On Books

On Books

19 December 2022

Yesterday I posted regarding an essay by Pierre Hadot.  In the essay Hadot argues that ancient philosophy was primarily an oral culture, or rooted in oral communication and presentation.  Hadot suggests that the production of written works was not the primary purpose of ancient philosophy (what I would call Classical Philosophy).

At the end of the post, I talked a bit about books as a ‘living presence’, but I did not expand upon this perspective.  I think the relationship between books and contemporary Platonism is an intimate one, and I think Hadot’s comments bring to the foreground some of the issues of how books function in the Platonic tradition at this time.  Here are a few comments:

1.  The discussions about books verses the presence of a living teacher appears to revolve around the idea that a living teacher can communicate aspects that books cannot transmit.  But I am rather skeptical about this.  First, it is not clear to me that living teachers are more skillful than books are at such communication.  We experience errors in verbal communication all the time; misunderstandings, mishearings, irrelevant digressions, etc.  This is normal and nothing to complain about.  In Phaedrus it is suggested that books cannot defend themselves against misunderstanding by readers.  But what I want to suggest is that this also applies to an oral context in which a spiritual teacher of some kind is presenting their tradition.  What I’m getting at is that I don’t see that oral communication is inherently more effective in matters of spirituality than communication from a book.  An oral presentation is just as prone to misunderstanding as the reader of a book.

2.  I view books as a lifeform; that is to say I view books as living presences.  I think books, as a lifeform, also have soul, in a Platonic sense.  From this perspective, spiritual communication from books is a natural result of their presence as a lifeform, in the same way that scent is a natural result of the presence of flowers, in the same way that clouds are a natural result of the earth’s atmosphere, in the same way that nests are a natural result of the way birds live their lives, etc.  I’m suggesting that books are an emanation of human beings and their presence in the world. 

3.  I don’t want to be misunderstood, finding a gifted teacher of the way of Platonism is a wonderful thing; even finding a not-so-gifted teacher could prove to be helpful.  I am very grateful for the philosophy teachers I had in the past.  What I’m suggesting is that in the same way, finding the Platonic Dialogues and/or the Enneads of Plotinus is just as much a wonderful thing, just as helpful, and in some cases it may be more helpful.

4.  In the classical world there were great Platonic Academies in Athens and Alexandria and other less well-known ones in other locations.  In such a situation it would have been possible to connect with a living teacher of the Platonic tradition; that is what Plotinus did, a process which led Plotinus to Ammonias Saccas in Alexandria.  However, there are no such academies today, though there are small groups of dedicated Platonists that do the best they can.  But for most people in the world today, in the midst of modernity, the prospect of finding a living teacher of the Platonic tradition is remote.  Instead, what people find are the books, the written words, of Plato, Plotinus, and other Platonic Sages and what I want to suggest is that this is at least as efficacious as finding a living teacher because such books are living teachers.

5.  There are spiritual traditions where the value of written books is central to those traditions; two examples are Judaism and Confucianism.  In these traditions the meticulous study of works like the Torah and the Analects is part of the very definition of what it means to be a Sage.  In a similar way, I think a Platonic Sage is one who is dedicated to the books, to reading the books, of the Platonic tradition.

6.  Partly this has to do with the way someone reads.  In a previous post I said that spiritual reading requires a sense of humility.  Instead of a hermeneutic of critique one has to cultivate a hermeneutic of acceptance when reading works like the Dialogues of Plato and the Enneads of Plotinus.

7.  At the end of Phaedrus there is an extended discussion about the written word verses oral interaction.  It is a very subtle analysis.  Nevertheless, I think that books have some advantages over oral interaction.  For example, a book can be read repeatedly.  I have done that with the Enneads for years.  What I have found, and what others have reported to me, is that repeated reading of the Enneads or the Dialogues always deepens the reader’s understanding and that often these repeated readings clarify what were before obscure passages or presentations difficult to understand.  In the case of the Dialogues of Plato this has to do with the primarily allegorical nature of Plato’s writing; allegory inherently has multiple meanings and implications beyond the plain, or lexical, meaning.  In the case of the Enneads the deepening understanding emerges from gradually comprehending how the knowledge of Plotinus all fits together; it’s like learning a new language where the various structures of speaking and meaning gradually become clear.

A second aspect of books is that books, as living beings, also give birth to other books.  I am thinking primarily of the great commentarial literature, both ancient and modern.  I remember an early encounter with this when I read a modern commentary on Phaedrus called Listening to the Cicadas.  It was very helpful and I found it inspiring that someone would be called to write a commentary on this ancient dialogue.  

This also applies to secondary literature such as the Handbook by Alcinous and all the other countless introductions and guides to Platonic understanding.

A third aspect is that the books of the Platonic tradition are instantiations of the wisdom of transcendence.  Just as beautiful things are beautiful because of transcendental Beauty, so also the core books of the Platonic tradition are filled with wisdom because of transcendent wisdom, wisdom as such, because of the One.  Thus these ephemeral books are guides to the grotto of eternity.

8.  I see this as good news for those of us living today in the midst of modernity.  It means that in spite of the hostility towards the transcendental inherent in the view of modernity, it is possible to find the path to wisdom in the living presence of the books of the Platonic tradition.

9.  The Dialogues of Plato and the Enneads of Plotinus are good spiritual friends, living companions on the path to the One.