Philosophy, according to our Plato, is a "purification of the soul" and learning to "die before you die."
Socrates, Plato's teacher and the main character in his Dialogues, was asked, "What, according to you, is a true philosopher?" He answered: "He who loves to contemplate truth...who is able to arrive at what remains ever constant. He who is capable of seeing the Whole is a philosopher; he who is not, is not."
Platonism is the name for that spiritual philosophy founded by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato of Athens, who lived in the fourth century B.C.E., and is famous for his dialogues featuring his teacher Socrates. The essential concept of Platonism is the idea that, behind the changing patterns in the world we see, there are elements (divine Forms) which are eternal and are the constants of the universe.
Platonism, however, is not a monolithic system of set doctrines. Each generation of Platonists adds and advances upon the knowledge that has been gathered by those before, and this process has allowed the tradition to develop and improve, and in so doing, has generated a variety of positions on singular issues. If you compare the ideas of any two Platonists, you would sometimes not believe they belonged to the same school of thought. Having said this, someone may ask, if they differ on their ideas, what then is does it mean to be a Platonist?
The emphasis of Platonism is essentially the way of seeing things and a way of living in the world. The specific doctrines are secondary. Lloyd Gerson in his Aristotle and Other Platonists (Ithica: Cornwell UP, 2005. p. 32-34) identified seven essential elements of Platonism that takes into account the varieties of individual positions. The viewpoint of the Platonic universe is that it is "top-down", meaning that the transcendent and divine realities are prior to and explains the physical world we see around us. (A "bottom-up" philosophy like materialism, on the other hand, would take the visible and physical world as being starting point of explaining reality and that incorporeal things like the mind and consciousness somehow emerge from it.) In the Platonic "top-down" approach, Gerson identifies seven basic features:
- The universe is a unity, a unity in which all things are interconnected with laws that can be understood.
- The world is understood as a "hierarchy" in which the more simple and intellectual at the top is prior to and explains the existence and characteristics of the more complex and physical towards the bottom.
- The Divine, at the top of the hierarchy, explains all things.
- The Soul is the principle, coming between the Divine and the corporeal world, which explains all life, including the life of the universe itself.
- The happiness and salvation of man's soul is by re-establishing its lost place within this hierarchy.
- Aesthetics and morality follows the hierarchy, meaning that the closer something participates in the higher simplicity of the divine, the more beautiful and good it is.
- The soul possessed modes of cognition that reflect the world hierarchy, meaning that the soul possesses intuitive noesis to apprehend divine objects, sensation to apprehend physical objects, etc.
Even though the Platonists may differ on particular issues, the general outlook and disposition unifies them. Using the above overview of Gerson, and re-ordering it, I would call and describe the elements so:
1. The Principle of Holism
Holism has become a popular term these last few decades, in all fields, from medicine to business administration. Everyone now talks about having a "holistic view". But, to the philosophers of old, this was not news. Just by observing the universe, one cannot help but to come to such a view.
The principle of holism simply means that the universe is an organic whole. Its parts are connected to each other in a logical and effectual way, a way that can be understood and intuited by the faculties of the trained mind.
The principle of holism is very significant to another aspects of Platonic thought, especially that concept called Cosmic Sympathy. This idea is essentially that one part, when manipulated, causes an effect to another part. It is the theory behind magic, astrology and theurgy, in which, the motions of physical and mental objects in one location brings about a change in the universe in another.
2. The Principle of Hierarchy
The universe possesses a "top-down" hierachy of being, in which the most simple and intelligible is prior to, above, and gives reality to the more complex and physical world we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. This higher intelligible realm gives meaning and support for the apparent flux of change we notice in our daily lives. This hierarchy is produced by a series of illuminations eminating from the one divine Source.
3. The Principle of Divinity
At the top is hiearchy, exists a single divine "One". It is called the Good, in that all goodness comes from it. It is most unique and simple, so essentially simple and unique, that the mind colapses when attempting to contemplate it.
However, between this One and us, there is a series of divinities. For the Platonists, the universe (as a manifestation of divinity) is filled with divinities; we are surrounded by divine forces, gods and spiritual beings. One of the goals of Philosophy is to learn how to relate to this "ocean of divinity" and, by communing with it, we become divine ourselves.
4. The Principle of Soul
After the One and the gods, most important grade of being is the Soul, the rational principle that animates and gives life to the universe and to the living things within the universe.
The soul holds a centre place. It touches on the realm of the divine above, and it touches on the physical realm below. It is a bridge that connects these two aspects of reality together.
The soul is considered eternal, though its state is not constant. It undergoes countless reincarnations through the ages, and produces our personalities.
It should be noted that there is a distinction between personality and soul. While the soul is eternal, the personality, the memories, the personal identity we have in this life, ends at death, or shortly afterwards. This has implications for how we live our lives and what we should value.
5. The Principle of Knowledge
The soul, holding the middle zone of this hierarchy, possesses faculties capable of seeing into both the intelligible realms above it and the material realms below it. There are four such faculties: the intellect (or intuition), reason (or discursive thinkign), imagination (or opinion), and sensation.
Each of these has a proper place and use. Individuals succeed or fail depending on how and where they use each of these faculties. For instance, if you use the faculty of opinion to understand divinity, your knowledge will be deficient. Reason is better, but intellection is most proper.
6. The Principle of Value
Since the Divine is prior and gives existance to what comes below, the closer a thing participates in its divine source, the more divine it is, the more beautiful and good it is.
The more we participate in the good and beauty that radiates from the divine One, the more sacred and whole our lives become. All acts are called beautiful or good when they are in light of or in imitation of the Divine; and all acts are ugly or evil when they are out of harmony with or done without regards to the Divine.
The beautiful aspects of our souls, those which are inherited from the Divine, are called virtues or excellences. These are wisdom, courage, temperance, faith, love, truth, piety, friendship, and justice. These are considered the most beautiful adornments that can be had, because these are not material, but rather divine, gifts.
7. The Principle of Salvation
Individual souls, our souls, have for some reason or other lost their original place in the great hierarchy of being. They have become attached to the physical world and this things distant from their divine source; they are seduced or drawn from their native land to abide in this physical world. In this current state of attachment, the souls' vision becomes clouded and they become subject to foolish beliefs and self-detrimental behaviour.
Here they become less than is their potential, by chasing pleasure or power instead of abiding in their own divine nature. The goal of philosophy is to re-establish the soul's original place in the hierarchy. This is accomplished through the contemplation of divine knowledge and the acquisition of divine virtues.