Brief Notes on Various Topics -- 30

12. June 2024

Brief Notes on Various Topics -- 30

1.  I recently registered at academia (dot) edu.  In the signup you get to select your interests and I naturally selected Platonism.  Since then I have received a huge number of links to papers published on the site.  I’m not complaining, but I am acutely aware that I don’t have the time to read even a fraction of what is being published.  This is a common complaint among academics, I know, but because of my recently registering at the site I have become strongly aware of it.  How does someone sift through all of this material?

Personally, I only click on links to papers that indicate they are focused on something I have been interested in for some time.  It is very easy to get distracted by new things and in a way a flood of academic papers can feel like the flood of new entertainment offered online from youtube to tv series at various sites.  You have to become kind of ruthless about what you are going to spend time on or else whole days will vanish as you go from paper to paper.

Old age helps me in this context.  I don’t have a lot of years left.  I want to spend my time as wisely as I can and this helps me be more rigorous in my selections.

Also, in my later years, I tend to want to reread certain things, preferring to do that rather than read something new.  I prefer deepening my knowledge of some work through rereading than taking on an entirely new reading project.  The concrete result is the regular rereading of Plato and Plotinus.

2.  The process of emanation is from the unified to the differentiated.  I think understanding this is the key to comprehending how the cosmos exhibits the reality of the three levels, or hypostases, of existence.

3.  The more something is differentiated the farther it is from the One, the fully unified.  The number 7 is not as differentiated as 7 apples; for this reason, the number 7 is metaphysically closer to Unity, the One, than 7 apples.

It isn’t always easy, given two examples, to know which is more differentiated than the other, but the principle is helpful.  In general, the more content something has, in comparison to something else, the more differentiated it is.  The number 7 has no content but 7 apples does.

4.  I recently posted about how expensive some Platonist books are.  Here is an update: I came across a new book on Platonism that is over $300.  It is about 600 pages; a large book, for sure, but many are larger.  The hardback of Gerson et al’s translation of Plotinus is about $150.00 and is about 1,000 pages; the paper back is about $50.00.

I bring this topic up not solely out of personal frustration, though that is an element.  Although overpriced academic books are a problem in all fields, I think they are particularly problematic in the context of Platonism.  I am referring to the practice of Platonist teachers to not charge for their teachings, which goes back to Socrates.  This act of not charging contrasted with the Sophists and was a serious issue contrasting the two approaches. 

I should point out that there are Platonists who charge very little, as little as possible, for their books; two I can think of right now are Eric Fallick and his insightful volume Platonist Contemplative Asceticism and Edward P. Butler whose books are very reasonably priced.  I’m confident there are others as well.

5.  I like to complain about modernity; perhaps readers have noticed.  But here I am, undoubtedly for karmic reasons.  Perhaps it is possible to see advantages in modernity.  I mean perhaps modernity offers advantages that other times did not. 

One thing I can think of is the widespread availability of the Platonic classics.  I think it is likely that at this time they are more widely available than at any other time in history.  This is a wonderful thing and I have personally benefitted from it.

Another is that I was born at a time, and grew up in a location, where I did not have to be constantly concerned about things like where my next meal is coming from.  I can make this observation because I am an old man.  I am aware that this situation is slipping away; such abundance is very rare in history.  My good fortune on this issue was auspicious and I feel humbled about it, and more than a little undeserving. 

A third benefit of modernity is that at this time old forms of institutions are passing away more or less rapidly.  I observed this early on and came to a realization I could not rely on general institutions that are commonly thought of as stable.  This also applies to religious and spiritual organizations.  During my lifetime I saw many such organizations self-sabotage due to internal frictions of various kinds.  Eventually, with great reluctance, I realized that I would somehow have to find the internal resources that would support my spiritual journey within me.  I could not rely on an institution to create some kind of supporting scaffolding because in modernity these supports are routinely taken away.

A fourth benefit is that modernity has shown me in painful detail what happens when desire and differentiation are dominant in a culture.  This is an important lesson to learn and learning it, I feel, is requisite for a good rebirth.

I’m sure that modernity offers spiritual practitioners other benefits as well, but I think I’ll close here.