3 July 2024
Brief Notes on Various Topics – 33
1. “Athenian: You see, my argument says that the correct way of life must neither pursue pleasures nor, conversely, entirely avoid pains.” (Laws, 792c, Reeve translation, page 208)
“Ath. My argument asserts that the correct way of life should neither pursue pleasures nor entirely flee pains.” (Laws, 792c, Pangle translation, page 180)
I like this succinct summary of the Platonic way of life. It runs counter to the dominant view of how we should live our lives today, which is focused on accumulating pleasurable experiences, the more intense the better. I think this leads to great harm starting with things like addiction, on up to concerns of state. In fact, I think pursuing pleasure as the basis of life is not really possible; there are so many examples of people consciously engaging in unpleasant activities because other things are more valuable. These range from someone going to an unglamorous job day after day to support their family, to the disciplined ascetic on his quest to the Good and the One.
2. It’s interesting to listen to different people talk about Platonism and how their talk is shaped by their status, or station, in life. My observation has been, for example, that academic Platonists speak primarily to other academics; secondarily they speak to their students. In contrast, what I call ‘amateur’ Platonists (by which I mean Platonists who are attracted to Platonism but do not have any academic credentials) seem to forego academic terminology, and their specialized vocabulary is limited. And the tone is different; the amateur Platonist seems to be reporting their own experience or journey with Platonism whereas the academic Platonist seems to be developing an overall and all-encompassing understanding of Platonism that they want other people to adopt.
The artistic Platonist appears to only mention Platonism now and then; they are more likely to talk about their poetry, art, or music, than the philosophy behind their work. But if they sense that someone is open to this background, they are open to sharing it and explaining how it influences what they are doing.
Mystical Platonists are primarily interested in Platonism as a teaching that guides them on the mystical journey to the transcendental. Other issues in the works of Platonism are secondary and do not occupy their attention to nearly the same degree.
3. If you think that abstractions are made from the ground up (meaning that they are derivative of sensory data and experience) then abstractions are less real than concrete, material things. If you think, as Platonists do, that concrete, material things, are derivative of higher realities, such as the forms, then abstractions are changed into noetic realities. This is a big gap, more like a chasm, between materialism and Platonism.
4. An issue that contemporary Platonists deal with is loneliness; I think this particularly applies to what I referred to above as the amateur Platonist. The amateur Platonist is, I think, primarily attracted to Platonism because Platonism offers a sense of meaning in a culture that is, for the most part, devoid of meaning and even openly hostile to the idea that there is meaning in the cosmos. The pursuit of the Platonic path sets the contemporary Platonist at odds with friends and family, or often does so, and leads to a feeling of isolation. This sense of isolation can be overcome by the contemplative Platonist through noetic experiences, and even glimpses of the One. Still, I think becoming a Platonist will, at least at some point, result in a feeling of social isolation. Personally, I think that is a price worth paying.
5. I’m a slow learner. In some ways I think that has helped me, in the long run, in accessing Platonist teachings. I am used to not understanding something the first time it is presented (or the second time, or the third time; you get the idea.) The consequence of this is that when I first encountered teachings in Platonism that I didn’t understand I wasn’t distressed by that feeling. I suppose if I had not understood anything in what I was reading I would have put it aside altogether. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, it was more like finding gold nuggets while sifting sand. As time went on, the vein of gold became richer and more present.
I offer this because I think in an academic environment there is a kind of pressure to understand philosophical material quickly due to the semester structure of university classes. But it’s possible to learn Platonism outside of that context and to become more and more familiar with Platonism over time, over many years.
