In the fifth book of the Republic, wishing to understand what the difference is between philosophers and lovers of opinion (philodoxos), [Plato] concludes by showing that while philosophers embrace understanding (gnôsis) of universals (ta katholou), lovers of opinion [embrace understanding] of particulars (merika). For [he says that] while the [lovers of opinion] only desire to learn the many beautifuls,19 philosophers [desire to learn] that which is simply beautiful. In order to show this, he establishes first what the difference is between the simply beautiful and the many beautifuls. And he shows that the former is one, but the latter are this very thing in multiple instances (476a). And again, he shows from opposites that beauty itself (to autokalon) is one. This is because if the opposites are two, beautiful and ugly, each of these is one, since two is the coming together of two ones.