Download What is Platonism

WHAT IS PLATONISM?
John Uebersax
Draft: 1 Jan 2017
1. Two prefacing remarks are in order. These concern what Platonism is not, and aim to redress
two modern errors. The first is that Plato is not the ancient equivalent of a modern analytical
philosopher. of the term. He is, rather, a rational mystic. One can't begin to understand Plato
without allowing for this mystical, religious dimension of his thought.
2. The second consideration is that we should accept that there is a limit on how well the thought
of Plato can be expressed in any systematic terms. Plato was not merely a philosopher, but a
great literary artist. As great art, his works affect, inspire and improve us by imparting not only
rational, but extra-rational knowledge and wisdom.
These caveats noted, I here propose to address the question, What is Platonism? by subdividing it
into the traditional branches of philosophy, which we consider in turn below.
Metaphysics
Perhaps the most emblematic feature of Plato's philosophy is his Theory of Forms. This has
many implications, but perhaps most significantly a view of reality as integrated dualism. That
is, Plato contrasts an Eternal realm of pure, unchanging Being, beyond time and space, with the
Temporal, always changing realm of existence (Becoming).
In the Eternal realm reside the Forms — eternal Archetypes or Ideals, of which things in the
Temporal realm are imperfect copies or images.
Forms are of two varieties: general Forms, corresponding to things like horses and tables; and a
special class we might call moral or transcendent Forms. This latter class includes the Forms for
individual moral virtues (and for Virtue generally), and three Forms to which Plato attaches great
significance: those of Beauty, Truth and Moral Goodness. Superordinate to these three great
Forms is the Form of the Good, which, for Plato, is God.
Human beings have an 'amphibious nature', inasmuch as we have both Eternal and Temporal
natures, but the Eternal should predominate.
The material world is a mixture of Form — which supplies order, beauty and goodness — and
Chaos, which strenuously resists form and order. Because our souls also contain this mixture, a
chief feature of human life is the need to govern a frequently unruly lower nature with our Formoriented higher nature.
The lower human nature, nevertheless, has a value and dignity all its own. Unlike asceticism,
Platonism does not seek to suppress or deny human lower nature, but only to harmoniously
govern it. Our role in cultivation of our own souls is analogous to a gardener: using our own
moral and aesthetic Ideals, we take what Nature supplies and improve it.
Ethics
The primary emphasis of Plato's dialogues is the presentation and development of a complex, but
extremely coherent, virtue ethics. Humanity mostly exists in a fallen moral condition, and with
this moral fall comes unhappiness. Happiness is a result of growth in transcendent virtues,
which pattern our life and thought more to accord with the Eternal.
Plato present five 'core' transcendent virtues. These include the traditional four cardinal virtues
of Courage, Wisdom, Moderation, and Justice. In some places he suggests a fifth: Holiness. In
any case, Plato is insistent on the unity of virtues.
It is important to note that by Justice Plato does not mean retributive or distributive justice, but,
rather, the quality of acting and thinking in ways that are perfectly suited for the situation; we
might call this rightness, 'just rightness,' balance, or harmony.
Plato's ethics follow the traditional ancient Greek view, which we also find in the Delphic
religion, Homer and Hesiod, and the tragic poets. In sum, this sees the human moral fall as
occurring in three steps: hubris (pride), ate (moral blindness), and nemesis (purificatory
punishment). We are designed to participate harmoniously in a cosmos which is governed by a
superintending Providence. To the extent that we live humbly and justly, and piously (i.e.,
'giving due honor to the gods'), aligning our personal will with Eternity , then we will enjoy
happiness and the many blessings of the material world. But when, contrarily, we are governed
by egoism, we lose our happiness and blessings.
Epistemology
A second hallmark feature of Platonism is its emphasis on a higher form of human intelligence
than ordinary ratiocination. That is, Plato believes human beings possess a special intellective
faculty, power or organ called Nous. The operation of this faculty is noesis, and involves an
instantaneous intellectual apprehension of a Form. Thus, while discursive ratiocination may
construct a logical syllogism to prove some point, it is the Nous which, in an instant, actually
recognizes the truth of the conclusion. Nous, a term which Plato borrowed from earlier Greek
philosophers, has some definite connections with Conscience in the Christian tradition , and
perhaps the pure consciousness of Vedanta.
It is by means of noesis that we recognize the true meaning and deep significance of the
transcendent Forms of Truth, Beauty, Moral Goodness, Virtue, etc. In Platonism, we are
interested in Virtue not as a duty or social convention, but because we apprehend its splendor
and are attracted to it; we see that Virtue is our nature, and our destiny.
But as both a consequence, and to some extent also a cause, of our moral fall, our Nous becomes,
as it were, clouded, and our thoughts are dominated by lower concerns. The inevitable result is
confusion, since it is the higher Forms that give all meaning and purpose to human life.
Plato urges us to rectify our fallen condition, and to seek return to a condition of moral grace by
various means of psychological ascent. Three specific means of ascent are described in his
dialogues:
Ascent by Dialectic. By dialectic Plato means the disciplined logical attempt to arrive at first
principles concerning a topic. Yet logical analysis is not pursued because it deductively arrives
at answers (ratiocination), but because the effort itself focuses the will and intelligence to permit
spontaneous insights and intuitions of the noetic faculty. A chief source of Plato's discussion of
dialectic is Book 7 of the Republic.
Ascent by Contemplation of Beauty. By contemplating the beauty of material objects, we are led
to consider what Beauty in itself is — of which all individual beautiful things partake — and
hence to contemplate the Form of Beauty. As Beauty itself is more lovable than any beautiful
thing, from contemplation we may be led to surpassing love of Beauty, and from thence to love
of God (or, for Plato, the Form of the Good), which is the source of Beauty. This is described in
the famous Diotima section of the Symposium.
Ascent by Moral Practice. By moral practice we mean the struggle to harmonize the various
elements of the soul. When the soul is properly harmonized, it 'rises' more or less spontaneously
to nobler states. But conflicting and disordered passions and appetites disturb this, causing the
soul to reverse this upward movement and fall precipitously. This is describe in the chariot myth
of the Phaedrus.
To add:
That Plato's is a rational mysticism is very important. Plato explains and justifies religion and
spirituality to the rational mind, promoting greater psychic integration.
Platonism inherits from Socrates an emphasis the Delphic maxim, Know Thyself
Plato similarly emphasizes Socratic intellectual humility — an acute awareness of the limits of
one's knowledge and propensity for wrong opinion — and proper skepticism as a precondition of
moral and intellectual progress.
Theology
To add:
Immortality, mystery
Astral religion
Providence
Natural Law