Orthodox Platonism

9 September 2024

Orthodox Platonism

“There is no question that Plotinus thought himself to be an orthodox Platonist – whatever that meant exactly in the 3rd century CE . . . “

Lloyd P. Gerson, Plotinus and Platonism, posted at academia (dot) edu

The use of the phrase “orthodox Platonist”, which shifted in my own mind to “Orthodox Platonism” struck me as efficacious.  It was the phrase I had been looking for to distinguish my own perspective on Platonism.  Here are a few comments on this usage:

1.  Traditions that self-identify as ‘Orthodox’ (such as Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Judaism, and so forth) mean, I think, that they regard certain founding truths and practices of their tradition to be essential for that tradition.  Orthodox traditions are reluctant to jettison received aspects of their tradition.  

Applying this to Platonism, Orthodox Platonism has the same relationship to the teachings that are found in the ancient sources of Platonism such as the Dialogues of Plato and the Enneads of Plotinus; that is to say Orthodox Platonists are reluctant to jettison teachings found in these documents simply for the sake of aligning themselves with contemporary views.  An example of this would be rebirth; Orthodox Platonists find rebirth to be central to Platonism and not something that should be marginalized for the sake of agreeing with the widespread materialism of our time.

2.  Orthodox Platonism, like other Orthodox traditions, has an attitude of respect towards its past.  Orthodox Platonism regards Sages like Plato and Plotinus as insightful to a degree that makes them almost superhuman.  In such a context it is appropriate to approach their works with deference, to assume that what they are saying is accurate and valuable, and to assume that if I don’t understand a passage that it is likely that is because of my own limitations rather than the limitations of the author.  

This differs from the attitude of suspicion with which people today approach the past.  There is a kind of cynicism towards the past and its Sages, as if because we are modern we automatically know more than they did, as if we have nothing to learn from them except what we need to overcome.  There is also a lack of generosity in the contemporary approach.  For example, if I come across a passage that refers to an outdated cosmology, such as a geocentric view, as a modernist, I tend to regard that as proof that the author has nothing to say, no insights to offer, nothing of value.  Even a very minor remark that clashes in this way will be used to dismiss everything the author has to say.  This is very unfortunate.  If we think about our own lives, and the number of times our own opinions have been wrong, it is likely to be very numerous.  And this is true of many people we know.  But we tend to be generous to ourselves in matters like this and, at the same time, very harsh and judgmental towards authors from the past.

3.  Orthodox traditions tend to emphasize commitments that we might think of as distinctive practices.  Orthodox traditions tend to have distinctive ways of life that are foundational for the tradition.  These regulations may apply to types of food that are acceptable, clothing, manners of speaking, and other everyday activities.  

In Platonism these teachings are found scattered among various documents.  Most notably they are found in passages in the Phaedo.  They include items such as vegetarianism/veganism, sexual restraint up to and including chastity, refraining from harming others, refraining from charging for spiritual teachings, refraining from ostentatious and luxurious clothing, and so forth.  These kinds of practices in a Platonist context have been sidelined for a long time, many centuries.  But from an Orthodox Platonist perspective, they are significant practices and teachings.

4.  When Gerson frames Plotinus as an Orthodox Platonist, I think Gerson means that Plotinus embodies an Orthodox praxis as well as Orthodox views and understandings of the Platonic tradition.  I think it is difficult for us to think of such a thing as Platonist Orthodoxy because we are used to encountering what I refer to as ‘hyphenated Platonism.’  What I mean by ‘hyphenated Platonism’ are interpretations that merge Platonism with other traditions.  The most significant example would be Christian Platonism which has had a big influence on Christianity and the West as a whole.  Orthodox Platonism is Platonism before Platonism was hyphenated.

5.  We are also used to presentations of Platonism that simply ignore Platonic teachings that do not align with contemporary assumptions.  I mentioned rebirth before as one of these, but there are others.  In contemporary materialism, rebirth is considered to be a ‘superstition’ and not worthy of serious consideration.  This is so pervasive in the West that Western Buddhists routinely reject the teachings on rebirth found in Buddhism on the grounds that such a teaching is a backwards superstition.  This kind of an attitude makes it very difficult to even approach some of the teachings found in the Dialogues or the Enneads.  The idea of Orthodox Platonism can function as a kind of shelter for these teachings, a place where such teachings are taken seriously.

6.  A standard view of Orthodoxy is that such traditions are rigid and they are unable to adapt to new insights.  I think many people view Orthodox traditions as lacking in the give and take of debate and not allowing for differences in interpretation.  A closer look offers a different picture.  Orthodox traditions have their disputes, and actively participate in debates on many issues.  I think of these disputes in an Orthodox context as resembling disputes among musicians as to how to interpret a musical phrase; some musicians may place the emphasis on a certain beat, while others on a different beat, or they might dispute with each other as to the pace of a musical phrase, and so forth.  But at the center of the disputes is the music itself and it is all done in the spirit of working out a performance that communicates to others.

In a similar way, Orthodox Platonist Sages may disagree with each other about the nature of the One, about the specifics of dialectic, about how to interpret a particularly difficult passage in Plato or Plotinus.  But like the above mentioned musicians, it is all in the spirit of communicating meaning to others.  

This differs from the kind of dispute often found today where the dispute might be whether or not a piece of music has any value at all.  Or whether or not ancient teachings of any kind have any value.  

7.  Returning to the topic of hyphenated Platonism, I think that Platonism first became hyphenated roughly between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE.  There were two sources: Christian Theurgy and Pagan Theurgy.  Both of these traditions substituted the pursuit of ritual efficacy for wisdom; in Christianity this was the Eucharist, for Pagans such as Iamblichus, Julian, and Proclus, it was the theurgic practices found in various Pagan traditions.  From the perspective of Orthodox Platonism, both the Pagans and Christians of that period were creating a hybrid (I almost wrote ‘heterodox’) interpretation of Platonism.  This resulted in the sidelining of practices such as a vegetarian diet and an altered view of the fully transcendental, an altered view of the soul and its relationship to the transcendental, and an altered view of the path to the transcendental. 

That was a long time ago.  As far as I know, there has been no ‘Orthodox Platonist’ presence since that time; although I think it is possible to detect such a presence in some individuals.  Recovering Orthodox Platonism is not an easy task considering that it runs counter to centuries of accepted interpretations of Platonism (of the hyphenated kind) as well as running counter to widely accepted dogmas of materialism and naturalism.  But I am optimistic.  I think it is possible at this point in history to relate to Platonism on its own terms, to see Platonism as a spiritual tradition that offers a way to free ourselves from the sorrows of material existence.  That is what Orthodox Platonism is about.