Since the physical world changes constantly, ultimate reality must be based in the nonphysical world of ideas, since ideas are the only things we know of that do not change (at least according to Plato). So the idea of the Leaf (with a capital L), the universal, is primary. The universal Leaf, known as the form or the archetype, casts shadows, and these shadows form the leaves that we see and experience in the physical world. The particulars are real, but they have a secondary existence based on their connection with the Leaf. Since in this approach the idea is primary, it has become known as
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