Brief Notes on Various Topics -- 17

27 March 2024

Brief Notes on Various Topics – 17

1.  I’ve been reading a biography of Plato, Plato of Athens, by Robin Waterfield.  Early in the book Waterfield discusses his sources, one of which are the letters of Plato.  Waterfield writes, “. . . the authenticity of any of Plato’s letters is one of the most hotly contested issues in Platonic scholarship.  It is one of those issues that is subject to scholarly fashion.  At the moment the scholarly consensus, while falling well short of unanimity, is that even the most plausible of them are forgeries, but in the middle of the twentieth century the consensus was the other way around, and there are signs today that the pendulum is swinging back again.”  (pages xxx and xxxi)

At various times in my life I dove into studying textual analysis and its procedures.  At first it seemed to have a lot to offer, and at times it does generate interesting possibilities worth examining.  But gradually I began to feel that the conclusions offered through text critical procedures are often a ‘scholarly fashion.’  Over the years I have become increasingly skeptical of the field.  I keep an open mind; like I said, now and then the field does seem to open up new possibilities.  But I think that is very rare.

2.  I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it’s worth repeating: the big challenge for those of us who think of Platonism as a spiritual tradition is to understand Platonism as complete, that is to say a complete spiritual system.  When I say ‘complete’ I mean to use that word in the same way I would say Jainism is complete or the Shinto tradition is complete.  I don’t mean to say that Platonism is sealed away from influences and sources.  I mean that the central teachings are coherent and that the best way to clarify difficulties is to go to sources within the tradition of Platonism itself.

I see three major intellectual obstacles to viewing Platonism in this way.  First is that academic philosophy is very far removed from the idea that philosophy is, or can be, a spiritual system.  And comparing Platonism to something like Jainism would not make sense to the academy (with some exceptions.)  The second is that modernity has the distinctive view that the transcendental does not exist.  Since Platonism is all about the transcendental there is an inevitable conflict between modernity and Platonism.  And third is to overcome the heritage that sees Platonism as profoundly incomplete, that it is lacking in some key insight or teaching that is then provided by those who have this view.  This third obstacle has two branches:  Christianity and Theurgy.  Both of them reworked Platonism in a way that displaces philosophy in favor of teachings that support their own unique understandings.  Contemporary spiritual Platonists need to step away from this heritage that assumes Platonist incompleteness or lack.

3.  We’ve had a lot of wind storms in the desert recently.  This world is a stormy place.  It is best to withdraw into interior silence and follow the light of the One to the source of True Peace.

4.  Studying Platonism is like having an elderly Uncle who is very knowledgeable and has a lot of life experience.  This Uncle is willing to share the insights he has gained from his life with you, and offer you guidance, insight, and wisdom.  After a while you begin to rely on him because his advice has proven effective so often. 

5.  I’ve been reconsidering the idea that Plotinian mysticism is a type of negative theology.  The idea that the Plotinian path is a negative path rests on the non-sensory nature of the Good and the One.  But just because the Good and the One are non-sensory realities does not mean that they are non-existent.  They are non-existent as sensory realities, yes, but the experiences people have of the transcendental are not void of presence; difficult though that presence is to communicate.