A Few Remarks on Differentiation

30 October 2023

A Few Remarks on Differentiation

The metaphysical cosmology of Platonism consists of a series of three hypostases.  This map of the metaphysical cosmos is meant to be inclusive of all things; the sensory and the non-sensory, the mundane and the transcendental.  In other words it is meant to be complete; that’s what makes it metaphysical in a systematic sense. 

The first hypostasis is primarily referred to as The One as well as The Good.  It is complete oneness without division or parts; for this reason, it is beyond affirmation and negation, beyond predication.  As the Buddhists like to say, it is ‘beyond beyond.’  Understood in this sense of ‘beyond’ means that The One is not The One; ‘The One’ is only the name of this fully transcendental reality.  But we use the name The One as a way of speaking about this reality.  There are other names that we use such as The Good, The Beautiful, and God. 

The One is the source of all existing things which emanate from The One.  Emanation is an unfolding of differentiation.  Since The One is oneness as such, there is no differentiation associated with The One.  But the regions of emanation appear due, first of all, from being differentiated from The One, and secondarily from the arising of differentiation within their emanated region.

The second hypostasis is the first region of emanation and it is in this region where predication can be used effectively.  This hypostasis is referred to as Nous, or the Noetic.  The realm of Nous has three primary differentiations within it: Being, Life, and Mind.  Sometimes Life is referred to as Vitality.  Often Mind is referred to as Intellect and the realm of Nous itself is often referred to as the realm of the Intelligible.  I prefer not using the term ‘Intellect’ because of the tendency to think of ‘Intellect’ as the analytical function of the brain.  I think the word ‘Mind’ is closer to what the Platonists had in mind; other possibilities might be Consciousness or Awareness.

Beauty is a permeating presence of Nous; that is to say Being, Life, and Mind are instantiations of the Beautiful.  This is what makes the Noetic so attractive and it is what makes the experience of the Noetic something that aware, or conscious, beings are naturally drawn to.  The beauty found in the material realm is entirely due to Beauty found in Nous.

Number is part of the realm of Nous and is an emanation of Being; Number differentiates Being into things. 

The Forms are also found in Nous; they are emanated by the triad of Being, Life, and Mind.

The key to understanding the nature of noetic realities is that they have no material content.  The being of Being is not the being of particular things, it is Being as such.  Noetic Beauty is not the beauty of a sunset or a rose, it is beauty as such.  Noetic numbers are not instantiations of their reality, rather they are numbers as such (three as such, five as such, ten as such, and so forth). 

It is in the third hypostasis, emanated from the second hypostasis, where material differentiation takes place as well as material instantiation of the forms.  The third hypostasis is where we live and dwell.  The first (metaphysically first) appearance in this realm is the World Soul which governs our realm through everlasting cyclic processes determined by number.  Individual souls also appear here as well as the endless differentiation that material existence brings.

The third hypostasis is also the realm of the Gods.  The Gods are highly differentiated; they have biographies, they are born and die, they have desires and tendencies, duties and hopes and fears.  They are creatures of the third hypostasis in the way that oak trees, rivers, clouds, snakes, dogs, roses, moss, mountains, and we are.  We share the same realm with the Gods.  And like us, the Gods are very far from The One.

The third hypostasis of materiality ends in matter; but since matter lacks the energy (the Vitality or Life Force) necessary for further emanation, the third hypostasis is the conclusion of the emanated metaphysical cosmos. 

The third hypostasis is the realm of impermanence, suffering, limitation, and despair; inherently so.  It is the realm of endless birth and death, of samsara, of becoming and begoning, of genesis.  It is the task of creatures residing in the third hypostasis to Return to the One by ascending the ladder of differentiation; first out of the third hypostasis into the Noetic, and then from the Noetic to The One.  This is accomplished by separating ourselves from materiality, what Socrates taught as ‘separating the soul from the body.’  Separating ourselves from materiality is accomplished by ascetic practices as described in the Platonic Dialogues.  The process is one of overcoming differentiation, step by step ascending to less and less differentiated realities.  This is accomplished through contemplation.  Ascesis and contemplation are the two wings that lift us out of materiality into the transcendental and ultimately to The One.

The above is not a complete description; whole books have been written regarding the details of the emanated metaphysical cosmos.  One of the reasons it is not complete is that our understanding of the hypostases and their relationships is necessarily incomplete as long as we have a body.  It has been my experience that as practice continues, the understanding of the structure of the emanated cosmos becomes clearer, more transparent.  This leads to refinements and revisions in our thoughts about this topic as our practice deepens over time and over our many lives.  I suggest that dwelling on the metaphysical structure of the emanated cosmos is itself a contemplation that assists us in our long journey of Returning to the One.  This structure itself, when contemplated, is radiant with meaning, like the radiance of The Good, The One, and The Beautiful.