8 June 2026
Brief Notes on Various
Topics – 97
1. The Dream of a Common Language
A friend of mine offered
the idea that no one should be able to graduate from University without having studied
Plato; that is to say Universities would have required courses in Plato in
order to graduate. His view is that we
have lost the ability to speak to each other and that this has given rise to
growing anger and estrangement from each other.
He suggested that Platonism has the potential of being a common language
for communication and discussion of issues where there is disagreement. Partly, he offered, that this is because the founding
documents of Platonism are themselves dialogues.
It’s an intriguing
idea. An idea, that I have to admit, I
find attractive. I don’t know how to go
about realizing such an idea and I suspect its chances of realization are
rather remote. On the other hand, it’s
good to think of Platonism in such a context and to think about what kind of
effect that would have. (As an aside, my
friend is not himself a Platonist but he thinks that Platonism can serve as a
Common Language that can be used by divergent traditions and views.)
2. Some Comments on Hyphenated Platonism
I have in the past
contrasted what Gerson refers to as ‘Orthodox Platonism’ with ‘Hyphenated
Platonism.’ Hyphenated Platonisms are
represented by Christian Platonism, Theurgic Platonism, Jewish Platonism, and
so forth.
What I have noticed is
that in Orthodox Platonism the tendency, a tendency not explicitly stated or
demanded, is to consider the classics of the Platonic tradition as the sources
one turns to in the study of Platonism.
For example, if there is a view that one or more people find obscure in
an Orthodox Platonist context, to gain clarity about that view the tendency is
to go to Platonic sources such as the Dialogues and the Enneads
and to use what one finds in these sources as the starting point for clarification.
In contrast, Hyphenated
Platonism will often, or even primarily, go to non-Platonic sources to deal
with difficulties found in Platonism. I
noticed this while reading Periphyseon: The Division of Nature by Johannes
Scotus Eriugena, translated by J. P. Sheldon-Williams. In Book I, a number of times, when an issue
in theology remains obscure even after giving a Platonist account, the two
participants in the dialogue will turn to either Christian Scripture or to the
Church Fathers and Saints; and it is this Christian literature which finally
affirms, acts as a proof text for, a particular interpretation. This makes sense in a Christian context; it
is the method used to bring Platonism into a Christian context without at the
same time granting the high status to Platonist documents that Scripture and
the Church Fathers have in the Christian tradition.
I also observe this kind
of maneuver in Theurgic Platonism which often treats oracular literature, such
as the Chaldean Oracles, in the same way that Christians treat their Scriptures
in relation to the status of Platonic writings.
Again, this makes sense if you start from Theurgic principles.
I have sometimes said
that I think Platonism is sufficient in the sense that as a spiritual path
Platonism contains all the information and tools necessary for spiritual
realization. At the same time, I have
been willing to compare Platonism to Dharma Traditions, but it’s not because I
want to place Dharma traditions in a position to ‘finish’ Platonism or be the
arbiter of what is correct and what is incorrect in Platonism. Comparing Platonism to Dharma Traditions is
used in my analyses to point to spiritual aspects of Platonism that are also
present in Dharma traditions, but which are overlooked in our current culture because
of its secular orientation.
3. A Few More Remarks about the Analogy of Forms
as Empty Sets
Last week I posted about
noetic realities, or abstract objects, and I used as one analogy that Platonic
forms, or abstract objects, are like empty sets that retain rules of inclusion
but have no members. I mean that in the
Noetic realm, Platonic forms have no content but because of their rules of
inclusion instantiations of the set can manifest in the material realm.
In set theory, though, an
empty set can mean something different.
For example, whole numbers between 1 and 2 is an empty set that cannot
be instantiated either in the noetic realm or in the material realm. That’s because by definition there are no
whole numbers between 1 and 2.
Similarly, the set of odd numbers that are evenly divisible by 2 is an
empty set in that there cannot, by definition, be such items, or things; either
noetically or materially.
In the way I used ‘empty
set’ last week I was referring to the absence of members in the noetic
realm. But that absence is not due to a
logical contradiction, or due to definitions of arithmetic realities. Rather the absence of members of sets in the
noetic realm is due to the nature of the Noetic; that is to say that noetic
realities are immaterial. However, due
to rules for inclusion as a part of the set, inclusion does happen in the
material realm as the result of the emanation of the formal numbers into
material reality.
4. Another Observation on Soul
In traditional
Platonism, in, for example, Plotinus, soul emerges as a presence in the third
level of reality; the material world.
The sequence of levels is:
The One → Abstract
Objects/Platonic Forms → Soul
In my reconfiguration,
instead of soul at the third level, I place time:
The One → Abstract
Objects/Platonic Forms → Time
My view is that soul is
the presence of the One in the material individual. Because of this I think of soul as always
present and also present everywhere due to its immaterial nature.
The sense that we have
individual souls emerges from Time and Time emerges from Nous because Time is a
further unfolding of emanation which is the basis of Nous. But Noetic Realities are timeless. As Noetic realities overflow time, and
becoming and begoning, emerge as a reality.
The differentiation that is Time is what gives the appearance of
individual souls. The analogies to
describe this (which I use frequently on this blog) is that the individual soul
resembles moonlight in many different bodies of water. It seems like the moon in the water is an
individualized moonlight; but it only seems that way. Or you could use the analogy of a flower in a
vase reflected in multiple mirrors. Each
mirror appears to be an individual flower in a vase; but they are not. Or you can look at it this way: the feeling
that we have an individual, separate, soul is like someone saying that the
sunlight in a room is ‘my sunlight.’
I see soul as a ‘First
Thing’. But the sense that we have an
individual soul is a Third Thing because as material realities we can only
observe the One as an individualized soul under the Reign of Time. While Time does not proceed from the One, it
is Time that conditions how we perceive and understand soul which is how the
One is present in the material domain.
Because the soul never
descends but remains in reality in its full unity as a First Thing, the
individual soul can lead us back to the Good and the One.
5. Aphorisms
Soul unifies.
Mind differentiates.
Time disperses.
This is the microcosmos
of the human being.
Without soul nothing would
cohere.
Without mind nothing
would be distinct.
Without time there would
be no becoming and begoning.
Soul unifies because it
is the presence of the One in the individual.
Mind differentiates
because it is the presence of the noetic in the individual.
Time disperses because
it is the presence of cyclic becoming and begoning in the individual.
In this way the
metaphysical cosmos is instantiated, or present, in the individual.
6. Introducing Platonism According to ChatGPT
Sometimes I think about
how to introduce Platonism to ordinary people.
When I say ‘ordinary people’ I mean people with some college education
so that they are literate, but do not have any experience with philosophy. They probably know the word philosophy but
that is often the limit of their experience with it. Sometimes they have taken an Introduction to
Philosophy Class in college, but not necessarily.
I return to this topic
now and then. This blog is a partial
answer to that question because I try to use a vocabulary and literary register
that fits the parameters mentioned. I’m
not always successful with that focus because at times I touch on more
technical issues; but overall, I think I have been able to write in an
accessible way.
I decided to ask ChatGPT
what it thought about this. I framed the
question this way: “How would you
[ChatGPT] suggest to someone in the West that Platonism is beneficial, that Platonism
is something worthwhile for their lives?”
ChatGPT responded as
follows: “If I [ChatGPT] were trying to persuade a contemporary Western person
that Platonism is worthwhile, I would probably avoid starting with metaphysics
(‘Forms exist’) and instead start with problems many people already
experience. A Platonist diagnosis might
be:
We are surrounded by
distractions, advertising, social media and constant opinion.
We often feel pulled
between immediate desires and long-term goods.
We struggle to
distinguish what is merely popular from what is actually true.
We want meaning, beauty,
justice, and goodness, but often lack a framework for treating them as real
rather than subjective preferences.
“Platonism offers a
response to these problems.
“1. It teaches that truth is worth pursuing for
its own sake. One of Plato’s most
enduring ideas is that a good life requires a commitment to truth, even when
truth is uncomfortable. For many people,
daily life becomes dominated by convenience, entertainment, or tribal
loyalties. Platonism asks a different
question: what is actually true? That
orientation can make someone more intellectually honest, less easily
manipulated, and more capable of independent thought.
“2. It [Platonism] encourages self-mastery. In dialogues such as The Republic, Plato
portrays the soul as having different impulses that can conflict with one
another. A flourishing life comes when
reason governs rather than being ruled by appetites or anger. Even someone who rejects Plato’s metaphysics
can recognize the practical value of: resisting destructive impulses,
developing disciplines, cultivating wisdom, pursuing long-term goods over
short-term gratification. Many modern
psychological approaches end up recommending similar habits, though from
different philosophical foundations.
“3. It treats virtue as something objective. A common modern assumption is that morality
is largely a matter of personal preference.
Platonism offers a more demanding view: justice, courage, wisdom, and
temperance are not merely things we happen to like. They are genuine excellences of
character. Many people find this
attractive because it gives moral life a seriousness that pure relativism
struggles to provide. It suggests that
becoming a better person is not simply expressing yourself; it is moving closer
to what is genuinely good.
“4. It gives beauty a deeper significance. For Plato beauty is not merely entertainment
or personal taste. Beauty can elevate
the soul. Whether through music, art,
mathematics, nature, or love, experiences of beauty can awaken a desire for
something higher than immediate consumption.
Many people have had moments where a great piece of music, [an
interaction with nature], or an act of moral nobility seemed to point beyond
ordinary life. Platonism provides a
language for taking those experiences seriously.
“5. It offers a vision of human flourishing. Modern Western culture often defines success
in terms of wealth, status, career, achievement, or pleasure. Platonism asks: What kind of person are you
becoming? This shifts attention from
external success to inner excellence. A
Platonism could argue that someone who is wise, just, and self-controlled but
not wealth is ultimately more successful than someone who is rich and admired
but corrupt.
“6. It provides a sense of transcendence without
requiring immediate dogmatic commitment.
Many Westerners are dissatisfied with both strict materialism and
organized religion. Platonism can serve
as a middle path. It invites people to
consider that: truth ma be more than convention, goodness may be more than
preference, beauty may be more than chemistry, reality may have a deeper
intelligible order. One can begin
exploring these possibilities with immediately accepting every aspect of
Plato’s metaphysics.
“A concise way to
present Platonism today might be: Platonism is valuable because it teaches that
truth, goodness, beauty, and virtue are real and worth pursuing. It encourages people to rise above impulse,
opinion, and social pressure, and to orient their lives toward what is
genuinely excellent rather than merely pleasurable or fashionable. Even for someone who never becomes a full
metaphysical Platonist, that orientation can provide a powerful framework for
living thoughtfully and purposefully. . . Human beings flourish when they
orient themselves toward what is highest rather than what is nearest.”
6.1 It’s interesting to me that ChatGPT
(hereinafter ‘Chat’) wanted to avoid using metaphysics to introduce
Platonism. That makes sense to me. But I think it might depend on the
person. There are some people for whom
metaphysics itself is attractive, even if they have not studied it. In such an instance I might begin with
metaphysics.
6.2 Several times Chat mentions how Platonism
benefits the soul, which is true. But I
have found that bringing up the soul can be difficult if the person is
saturated with secular views, which is a great many people. I have sometimes observed people briefly
frowning or subtly rolling their eyes when the topic of soul is brought
up. I might speak of only one or two
aspects of the soul from classical Platonism in such a context rather than
referring to soul explicitly.
6.3 But overall I like Chat’s response and
thought it was a good start.
7. Book-Based Traditions
In my ongoing
comparisons of Platonism as a spiritual tradition with other spiritual
traditions, there is one difference that stands out. And that is that Platonism does not have a
history of building institutions or monumental architecture.
In thinking about this I
think there are two traditions that also refrain from that kind of activity:
Confucianism, and Poetry. What I see in
common is that in all three traditions, Platonism, Confucianism, and Poetry, I
observe a shared centrality of books which defines what these traditions are.
In Platonism it is the Dialogues
of Plato which are the fountainhead of the tradition and remain so to this
day. You could say that a Platonist is
someone who reads Plato and applies the teachings of Plato to their lives.
Platonism has built
institutions such as, famously, the Academy in Athens. But I think it is instructive that when the
Academy was destroyed by Sulla in 86 BCE Platonism continued without a sense of
a derailment in its presence or activities.
The same is the case when the reconstituted Academy was closed by
Emperor Justinian in 529 CE.
I think this is because
for Platonism it is the Dialogues themselves that are the ‘temple’ of the
tradition; everything else is secondary; not in the sense of being unimportant
but in the sense of being dependent upon the Dialogues of Plato.
There are periods in the
history of Confucianism that generated the creation of temples and clan
organizations as sites for ritual. But
when these temples faded, Confucianism didn’t disappear and I think that is
because, in a manner similar to Platonism, the real temple of Confucianism is
the Classics of the Confucian tradition; works like the Analects. To be a Confucian Sage means to be someone
who reads, studies and abides by the teachings of those Classics.
Poetry resembles Platonism
and Confucianism in that to be a poet is to read poetry, comment on poetry, and
to write poetry. It is only very
recently that people learn poetry at Universities. For almost all of written history poetry was
a calling and someone who felt the calling of poetry learned about poetry by
reading it, performing poetry (recitation), and associating with living poets
and others interested in it. Like
Platonism and Confucianism, poetry is a textual tradition with reading poetry
being a primary activity associated with living as a poet.
There are text-based
traditions that do build institutions and monumental architecture. Judaism is a good example, as is
Buddhism. But I think the relationship
to texts in Platonism, Confucianism, and Poetry is somewhat different. In most spiritual traditions membership in
the tradition is not contingent on regular reading of texts; the majority of
Buddhists, Jews, and Christians, for example, are not engaged in that kind of
activity. In contrast, I see the
intimate relationship between texts and membership in the traditions of
Platonism, Confucianism, and Poetry to be more intense and defining of the
tradition.
8. Mornings with Plato
Each morning when I wake
up one of my routine tasks is to read Plato or Plotinus. I’ve done this for many years now. I like doing this around sunrise; the
symbolism of the sun kind of feeds the reading.
I often underline or
write brief marginalia in what I am reading.
Sometimes I take notes in a separate notebook, though that is a new
practice that I’m not yet used to. But I
find when I take notes they might be in the form of a brief quote which I then
comment on. The comment might be that I
don’t understand this passage and I need to look into it (by, for example,
checking other translations), or it might be why I find it inspirational, or I
might connect it to another passage, and so forth. This kind of notetaking is recommended by a lot
of scholars and ordinary people; I think the idea is that the writing in the
notebook assists in memory.
There are a lot of
different systems for organizing one’s notes.
I haven’t spent much time following these systems. But I think they are worth taking a look at
and if you feel so inclined to follow one of these.
For me, reading Plato
and other Platonists in the morning is a lot like listening to music. There are surface attractions like a melody
or a rhythm or a chord progression. And
there are also hidden meanings that emerge only with careful listening/reading;
which is one reason why repeated reading is so necessary.
Reading Plato and other
Platonists in the morning sets the tone for my day. It stabilizes my mood and in a sense it allows
me to feel a modest sense of accomplishment; at least the day begins with one
good thing.
