The Life of Philosophy

30 November 2023

The Life of Philosophy

A few days ago I listened to a brief youtube that was an ‘Introduction’ to Metaphysics.  It lasted about 30 minutes.  The presentation covered the main metaphysical views and philosophers, including Platonism.  Given the short amount of time it naturally was not very thorough.  But it touched on materialism, Platonism, pantheism, monotheism, monism, pluralism, Kantian metaphysics, and a few others. 

The presentation consisted of a series of statements that defined each metaphysical view or system.  If you agreed with them that would make you, for example, a materialist or pantheist.  It felt very much like a standard textbook approach to metaphysics.

What was missing was a discussion of what I refer to as ‘practice’ by which I mean what someone has to do in their daily life to be considered a participant in a particular metaphysical tradition.  This is the missing part of Western philosophy. 

It was Pierre Hadot who first pointed out to me that this part is missing from Western philosophy and that this practice component was a central part of Ancient Philosophy.  Coming across Hadot’s works was significant for me because they helped me to understand the nature of the chasm between Ancient or Classical Philosophy and modern Western Philosophy.

This is when I started to think of Platonism as a Dharmic tradition; or more accurately, that it is helpful to approach Platonism in the way we would approach a Dharmic tradition because the way Platonism functioned in the Classical World closely resembles the way Dharmic traditions function in India.  To give an example, a Jain philosopher is also someone who is committed to the basic practices of Jainism and lives a life in accordance with Jain precepts.  It is because the Jain philosopher lives such a life that he can fruitfully philosophize about the Jain tradition.  This also applies to Buddhism where Buddhist philosophers have, until very recently, almost always been monastics committed to the precepts and ways that such a life entails.  And this also applies to Hinduism in its various manifestations; examples include Shankara and in Saivism the great teacher Abhinavagupta. 

But in Western philosophy the idea that there should be a practice component out of which the philosophy emerges, and in which the philosophy is grounded, is absent.  There is no group of pantheistic precepts that adherents are normally thought of as committed to.  The same can be said of materialism, and other Western metaphysical traditions. 

My feeling is that the Platonic tradition in the Classical period was grounded in such a recognizable ‘way of life.’  When I say ‘recognizable’ I mean that it was widely understood by ordinary people that to be, for example, a Platonist meant that you would embody that philosophical commitment in way-of-life commitments which in Platonism consisted of a series of ascetic practices including vegetarianism/veganism, refraining from alcohol, refraining from charging for teachings, refraining from harming others, refraining from sexual misconduct which could evolve into a chaste life, regularly practicing contemplation, regularly studying and deepening one’s understanding of Platonic works such as the Dialogues of Plato, and so forth.  It is the recovery of what I think of as the preceptual foundation, or the way-of-life foundation, that is the task of contemporary Platonists.

Recovering this way of life foundation is a challenge, but fortunately the specifics of this way of life are available in the primary documents of the Platonic tradition.  You can find them in dialogues like Phaedo and in many other portions of the Dialogues and the Enneads.  Because modern Western philosophy does not have a foundation in these kinds of practices there is a tendency to pass over those passages in the Platonic tradition that speak directly, or indirectly, of these kinds of commitments.  The tendency is to think of Platonism as solely an intellectual (but not in the sense of ‘nous’) endeavor in the way that, for example, understanding Kant or Hume is an intellectual endeavor.  I know that when I took seminars on Plato at University these passages were simply not discussed.  We need to refocus our attention when reading these works on these passages that regard philosophy as entailing way of life commitments and bring them into the foreground.

Some individuals are already doing this.   At this time they are scattered, but the internet has created the opportunity for contact and mutual encouragement.  The task will take time and it will meet with resistance because the view that philosophy consists only of intellectual analysis and dispute is deeply help in the academy.  Still, I am encouraged that the possibility of reconnecting with philosophy, and with Platonism specifically, as a way of life that entails specific commitments in the way that Dharmic traditions do, is emerging.  It is like the first green leaves that push through the snow in early Spring.  When we see these fresh green leaves, we know that a season of flourishing is forthcoming.

Wisdom 5

29 November 2023

Wisdom 5

“’Well now, for the dangers of a sea-voyage, do you consider any pilots to be more fortunate, as a general rule, than the wise ones?’

“’No, to be sure.’

“’Well, then, suppose you were on a campaign, with which kind of general would you prefer to share both the peril and the luck – a wise man, or an ignorant?’

“’With a wise one.’

“’Well, then supposing you were sick, with which kind of doctor would you like to venture yourself – a wise one, or an ignorant?’

“’With a wise one.’

“’And your reason,” I said, “is this, that you would fare with better fortune in the hands of a wise one than of an ignorant one?’

“’He assented.’

“’So that wisdom everywhere causes men to be fortunate: since I presume she could never err, but must needs be right in act and result; otherwise she could be no longer wisdom.’

“’We came to an agreement somehow or other in the end that the truth in general was this: when wisdom is present, he with whom it is present has no need of good fortune as well; and as we had agreed on this I began to inquire of him over again what we should think, in this case, of our previous agreements . . . ‘”

(Plato, Euthydemus, translated by W. R. M. Lamb, Plato: Laches, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1924, pages 407-409, 279E-280B, ISBN: 9780674991835)

1.  In this part of the dialogue the meaning of wisdom is unpacked by using a technique that Socrates often uses: several examples of an idea are given and then the shared truth found in all of these instances is pointed to.  In this case the examples are a sea voyage, military service, and sickness.  It is drawn out that in each instance we would want to follow someone who is wise in the ways of a particular subject to one who is ignorant of those ways. 

Socrates then draws out the general truth regarding wisdom: “. . . he with whom it (wisdom) is present has no need of good fortune as well.”  And this is true because wisdom ‘never errs’. 

2.  Here wisdom is presented as having the function of a good guide.  And this is what connects practical wisdom (meaning wisdom of a particular topic) to wisdom in a philosophical context.  Practical wisdom has content, the content of a particular topic.  Philosophical wisdom transcends content.  But in both cases wisdom guides us in a beneficent manner.

3.  I think you could say that philosophical, or transcendent, wisdom is the systematic removal of material content from the mind.  Philosophical wisdom is, therefore, a kind of unlearning.

4.  Philosophical wisdom is becoming aware of the source of practical wisdom, what precedes practical wisdom.  Practical wisdom is the instantiation of philosophical wisdom confined to a specific topic.

5.  Notice the quality of beneficence, which I mentioned above.  That quality is shared by both practical wisdom and philosophical wisdom.  It is a kind of providence.

6.  We rely on wisdom to show us the way forward.  We are dependent on wisdom and its generosity.

7.  What wisdom does is make distinctions; this might be the distinctions that help us recognize a good doctor from a bad doctor, a good pilot from a bad pilots, and for philosophical wisdom, the distinctions that allow us to differentiate between the ephemeral and the eternal. 

 

 

Wisdom 4

25 November 2023

Wisdom 4

“Now we have also been saying for a long time, have we not, that, when the soul makes use of the body for any inquiry, either through seeing or hearing or any of the other senses – for inquiry through the body means inquiry through the senses, -- then it is dragged by the body to things which never remain the same, and it wanders about and is confused and dizzy like a drunken man because it lays hold upon such things?

“Certainly.

“But when the soul inquires alone by itself, it departs into the realm of the pure, the everlasting, the immortal, and the changeless, and being akin to these it dwells always with them whenever it is by itself and is not hindered, and it has rest from its wanderings and remains always the same and unchanging with the changeless, since it is in communion therewith.  And this state of the soul is called wisdom.”

(Plato, Phaedo, translated by Harold North Fowler, Plato I, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1914, 79C-D, page 277, ISBN: 0674990404)

1.  This is a beautiful description of what the soul experiences when it has, to the degree that it is possible while having a body, separated itself from the body.  This is done by withdrawing from sensory experience; again, to the degree that it is possible to do so.

2.  This is a good passage to follow the quote I previously gave from Plotinus where Plotinus concludes Ennead VI.6 with the flight of the alone to the alone, or as Armstrong translates, ‘escape in solitude to the solitary.’  The word ‘alone’ in these contexts means being unaccompanied by the body and its clamor and concerns.  But I don’t think it has the connotation of being ‘isolated’, which ‘alone’ often has in common usage.  An analogy might be helpful; if you are at a gathering where people are rowdy, argumentative, hypercritical, and baselessly opinionated, it can be a big relief to withdraw from the gathering.  Such a withdrawal does not lead to feelings of isolation; in a strange way the raucous gathering feels isolating.  Similarly, to live a life that is not based on the constant demands of the body is often experienced as a relief rather than isolation.

3.  According to this passage, wisdom is a state of communion with the changeless.  The changeless means the deathless and unborn.  This is done by ‘distinguishing’ eternity, becoming clear what is eternity as such, and what is not eternity as such.  This kind of wisdom takes time and dedication to understand, and even more time to internalize so that the distinction is stabilized.  But with the practices offered in the Phaedo, such as asceticism and wisdom, it is possible through wisdom to commune with the Good and the One.

Wisdom 3

22 November 2023

Wisdom 3

Plotinus on Wisdom

“For, as was said in old times, self-control, and courage and every virtue, is a purification, and so is even wisdom itself.  This is why the mysteries are right when they say riddlingly that the man who has not been purified will lie in mud when he goes to Hades, because the impure is fond of mud by reason of its badness (Phaedo 69C1-6); just as pigs with their unclean bodies, like that sort of thing.  For what can true self-control be except not keeping company with bodily pleasures, but avoiding them as impure and belonging to something impure?  Courage, too, is not being afraid of death.  And death is the separation of the body and soul; and a man does not fear this if he welcomes the prospect of being alone.  Again, greatness of soul is despising the things here; and wisdom is an intellectual activity [noetic activity – my addition] which turns away from the things below and leads the soul to those above.”

(Plotinus,  Ennead I.6.6, On Beauty, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Plotinus: Porphyry on Plotinus, Ennead I, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1966, pages 249-2251, ISBN: 9780674994843)

1.  This quote from Plotinus makes the same connection between wisdom and asceticism that is found in Phaedo, which Plotinus alludes to.  As I mentioned in the previous post, the Ascetic Ideal means to refrain from using sensory experience as the guide for how we should live our lives.  Plotinus expresses this as ‘not keeping company with bodily pleasures.’

2.  Plotinus emphasizes the impurity of bodily pleasures.  I think the emphasis in Phaedo is slightly different in that both pleasures and pains are determined to be poor guides for a philosophical life.  I’m not saying there is any inconsistency between the two, but there is an interesting shift in emphasis that I find helpful.  This may be due to the different circumstances of Phaedo and Ennead I.6.  Phaedo records the last hours of the life of Socrates and wants to offer his students as complete a picture as possible.  Plotinus is communicating to his students who are more likely to be distracted by pleasures in their ordinary lives, hence the emphasis on their impurity.

3.  It is interesting that Plotinus suggests that ‘a man does not fear death if he welcomes the prospect of being alone.’  Solitude is, I think, more often referenced in Plotinus than in Plato; but this is just an impression.  I think this impression is highlighted by the closing of the last Ennead.  In the Armstrong translation it reads:

“This is the life of gods and of godlike and blessed men, deliverance from the things of this world, a life which takes no delight in the things of this world, escape in solitude to the solitary.”

(Plotinus, Ennead VI.9.11, translated by A. H. Armstrong, Plotinus: Ennead VI.6-9, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1988, page 345, ISBN: 9780674995154)

In a footnote Armstrong writes, “These last words, in the common translation ‘flight of the alone to the Alone’, are the only words of Plotinus at all generally known and remembered.  He uses the ‘alone to the alone’ formula elsewhere in the Enneads when speaking of our encounter with the Good (I.6.7/8; VI.7.34.7).” 

(Ibid, page 344)

4.  It is helpful to not overinterpret, or take too literally the Plotinian emphasis on the Alone or the Solitary.  The connection this teaching has with the One and the Good is that the One is self-sufficient because it has no antecedent cause(s).  The Alone to which Plotinus refers is found in the life of an ascetic even when that ascetic is in the midst of community; as was true of Plotinus. 

On the other hand, the Ascetic does tend to limit social contacts to those which are essential and genuinely nourish the spiritual journey.

5.  I find it uplifting to see the consistency of the Ascetic Ideal in Platonism.  Socrates lived from 470 to 399 BCE, and Plotinus lived from 204 to 270 CE.  That’s about 700 years.  It is remarkable how the teachings of Platonism maintained their purity over all those centuries, and how they have continued to do so to the present day.

 

 

Wisdom 2

21 November 2023

Wisdom 2

“’And how about those of seemly conduct? . . . They are self-restrained because of a kind of self-indulgence.  We say, to be sure, that this is impossible, nevertheless their foolish self-restraint amounts to little more than this; for they fear that they may be deprived of certain pleasures which they desire, and so they refrain from some because they are under the sway of others.  And yet being ruled by pleasures is called self-indulgence.  Nevertheless they conquer pleasures because they are conquered by other pleasures.  Now this is about what I said just now, that they are self-restrained by a kind of self-indulgence.’

“’So it seems.’

“’My dear Simmias, I suspect that this is not the right way to purchase virtue, by exchanging pleasures for pleasures, and pains for pains, and fear for fear, and greater for less, as if they were coins, but the only right coinage, for which all those things must be exchanged and by means of and with which all these things are to be bought and sold, is in fact wisdom; and courage and self-restraint and justice and, in short, true virtue exist only with wisdom, whether pleasures and fears and other things of that sort are added or taken away.  And virtue which consists in the exchange of such things for each other without wisdom, is but a painted imitation of virtue and is really slavish and has nothing healthy or true in it; but truth is in fact a purification from all these things, and self-restraint and justice and courage and wisdom itself are a kind of purification.’”

(Plato, Phaedo, translated by Harold North Fowler, Plato I: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1914, pages 241-243, 68E-69C, ISBN: 0674990404)

1.  Here Socrates links wisdom to the practice of the virtues.  The practice of the virtues needs to be grounded on wisdom which is a kind of purification.  And purification is learning to not base one’s life and activities on sensory pleasure.

2.  It is interesting to me how this passage points to virtues and their cultivation as beyond the pleasure/pain dichotomy.  This understanding differs from that of utilitarianism which regards pleasure and pain as the central realities of an ethical life and the ground upon which ethical calculation should take place.  But Platonism would consider utilitarianism ‘slavish’ because it is attached to sensory experience and, further, bases its approach to ethics upon sensory experience.  But Platonism would see this approach as having ‘nothing healthy or true in it.’ 

3.  This quote is, I think, an expression of what I refer to as the ‘Ascetic Ideal.’  The foundation of the Ascetic Ideal is to refrain from using the senses as a guide for a philosophical, or spiritual, life.  Whether or not a particular activity gives you pleasure or pain does not determine the worthiness of that activity.  This is not difficult to understand, it is a point made, for example, in sports.  A common phrase associated with building up the musculature of the body is ‘no pain no gain.’  On the other hand, nutritional supplements are common for bodybuilders and other athletes and do not generate any pain; they might even be blended into a drink that has a pleasing taste.  In other words, pain and pleasure are not the guiding principle.

In a similar way, the philosopher lives a life in which sensory pleasure and pain are not the guiding principles; other considerations, such as non-harming and the cultivation of wisdom, are more important guides.  This means cultivating a sense of distance from sensory input; not exactly ignoring sensory input, but not letting sensory input and stimulation be the singular guide for one’s activities.

4.  We live in a culture in which pleasurable feelings, no matter how damaging to self and others, are thought of as sufficient justification for pursuing an activity.  The effects of this belief are easily seen in the prevalence of various types of addiction (alcohol and drugs), overeating, and other widespread pleasure-based activities.  Such an approach to life is tremendously destructive even on the mundane level.  For a life that seeks transcendent wisdom such a life makes ascending to this reality impossible.

5.  “Wisdom itself is a kind of purification.”  I see purification as the gradual process of living a life in line with the Ascetic Ideal.  We are purified from being dominated by the senses, directed by sensory stimulation.  This leads to equanimity and insight, including the insight into what is eternal and what is not.  And when we know what is eternal, eternal as such, we find our way back to true peace.

 

Haiku

A cold desert night --

An angel opens the door

To eternity.

Wisdom 1

19 November 2023

Wisdom 1

I posted recently, November 2, about the shift to theology that took place in Platonism in the late classical period.  I was struck by how this shift to theology took place in both Christian and Pagan contexts.  The shift was a shift away from wisdom and towards theology.  Here are a few observations and comments about this:

1.  When I was studying Buddhism I was very taken by the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras.  These are a collection of Mahayana Discourses that are focused on the perfection of wisdom, or ‘prajna paramita.’  I studied these works with intense focus and ended up writing commentaries on two of the most influential of these Sutras; the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra.  I still have very positive feelings for these discourses, though I also have changed my mind about some of the central ideas found therein, not the least of which is emptiness itself.  But I bring this up because the overall view of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras is that wisdom has liberative power; meaning that wisdom can open the gate to higher understanding that leads to the cessation of sorrow.  I still agree with that.

2.  I see Platonism as a wisdom tradition, a tradition in which wisdom is the way, wisdom is the path, to breaking free from genesis and samsara.  I don’t think of this as a controversial claim.

3.  The wisdom of philosophy is transcendent wisdom, or the wisdom of transcendence.  It is not extensive knowledge about a particular subject.  We might say, for example, that someone is ‘wise in the ways of pottery’ or ‘wise in the ways of poetry’ or ‘wise in the way of war’ or ‘wise in the ways of grammar,’ and so forth.  But the wisdom of philosophy is not that kind of wisdom; the wisdom of philosophy transcends those kinds of topics, goes beyond those kinds of topics.

4.  In wisdom literature the word ‘beyond’ is often used to signal the transcendent nature of philosophical wisdom.  This usage is found repeatedly in the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, as well as Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite. 

5.  If I were to express the wisdom of philosophy briefly, I would say that philosophical wisdom is the wisdom of eternity, of that which is eternal, of that which is eternity as such.  Wisdom is gained by distinguishing eternity from that which is ephemeral.  For example, the soul is eternal, the body is not.

6.  When philosophy is displaced by theology one of the consequences is that wisdom is also displaced, or put into an inferior, subordinate position.  Proclus makes this clear in his Theology of Plato:

“. . . [T]here are three things which collect together the natures that are filled, being secondary indeed to the former, but all things are saved through these, and are conjoined to their primary causes; some things indeed, through amatory mania, others through divine philosophy, and others through theurgic power, which is more excellent than all human wisdom, and which comprehends prophetic good, and purifying powers of perfective good, and in short, all such things as are the effects of divine possession.”

(Proclus, The Theology of Plato, translated by Thomas Taylor, The Prometheus Trust, Lydney, UK, 1816, page 114, ISBN: 9781898910077)

7.  I see theurgy as a specialized knowledge, meaning knowledge of a specific topic.  In this case it would be knowledge of ritual practices.  But I don’t see theurgy as transcendent, or leading to, or assisting in, transcendence, and for that reason I view transcendent wisdom, which is to say philosophical wisdom, as the key to philosophical awakening, the key to going beyond, and even beyond beyond.

8.  In a way, when we are considering philosophical wisdom, we are already entering into the Noetic.  I say this because the noetic is free from material content.  As I have previously written, the Being of Noetic Being is not the being of any particular thing; it is Being as such.  In a similar way, transcendent wisdom is not the wisdom of a specific topic, but the wisdom of transcendence as such.  It therefore embraces the entire Noetic domain and from there transcendent wisdom becomes the launching pad to the Good, the One, and the Beautiful.

 

 

The Web of Descent

16 November 2023

The Web of Descent

Sometimes when I read about the process of emanation in Platonist writings the idea seems to be what is referred to as a ‘line of descent.’  The idea seems to be that a material manifestation is connected to a particular, and traceable, line of emanation and material realities are, for this reason, connected to specific higher realities as their ultimate source.

In my understanding the way emanation happens more closely resembles a web of relationships rather than a line of descent.  I mean that there are horizontal emanations as well as hierarchical emanations; both functioning at the same time.  Here are a few observations:

1.  Think of the sun as an analog for the One.  Human beings are an emanation of the sun; without the sun there would be no human beings.  But it is more complex than that.  Trees have the same direct relationship to the sun.  But trees also have the same relationship to human beings that the sun has to human beings; I mean that without trees creating oxygen there would be no human beings.  This is what I refer to as a ‘horizontal’ emanation or relationship rather than a hierarchical relationship.

2.  Sometimes I get the impression that emanation is depicted as a sequence, or a series of steps; a bit like the sequence found in a recipe.  First you measure out the four, then you add some water, then you add some sweetening, and then some spices, and then you stir it, and then you shape it, and then you bake it.

In emanation this way of looking at it would be first you have the One, then you have the Noetic (Being, Life, and Mind), then you have the third hypostasis beginning with the world soul and continuing to material things.  And the result is the cosmos as we perceive it and live in it.

3.  But I think an ecological model is a more accurate presentation of Platonic emanation, a model that would include horizontal as well as vertical emanations.  In this way you could see the complexity of relationships in an ecological system as instantiations of the complexity of metaphysical relationships in emanation.

4.  I think this model helps us to understand why, or how, the One is present throughout all space and time.  In the hierarchical model the tendency is to construe the One as geographically above and distant from material reality.  The same would apply to the Noetic.  The hierarchical depiction has allowed some Late Classical Platonists to think of the soul as separate from the One and, in addition, unable to access the Noetic. 

In a model that takes into account horizontal emanation, access to the Noetic and the One, because of their eternal permeating presence, makes more sense.

5.  Horizontal emanation would help us understand how the three primary aspects of the Noetic (Being, Life, and Mind) are intimately intertwined.  The idea is that Being emanates Noetic Life and Noetic Mind, that Noetic Life emanates Noetic Being and Noetic Mind, and that Noetic Mind emanates Noetic Being and Noetic Life.  This further implies that emanations from Noetic Being would inherently participate in Noetic Life and Noetic Mind, and so forth.

This does not eliminate the reality of hierarchical emanation.  Hierarchical emanation generates differentiation and multiplicity.  Horizontal emanation generates the web of relationships that constitute the reality of the material cosmos in which we dwell.

6.  The one is always present.  Being is always present.  Life is always present.  Mind / Consciousness is always present.  They are not far away as a presence, but they are far away in their purity.  As we practice purification we become more aware of the presence of the facets of transcendence and the presence of eternity.  Eventually the purity of this relationship becomes simpler and simpler until we merge with our constant companion, the Good, the One, and the Beautiful.

 

 

The Presence of Platonism

13 November 2023

The Presence of Platonism

1.  I have been thinking about how Platonism has established itself at various times in its history.  As readers of this blog know, I think of Platonism as a spiritual tradition.  The way most spiritual, or religious, traditions are present in a culture is through one or more institutions.  These institutions function as centers of reference, meaning that when people talk about a spiritual tradition, they usually have a particular institution in mind.

2.  In the Classical period Platonism was institutionally embodied by teaching centers where people could go and study Platonism.  The two main ones were the Academy in Athens, and Platonist teachers in Alexandria.  It does not appear to be the case that the centers of Classical Platonism were hierarchically organized; I mean that I don’t see that centers of Classical Platonism had control over other such centers.

3.  The school that Plotinus established in Rome is another example of a teaching center.  But unlike the centers of Athens and Alexandria it did not outlast the life of the teacher at the center, Plotinus himself.  I wonder how many other centers of Platonism, and other schools of Roman philosophy, were also similarly centered on a single teacher with the center itself passing away when the teacher passed away? 

4.  The example of Plotinus seems to indicate that Platonism did not (and does not?) need a center that resembles those centers of religious traditions that are located in space, meaning geographically grounded.  Instead, it seems that Platonism is centered in what I refer to as the Temple of the Text; that is to say the Dialogues of Plato and the Enneads of Plotinus serve some of the same functions as the geographically located centers of many religious traditions.  Perhaps this is a consequence of the transcendental focus of the tradition of Platonism.

5.  Platonism has never established itself as a religious institution in the way that the various Christian traditions have, or the way that Daoism has in China, or the way Islam has, or the way Shinto has in Japan.  There have been attempts to do so.  The most famous one was attempted by the Emperor Julian, known as ‘The Apostate’ (331 to 363 CE).  Julian attempted to create a parallel Pagan Church, based on theurgic rituals, and grounded in Platonism as its official ‘theology’ as interpreted by Iamblichus and Proclus.  The attempt failed.  Historians give various reasons for the failure.  But one reason that I think is of consequence, that I haven’t seen mentioned in sources I have read, is that Platonism is uncongenial for the role that Julian wanted to give it.  I mean that it isn’t a good ‘fit’, that turning Platonism into a State Religion is like trying to put on a suit that is much too small.

6.  Platonism tends to flourish when it is in the background.  By ‘background’ I mean that it is not primarily involved in political causes and or social movements, though Platonism can have an influence on such movements. 

7.  An example of what I call ‘flourishing in the background’ was the long period of Christian Platonism, both in the Latin West and the Orthodox East.  This period is still ongoing.  This allowed Platonism to be ‘present’ without having to be engaged in the various political and social conflicts of history.

8.  In the present day the presence of Platonism is very diffuse.  There is nothing that resembles the Academy in Athens or the great teaching institutions of Alexandria.  And Platonism has been displaced as the necessary foundation of Christian theology so that in the context of the Christian tradition, Christian Platonists have to compete with those who have different starting points for their theology.

There are some Platonist focused academic centers, like the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism.  Organizations like this have done a lot to keep the interest in Platonism active in the academy and have also played a role in translating Platonist writings that might otherwise have been forgotten.  This is to be greatly appreciated.

9.  There are also individuals who have been attracted to Platonism and pursue Platonism as a spiritual tradition.  This is done by a small number of academics, but most of them are found outside of the academy and outside of an established religious context.  An early example of this would be Anne Conway (1631-1679 CE) who was associated with the Cambridge Platonists but was not allowed to attend their campus meetings because women were not allowed on campus.  Yet she pursued her studies with great dedication.

Another example would be Thomas Taylor (1758-1835 CE) who translated a large number of Platonist texts, including the complete Dialogues of Plato and the complete writings of Aristotle, into English for the first time.  His translations are foundational for the spread of Platonism outside an official academic context and remain of significance to some contemporary Platonist groups.

Thomas Moore Johnson (1851-1919 CE) was a Platonist scholar, author, and practitioner who lived in Osceola, Missouri.  He was influenced by Thomas Taylor and published two magazines on Platonism to help bring these teachings to others.

10.  At this time of great social change and upheaval, I think Platonism is situated to continue ‘flourishing in the background.’  I suspect that there will be experiments on Platonist life and practice because it is only very recently that there has been space for such experiments.  One experiment might be a kind of renunciant brotherhood of Platonists that see the ascetic teachings of Platonism as the heart of its practice.  I don’t know whether this would resemble the wandering ascetic traditions, or the hermit approach such as that found in Chinese history (Daoist, Buddhist, and Poetry hermits).  Or perhaps it would take the form of a small group of ascetics who would share the expenses of a household by working at low-paying jobs.  In the history of Platonism there are stories of such people going all the way back to the Classical period.  But it is only very recently that our society could, at least theoretically, support such a calling.

Personally, I am attracted to the idea of a Platonist ascetic brotherhood, though, because I am an old man, I don’t think I will live to see it.  That’s OK.  Perhaps in a future birth such an opportunity will appear.

 

 

Definitional Drift

9 November 2023

Definitional Drift

We live in a realm of constant change.  Nothing in the material domain is stable.  As Plato says, things in this world are ‘coming to be’ but they never ‘are.’ 

Words are no exception to this; words constantly change their meaning and shift their focus over time.  I refer to this as ‘definitional drift.’  Here are a few comments:

1.  There is a teaching in Japanese spirituality, in Shinto for example, called ‘kototama’, or ‘kotodama.’  The term means ‘word soul’ or the ‘spirit of words.’  It is the idea that words are living things and that like other living things words have a soul.  I have also found this kind of teaching presented in some Daoist contexts and a few others such as Jewish mysticism.  But I know it best from Japanese presentations because I studied in Japan many years ago and have continued to study Japanese spirituality to the present day.

2.  I accept that words are living beings, or perhaps I would say that words are a life form.  And I accept that words have souls, just as people do, just as mountains do.

3.  The soul of a word is prior to the sonic, or written, manifestation of a word.  Look at it this way: the English word ‘one’ is ‘odin’ in Russian, ‘eins’ in German, ‘eck’ in Sanskrit, and ‘ichi’ in Japanese.  But the word soul is the same for all of these names whether written or spoken.

4.  The connection between the word soul and the material manifestation of the word soul in sound or visually in writing, is often obscure.  This obscurity can be more or less.  The word soul for numbers tends to be, for the most part, accessible; that is to say the meaning of numbers, as in counting, tends to be clear, though individual and cultural accretions can obscure a word soul for a number; an example would be cultural accretions surrounding the number ’13.’ 

But for most words in ordinary discourse the meaning as embodied in the word soul is clouded by accretions.  This makes sense because the material manifestation is only a dim and distorted copy of the source of the word, which is the word soul.  You can think of the word soul as the Platonic Form of the word and the spoken or written word as an emanation of the Platonic Form as Word Soul.  Just as a tree is an emanation of treeness and obscures the Platonic Form of tree, so also the spoken and written word obscure the reality of the Word Soul, which I am interpreting as a Platonic Form from which emanates the sonic and written word.

5.  Definitional drift happens when the connection between the spoken and written word loses a secure connection to that word.  This happens when a word is used in a new context and since new contexts are always arising in this realm of becoming and begoning definitional drift is inevitable. 

6.  A living tree has a connection to the Platonic Form of Tree, but the connection is tenuous and as that connection is lost, the tree begins to disintegrate.  This is because the tree has started to lose contact with its transcendental source in the noetic which is the source of life and vitality.  Similarly with words; as a word loses contact with its Platonic Form, it begins to disintegrate.  Disintegration means that parts split off and the oneness becomes instead a multiplicity.

7.  The word ‘Platonism’ has undergone definitional drift throughout its history.  For example, early in the history of the Academy, there was a period when Platonism was interpreted as a type of extreme skepticism.  That is not a version of Platonism that has lasted, but it had its day.

In contemporary Platonism definitional drift manifests through multiplicity; I refer to the different types of Platonism that currently exist.  Since there is no ultimate arbiter of the meaning of ‘Platonism’ (for example, no final ecclesiastical or political authority who can impose a particular interpretation), these varieties are free to flourish as best they can.

8.  The solution I have used for definitional drift in Platonism is to create sub-categories by using modifiers: for example Christian-Academic-Pagan-Contemplative Platonism.  By using modifiers I am able to grant that there is a connection among them, at least historically.  At the same time I can retain my own commitments as to what Platonism is really about (for the record, I side with Contemplative Ascetic Platonism) without summarily dismissing other versions. 

9.  I have the view that Platonism is a resilient tradition.  Definitional drift definitely impacts how people understand Platonism.  On the other hand, the heart of Platonism as found in the Dialogues and the Enneads tends to reassert its living presence when the drift goes too far.  This might not happen right away, but it happens eventually. 

10.  There is a strong tendency in modernity to distort spiritual traditions so that they look like they are advocating for the basic views that modernity takes for granted (such as materialism, naturalism, and nihilism.)  I saw this process at work in the shaping of Western Buddhism and its transformation by a dedicated group of ‘Secular Buddhists’; their term.  But Platonism, I think, has the ability to overcome that tendency due to the clarity of its presentation and the noetic vitality at its source.  I may be misguided on this point, but my own experience indicates to me that Platonism will continue to offer its vision to those who want to take the time to look and follow its path, ‘step by step.’