according to , when one ascribes beauty to another person, he refers to an imperfect beauty that participates only in the form of beauty in the world of forms.

According to Plato, when one ascribes beauty to another person, he refers to an imperfect beauty that participates only in the Form of beauty in the World of Forms. This means that the beauty seen in people or objects in the physical world is imperfect and not fully real; it merely partakes in or resembles the perfect and unchanging Form of beauty which exists in a transcendent realm. The physical manifestation is an imperfect copy or participation of the perfect ideal Form.