6 April 2026
Brief Notes on Various Topics – 91
1. The Sensations of War
The Ascetic Ideal is living in a manner such that we are not guided by sensory stimulation; that is to say, that we do not live a life that is centered on finding ways to stimulate the senses. The stimulation of the senses that people seek is usually some kind of seeking after pleasure. But this is not always the case; often people seek the painful sensory stimulation either for its own sake or for the sake of some goal. This is where the common phrase, “no pain, no gain”, comes from.
I have been thinking about this in the context of war because, obviously, the current war is in the news and is being talked about a lot. What I have noticed is that war stimulates the senses in dramatic ways; by ‘dramatic’ I mean that the sensory stimulation that comes from war, even when someone is just watching war on social media, is strong, intense.
The sensation of war is a kind of spectacle. The blowing up of various structures is visually very stimulating and has a strange attractiveness; I mean that people seem to be drawn to it. The sound of incoming ordinance, the sound of guns of various types, and the dramatic and sudden deaths of many people stimulate feelings of both fear and triumph. It’s better than a movie.
The way to peace is through the Ascetic Ideal. Peace is found by withdrawing from sensory stimulation which in Platonism is expressed as separating body and soul to the extent that is possible while living with a body. The Ascetic Ideal aligns those who practice this ideal, to the extent it is possible given the circumstances of their lives, with the transcendental because the transcendental is not a spectacle or a movie. It is the changeless and eternal. It is peace everlasting.
2. Latin Platonism
I have started reading Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism: The Latin Tradition. It is a two-volume work by Stephen Gersh. Gersh has gathered various sources, like Cicero, Boethius, Seneca, and others, into a kind of anthology of Platonism that centers on Platonists who wrote in Latin. It is my understanding that this is the first anthology of its kind in English (it was published in 1986). It looks like a well done collection and I am looking forward to reading it.
3. Style
I have the impression that authors in the Platonic tradition tend to fall into two categories based on their approach. The first is systematic; the author is focused on system building and metaphysical completeness. Proclus is the obvious candidate for this way of writing about Platonism. Oddly enough, I would also include Whitehead in this style; even though Proclus and Whitehead are separated by many centuries they both enjoyed building systems that they hoped would be all encompassing.
The second is what I would say is centered on the occasional essay. Plutarch is a good example of this kind of approach, as is Plotinus. Some think of Plotinus as a system builder and I think there is some truth to that. On the other hand, the flow of Plotinus’s thought is more open to shifts of focus, to returning to the same topic and having another go at it. I think it was Armstrong who wrote that Plotinus was an unsystematic writer on a systematic philosophy. And since I am writing here about style in terms of how their thought appears to the reader, I think Plotinus as an essayist is appropriate, though I can understand why some would disagree with that.
Needless to say my own writing is that of occasional essays; often more like a diary than a full blown essay.
