What Do You Need to Know?

19 July 2023

What Do You Need to Know?

1.  Now and then I think about what I would tell someone if they asked me how to become a Platonist.  The question doesn’t come up very often because most people who have had some encounter with Western philosophy have been at least introduced to Plato in an academic setting and this is taken as a kind of first step on the path of Platonism.

But I think it is an interesting question because a great deal of writing on Platonism is about difficult distinctions between various Platonists, or analyses that are rooted in techniques that an ordinary person is likely to not understand.  This leaves an impression that fairly complex and refined disputation is central to Platonism, and being able to participate in these disputes is what qualifies someone as a Platonist.

But I think it is simpler.

2.  I think there are two things someone needs to know in order to walk the way of Platonism.  The first is understanding that the core writings of Platonism, such as the Dialogues of Plato and the Enneads of Plotinus, are spiritual resources.  That is to say that in a sense they are ‘scripture’ and not just ancient curiosities. 

The second is understanding the ascetic ideal as the basis for living a philosophical life as that is understood in the tradition of Platonism.  The ascetic ideal in Platonism is the method whereby one applies the understandings of the core texts of Platonism.  This is clearly stated in Phaedo, but it appears frequently in other places as well.  Vegetarianism and Veganism, refraining from alcohol and other drugs that dull the mind and lead to heedlessness, and sexual restraint are the big three; but there are others such as living simply, not charging for teachings, etc. 

Reading the Dialogues and the Enneads is the cultivation of wisdom.  The Ascetic Ideal is the application of that wisdom to everyday life.

3.  One of the obstacles to accessing the core texts of Platonism as spiritual resources is that these works are presented in today’s universities as if they are precursors to contemporary analytic philosophy.  Seen in this way, the spiritual dimension of the dialogues is sidelined, and the heart of the teachings is either not presented at all, or dismissed as something that modernity has surpassed.

That is one reason why I say that it is easier to access Platonism if you consider Platonism to be a Dharmic tradition.  Looked at as a kind of Dharma, then the Dialogues and Enneads resemble the Vedas and Upanishads, or the Suttas and the Vinaya, etc., instead of trying to make them fit into the mode of contemporary analytic philosophy.

4.  There are always issues being discussed in any spiritual tradition, and Platonism is no different.  But what I am suggesting is that for the beginner these issues are usually remote and unhelpful; they are usually abstractions and mental constructions and because of this they do not help someone find the path that leads to noetic realities and to the One.  But having a deferential relationship to the core texts of Platonism will assist a practitioner in walking the way of Platonism.  And the application of the Ascetic Ideal will teach a new practitioner what is involved in Platonism as a way of life. 

These two mutually nourish each other.  The Ascetic Ideal is presented in the core texts, and the application of that ideal, and the experience that engenders, leads to renewed admiration and fondness for those core texts.

5.  It is not necessary to know in detail all the arguments and disputes that have emerged in the history of the Platonic tradition.  For some knowing about these will be helpful; it depends on their karma and their type of mind.  But it is necessary to know the core practices of the Ascetic Ideal and to begin living in accordance with them.  These practices are spiritual exercises that strengthen our spiritual muscles, allowing us to keep walking up the mountain into the noetic realm, and beyond that, to the One.