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.’