4 November 2022

We Need a Handbook of Platonism

Over the last ten to fifteen years there has emerged a growing interest in classical thought.  In particular there is a growing interest in Stoicism.  Before I retired this year, the small spiritual bookstore that I worked at had a section on Stoicism which we first created three or four years ago in response to growing interest.  In addition, authors of these contemporary books on Stoicism are interviewed on podcasts, often have their own youtube channel, and in general find a place in the growing regions of online social interaction.

Many of these authors create what I would call a ‘handbook’ of Stoicism.  Typically, these books contain chapters about basic Stoic concepts, and simple Stoic contemplations that the reader can easily use in daily life.  If you go to Amazon and search ‘Stoicism’ under books quite a few of these handbooks will appear. 

There used to be a handbook of Platonism.  It was by Alcinous who was a second century Platonist.  This handbook was used, intermittently it seems, in the Middle Period of Platonism, in the Byzantine Empire, and in the West from the Renaissance into the 1800’s. 

It is no longer in use.  I can understand why.  A significant part of the Handbook of Platonism is about cosmology and teaches that topic from a classical perspective.  Cosmology has radically changed and those sections simply do not speak to a modern reader with any sense of authority.  Apropos this point, many of the contemporary handbooks on Stoicism I referred to above leave out Stoic cosmology, concentrating instead on Stoic ethics and methods of self-cultivation.  I think this makes sense.  In a similar way, for example, contemporary Aristotelians tend to not dwell in Aristotle’s cosmology.

There are some spiritual traditions that I think of as having a weak cosmological commitment; by this I mean that their teachings are not necessarily linked to a particular cosmological scheme such as geocentrism vs. heliocentrism.  Buddhism is an example of such a tradition; as Buddhism was transmitted from one culture to another throughout Asia it tended to accept the cosmology of those cultures.  This is because Buddhism’s primary focus is on ascetic ethical cultivation and meditative practice.  For example, the First Noble Truth of suffering does not depend on whether or not the sun or the earth is at the center of the solar system.

In my opinion Platonism is similar to Buddhism in this regard.  The central teachings of Platonism, such as emanationism, the existence of forms and that material objects are instantiations of these forms, and the virtue ethics that drives the practice of Platonism, do not depend on a particular material cosmology for their efficacy.

What would a contemporary Handbook of Platonism include?  Offhand, the following comes to mind: A little about Plato and the history of Platonism, something about Socrates, an overview of the spiritual ascent, perhaps using the parable of the cave as a frame for this, a discussion about the ultimate goal of The Good, The One, and The Beautiful, a little about rebirth, and the deep peace that comes from walking the Platonic path.  The structure might begin with a look at the human condition, followed by the suggestion that Platonism offers a way to resolve the negatives of that condition, followed by the methods of ethics, asceticism, and contemplation.

There has been one attempt, sort of, for such a handbook.  I am thinking of the book ‘Return to the One’ by Brian Hines.  ‘Return to the One’ is an introduction to Plotinus and I have often suggested it when people ask me about how to access the writings of Plotinus.  ‘Return to the One’ does have an introductory character, and it has its virtues, but I am thinking of something simpler, something that could be read by a High School student.

Perhaps someone is already working on such a handbook; it wouldn’t surprise me.