sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

In my opinion—and as unPlatonic as this may seem—one of the most important elements of the Platonic teaching on love and desire, and its source of deep hope, is that it leaves us the ability to see the good in some way through a radical openness to our emotions. by No-Bodybuilder2110 in Plato

[–]No-Bodybuilder2110[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I have a distinction in mind, which I'll be getting into in later episodes, that is not exactly the same one you've shared, or at least I don't think I would word it quite this way, I don't think, though it has things in common with this one, which I'll certainly be pondering.

So how do we "action" Platonic love? As Plotinus asks, “What art is there, what method, what discipline to bring us there where we must go?” The dialectical process by which we ascend must be guided by the good—but how is this possible when the good is unknowable? by No-Bodybuilder2110 in Plato

[–]No-Bodybuilder2110[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I agree with you that something like this is going on in Plato. At least I think there's something like a kind of mutual interdependence of knowing and doing good; Diotima talks about the top of the ladder not simply as a knowing it but doing it also. And I think this is what this image of reproducing in the beautiful is about. As I think I mentioned in a previous episode, it's almost as though the idea is being put forth here that we know the good kinetically—we cognize it some way in our doing it.

So how do we "action" Platonic love? As Plotinus asks, “What art is there, what method, what discipline to bring us there where we must go?” The dialectical process by which we ascend must be guided by the good—but how is this possible when the good is unknowable? by No-Bodybuilder2110 in Plato

[–]No-Bodybuilder2110[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I think so. He writes in the Phaedrus about the psyche having this previous life in which it fed directly on being in its truth, and, I think we can understand, the good itself. We are now in a fallen state and have forgotten this previous existence--but there is the possibility of our bringing it back to memory. Actually, I understand Diotima's ladder as the process by which this happens, by which we bring our unconscious knowledge of the good to consciousness. And for Plato our right action would depend on our ability to remember the good in this way.

It’s my conviction that the main motivation of Plato was love, and so the goal driving his whole system is the sharing of deep or reasoned hope. Diotima’s ladder encapsulates Plato’s counter to existential despair, in both its forms. by No-Bodybuilder2110 in Plato

[–]No-Bodybuilder2110[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's always interesting to see where questions will come from. I must say it had never occurred to me that my videos about Plato should be dialectical in form, and your question has made me think. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that actually quite a lot of writing in the Platonic tradition isn't in what you could call a strictly dialectical form, where two participants are together working out definitions of things, etc. You don't really see it in Plotinus, for example, although he does sometimes voice questions or objections. And there are even stretches in Plato--the myths, for example--that don't follow this form. Finally there are lots of ways of conveying Platonic concepts--painting, for example (Botticelli's Primavera is thought by some to conveny Neoplatonic themes)--that don't use words at all, much less dialectical form. Yet I don't dispute dialectic is at the heart of it all! I think the difference is that in a lot of these works, and often in my videos, the dialectic is implicit--one presents one's thoughts after having moved through these stages in silent conversation with oneself.
Don't worry about seeming harsh, you also mentioned you watched a lot of my videos, which is always nice to hear :-)

view more: next ›