper or more innocent?
PlatoAnd what, Socrates, is the food of the soul? Surely, I said, knowledge is the food of the soul.
Plato