Op/Ed
VICTOR NUOVO
6th in a series
Platonism is a philosophical worldview whose inspiration derives from the writings of Plato of Athens (427–347 BCE). Fundamental to its outlook is metaphysical dualism, the doctrine that reality consists of two realms, one eternal and unchanging, the other, corporeal, transient and never the same. The former is accessible only to the intellect, the latter is perceptible only by the senses. Rational contemplation of the former leads to knowledge; perception of the latter, to opinion. This is all too brief an account of the heart of Platonism. To understand it requires that one study Plato’s writings, which is not an unpleasant task, for Plato was not only a profound philosopher, but also a consummate artist, and reading his works is not only interesting and intellectually challenging, but an aesthetic delight.
Among Plato’s later writings is a dialogue entitled “Timaeus.” It was the only work of Plato known during the Middle Ages, and it was closely studied, because its central theme is the creation of the world, or, the world’s becoming or genesis. “Genesis” is a Greek word, which means “becoming.” We should call the first book of the Bible “Becoming.”
Unlike Plato’s early dialogues, Socrates is present, but he is not the principal speaker. This role is filled by Timaeus of Locri, most likely a fictional character, who is billed as an astronomer. The main body of the work consists of Timaeus’ discourse on the divine creation of the world. It is pure Platonism. In a previous essay, after a brief summary of the creation narrative in “Genesis,” I posed the question: Why did God judge the world he created to be good? Here is the answer, which explains why Medieval theologians valued the work so highly.
Timaeus prefaces his account by reminding Socrates and the others present of the fundamental distinction between being and becoming; that the physical world, the Cosmos, is a material entity, and, since it is not self-existent, it must have had a beginning and an intelligent cause, that the intelligent creator must have a model, perceptible only to the intellect, which is to say that the world is a copy of something eternal, transcendent and purely formal. So, God judged the creation to be Good because it agreed with this transcendent model.
But what about those things that don’t fit the model? Plato’s answer is that the divine creator was limited by the materials he had to work with, with matter that didn’t fit easily within its forms, or retain its shape once formed. This doesn’t seem to me to be a sufficient answer, but I will leave this problem — the problem of evil — for consideration in a future essay.
Timaeus then describes the divine creator of the world, and observes that he was an intelligent craftsman. The Greek word is demiourgos (demiurge — a masculine noun). He was good and without envy, and so he desired that the world should be as much as possible like himself; hence that it be a living thing, an animal, an embodied soul endowed with reason, “a visible living creature, inhabited by living creatures, a perceptible God, created in the image of the Intelligible.” Psyche (a feminine noun), the soul, is declared mistress of the world, which follows from the fact that the soul, being the seat of the intellect, rules the body in all animals.
Timaeus is insistent that this living animal, the Cosmos, is unique, and though located in primordial space, it is entirely turned in upon itself. Hence, its shape is spherical. And, as in “Genesis,” the demiurge has material to work with: in this case, four elements — earth, water, air and fire; he uses them all.
It should be noted that before the demiurge began his work, there was no time, no before; time, and along with it, before and after, begins with the creation of the world. Time is a measurement of the changes that follow from the seasonal and diurnal revolutions of earth and the heavenly bodies, which are endowed with intelligence, so that they are, like the earth, material Gods, everlasting but not eternal.
In Platonism, pure divinity is immaterial. What qualifies material bodies to become Gods is the fact that they have souls. The substance of a soul is neither material nor spiritual, but something in between, a mixture of both. Moreover, the soul, whether inhabiting a star or a planet, or of a human being, is immortal. There are as many souls as there are stars in the sky; and every human soul is associated with some star; a plausible explanation of why when gazing at the starry sky above us we have a sense of kinship.
If the soul is immortal, what happens when the body dies? Plato, or Timaeus, refers to the idea of transmigration, reincarnation and rebirth. As in East Asian religions, the notion of transmigration is retributive. Whoever does evil, will be reborn into a lower form of life. If you live a wicked life, you should expect to be reborn as a mouse or a louse, or worse. The idea of a hierarchy or chain of being is central to this notion, and probably to the world view of Platonism; high and low depend upon the attachment of the soul to its material body. The souls of stars are supposedly less attached to their material bodies, which was taken to explain the regularity of their motion.
The idea of a chain of being has social applications, which become pernicious when combined with the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. The doctrine has been used to justify the prejudice of social hierarchies and social inequality, and the false idea of human exceptionalism. What is lost in this notion is the integrity of all varieties of animal life, each of which has its own evolutionary story, all parts of one vast system of nature. Speciesism is the parent of racism.
Postscript: Although doctrines of Platonism originate in the writings of Plato, it cannot be said that Plato was a Platonist. The dialogues of Plato tell us what Plato thought, but not what he believed. Plato, like his mentor Socrates, was a free thinker.
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Victor Nuovo: Plato considers time, being, creation - Addison County Independent
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