WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:13.960 This episode is brought to you by Middle Born Arms alone. 2 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:16.320 Welcome to Mythic Mind, where we pursue wisdom in the 3 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.760 past between primary and secondary worlds. I'm your host, Andrew Schnyder, 4 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:28.239 and I heartily welcome your company. Today we're going to 5 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:30.920 continue this off season, at least for the public feed 6 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.719 by doing some philosophy, as I give you a side 7 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:36.439 lesson for my life, death and Meaning with Beowulf and 8 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.759 Boethia's course that traces some major points in the development 9 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.840 of Neoplatonic thought from the pre Socratics ancient Greece, through Plato, Aristotle, Platinus, 10 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.960 and then its baptism into Christian thought by the likes 11 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:53.320 of Saint Augustine and Boethius. And then we'll close with 12 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:59.359 a recommendation. Neoplatonism or new Platonism, which reaches height around 13 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.600 the third fifth centuries or so, is largely an attempt 14 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.599 of paganism to put forward a system that can stand 15 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:10.200 against Christianity, but it actually ended up providing some tools 16 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:13.879 that Christians like Augustine found to be effective for communicating 17 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:18.799 Christian truth and recognizing that Augustine dominated medieval thought as 18 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.040 well as reformational thought, and beyond. This makes it of 19 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.680 lasting significance and definitely worth our time to consider. And 20 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:53.640 so now let's go ahead and jump into it. Hello 21 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.319 and welcome, as we discussed some of the major philosophical 22 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.920 influences on Boethius as seen in the Constellation of Philosophy. 23 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.680 This lesson was originally made for My Life, Death and 24 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.159 Meaning with Bewolf and Boethius course, but I'm also going 25 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.799 to make this one publicly available. If you'd like access 26 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.919 to all of the material from this course, including on 27 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:13.080 Boethius and Beowulf, and the side lessons which go into 28 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:17.479 some element of myth or scholarship or philosophy, then you 29 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.240 could head over to Andrew Snyder dot Patia dot com 30 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.719 and you can likely find out link wherever you're watching this. 31 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:26.120 All materials are you usually keeping once you enroll, and 32 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:29.520 so you can go through it asynchronously at whatever time 33 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:32.479 man pays works for you. Now, if you've read any 34 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:35.520 of the consolation at this point, you know that Boethius 35 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:38.080 is pretty fast and loose with his references to classical 36 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.879 pagan philosophy and poetry, which some find odd for a 37 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.599 Christian theologian who has been stripped of nearly all earthly fortunes, 38 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.000 and very well may be facing death, and history tells 39 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.560 us that he absolutely was facing death as you would 40 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:54.360 be executed. However, you have to keep in mind his position. 41 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:58.879 This is a Roman Catholic Trinitarian Christian under the heretical 42 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.639 Aryan Ostrogothic king Theodoric, who took control of Italy after 43 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:06.719 killing Odieser, who deposed the last Roman emperor, and so 44 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:12.199 as a Catholic Trinitarian affirming Roman Christian, Boethius is very 45 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:15.840 much an other relative to the Aryan Germanic king above him, 46 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.439 and this difference was surely magnified when Boethius was stripped 47 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:21.639 of his rank and goods through no apparent fault of 48 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.159 his own. And this gulf that he faced between his 49 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:30.520 ultimate accuser that the king and his current position very 50 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:34.120 likely caused him to appreciate vestiges of his rich pagan 51 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:39.199 heritage alongside his theological convictions and intellectual framework. He was 52 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.520 a Roman and a Christian, and both of those formed 53 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.000 an important part of his identity in the discarded image. C. S. 54 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.639 Lewis says, like this quote, Catholic Christendom and that high 55 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:52.120 pagan pass to which he felt so deep a loyalty, 56 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:54.960 were united in his outlook by their common contrast to 57 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:59.280 Theodoric and his huge, fair skinned beer drinking boasting things 58 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:02.800 was there's no time for stressing whatever divided him from Virgil, 59 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:06.520 Seneca Plato in the Old Republican Heroes end quote. And 60 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.479 so with that in mind, looking to some of the 61 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:13.159 pagan traditions and philosophies that Boethius found particularly palatable will 62 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.439 help us to get a better handle on what exactly 63 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.560 he is doing in the consolation. In this lesson, we're 64 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:20.360 going to be taking a high level look at the 65 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.639 emergence of Neoplatonism from the pre Socratics up to its 66 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:29.199 baptism into early medieval Christian thought with the likes of Augustine. Neoplatonism, 67 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.040 selfish to say, was an active force from about the 68 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.480 third to six centuries or so, and of course it 69 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:37.240 had significant influence beyond that time, even up to the 70 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:41.680 present day. According to Augustine, the Platonist by which he 71 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:43.959 most directly meant, the group of thinkers we today would 72 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.639 call the Neoplatonists provide the pagan school that comes closest 73 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.120 to Christian thought, and it is actually most beneficial in 74 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.240 helping Christians to systematically formulate what they believe about the 75 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.000 nature and working of the cosmos. Not so much that 76 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:01.160 neoplatonism gives us new substance, but it does give us 77 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:05.199 an intellectual framework for arranging the substance that we have 78 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:09.120 through scripture and through at this point early Church tradition. 79 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.240 And so Augustine and others thought that the Neoplatonists really 80 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.680 helped them to formulate their understanding of the nature and 81 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.360 the working of the cosmos. And Augustine, of course, was 82 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:23.199 of monumental importance for setting many courses that would continue 83 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.519 through the Middle Ages and beyond. And Boethius, who was 84 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.319 a couple generations after Augustine, definitely operates within this trajectory. 85 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.439 And so I think that we're going to better see 86 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.319 some of what's happening in the constellation if we have 87 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.639 a better handle on this system of thought. Now. As 88 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.639 a warning, especially if anyone is watching this who is 89 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.120 already versed in this topic, this presentation is very much 90 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.439 intended to be a summary of some of the major 91 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.920 elements at play here in the emergence of neoplatonism. This 92 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.920 is nothing like an exhaustive study of Neoplatonism, or any 93 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.040 of these connected ideas for some degree of scale. But 94 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.240 I'm about to cover in about fifteen sl generally takes 95 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.759 about three weeks at the beginning of my on campus 96 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.519 medieval philosophy course, and it could easily make for an 97 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.519 entire course in itself and beyond. And so with that 98 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:12.120 being said, you can consider this to be a fairly 99 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:16.480 hefty introduction rather than a comprehensive study. And so note 100 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.319 that we're not covering any of our sources exhaustibly, and 101 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.279 we're also not including all the sources that could be 102 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:24.759 brought into this. All right, with that in mind, let 103 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:29.120 us go ahead and get started with the pre Socratics. Now, 104 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.199 the history of Western philosophy typically begins with a group 105 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:35.759 of philosophers in ancient Greece referred to as the pre Socratics, 106 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:39.199 because well, they came before Socrates. Now one hand, it's 107 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.759 a little bit arbitrary to ever pick a beginning point 108 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.600 of philosophy, because the truth is, to be human is 109 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.800 to be a philosopher. To be human is to think 110 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.560 about the way that the world is in our role 111 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.240 within it, and how to move every closer to the 112 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.920 path of wisdom. The path of achieving the goals of 113 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.759 human nature, and so that's been happening for as long 114 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:04.160 as we've had consciousness. However, it is helpful to come 115 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.079 up with a starting point, and going back to the 116 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.240 Presocratics and specifically the Presocratic philosopher theies kind of makes 117 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:12.839 sense because these are some of the early sources that 118 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.240 we have that can go to through written records, where 119 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:20.839 we see people intentionally asking questions through reason, like why 120 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.240 is there a basic harmony in nature? What accounts for this? 121 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.399 And so they're asking these broad level philosophical questions. They're 122 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.959 delving into the fundamental nature of reality, and we have 123 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.360 a written pathway to at least approach understanding of what 124 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:37.399 they were doing. And so this is not a bad 125 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.800 place to begin the history of Western philosophy, which is 126 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.439 why it usually begins there. And so at this point 127 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:45.959 with the Presocratics, we're mostly relying on fragments of writing 128 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:48.879 and quotes provided by later philosophers, and so because we 129 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.639 don't have a lot from these early thinkers directly, they 130 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:54.720 usually just get luved together into this group of the 131 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.600 pre Socratics. Now, as I just mentioned, the first member 132 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.079 of this group that the we usually go for the 133 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.399 beginning of history of philosophy courses is a guy named 134 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.600 Thales who recognized that there is harmony and order in 135 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.319 the natural world, and so he wanted to get to 136 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:12.160 the bottom of its cause. Well, he supposed that this 137 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:14.480 harmony is owed to the fact that there must be 138 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:18.279 some element that underlies everything. You break everything down into 139 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.240 its most basic level, and you get one thing, and 140 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.120 this he theorized, was water. Now that might sound a 141 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.319 little bit silly to us today, but it makes some 142 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.159 sense that his stage of things, for example, plant and 143 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:36.720 animal life requires water. Water is all around us, especially 144 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:40.279 Phi Lippy in Greece. Water is generally moving, which accounts 145 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:43.360 for change, and water can present itself in three states 146 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:47.279 solid liquid, gas, and so it's not a bad early contender. Well, 147 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:50.799 Thales was followed by others who proposed other elements you know, 148 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:55.240 such as earth, air, fire. But early philosophical critiques made 149 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.159 it evident that no one physical element could account for 150 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.440 everything because the elements supposed each other. Fire could not 151 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.559 be water, air could not be earth, and so forth. 152 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:07.960 And so Heraclitis takes the conversation in a new direction. 153 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:11.519 Instead of looking to a physical element to describe all 154 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.279 of reality. He said that everything is change or everything 155 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:20.039 is changing, everything is moving, everything is in a process 156 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.399 of flux. Now, he did say that the cosmos is 157 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.720 made of fire, but this was really just a poetic 158 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:28.639 way of emphasizing the idea that, like fire, the elements 159 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.399 are ever moving in and against each other, flaring up 160 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:35.080 and diminishing from moment to moment. But he most famously 161 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.480 said that you cannot step into the same river twice. 162 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:42.639 As we get quoted from Plato, Heraclitis says somewhere that 163 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.440 all things give way and nothing remains, and likening existing 164 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:48.639 things to the flow of a river, he says that 165 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:51.879 you cannot step twice into the same river. And this 166 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.480 is because you step into the river, you step into 167 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.519 the water, you step out, you step back in, and 168 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:58.519 now you're in new water. And he said, this is 169 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.360 what all reality is like. It's ever moving, it's never 170 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:04.000 the same, it's always in a state of process, it's 171 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:08.159 always becoming, it is never being. Now, if this is 172 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:10.679 all that he believed, then it would present some pretty 173 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.519 serious problems. For example, if everything is moving, then our 174 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:17.120 knowledge is never accurate because the picture of the river 175 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:20.360 that we have in our minds. It never corresponds to 176 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.919 the way the river actually is in any given moment. 177 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:25.440 It's always out of date. And so our minds are 178 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.440 always separated from the state of things around us, because 179 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.679 there is no state, there is only process. Also, this 180 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:34.519 would create a crisis of identity, because it would mean 181 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:37.559 that there is no me that endures across time. On 182 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.279 a physical level, we know that our cells are constantly 183 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:42.919 being replaced, and maybe I might find recourse to an 184 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.039 idea of the soul, but it's not even that continually 185 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:51.399 undergoing change, adopting and pushing away desires, and just continually 186 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.639 taking new forms as I undergo experience and as I 187 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.240 direct the orientation of my soul. And so even the 188 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:01.120 soul is constantly in a state of change. And so 189 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:05.639 who is the me that I suppose endoors across time. Well, 190 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.360 if literally everything is moving, then there is no me. 191 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:13.720 There's only a succession of becomings. Well, fortunately, heraclitis does 192 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:18.600 give us some direction toward constancy, towards stability, somewhere where 193 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.360 we might be able to find some rest. So, everything, 194 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:24.879 or at least nearly everything, may be changing, but it 195 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:28.720 always changes in a consistent and orderly manner. The river 196 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.639 may always be moving, but through reason I can reliably 197 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:35.279 predict how and where it will move, and so change 198 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:40.200 itself is constant. Now why is this well? Heraclite has 199 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.840 found his answer in the lagos or the word, which 200 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:45.759 is an idea that will become very important in the 201 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:49.080 history of philosophy. And we even see some of this 202 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.679 in the New Testament. While some biblical scholars may argue 203 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:55.480 that Greek wisdom is not being referenced here, I've not 204 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.799 been completely convinced that it's not at play. When John 205 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:03.159 begins his Gospel with NRK handhold logos in the beginning 206 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.320 was the word, and then he proceeds to explain how 207 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:10.679 the world was made through this word. For Heraclitis, the 208 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.960 word is the one staple reality that holds together what 209 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.759 would otherwise be the chaotic and the formless and the void. 210 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.159 And me just think about what the word word means. 211 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.919 And imagine you have a bag of scrabble tiles and 212 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:25.080 you pour them out, and odds are they're not going 213 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:26.679 to go into the form of a word, just going 214 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:30.519 to have a random cacophony of sounds represented by the 215 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:34.799 letters that are formless and void of meaning. Well, the 216 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:38.200 word is the form that it then imposes itself on 217 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.960 the letters, arranging them in an orderly way, where now 218 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:46.440 they contain and they express meaning. And so a word 219 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:48.879 is what brings order and meaning out of what would 220 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.120 otherwise be chaotic and void. That's what a word does, 221 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.320 and that is what the word does on a cosmic scale. 222 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:59.159 As the apostle Paul says in Colossians, in him all 223 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.559 things hold together because he is the word. He is 224 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:06.440 the lagos. And for Heraclitis, this lagos does not only 225 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.320 explain what we see in the natural world. Or better yet, 226 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.320 he maintains that we are part of the natural world. 227 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:13.279 Maybe that's a better way of saying that, and said, 228 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:16.559 the lagos gives direction for how we live our lives. 229 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:20.200 In following the Lagos, the various competing elements of the 230 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.759 human psyche and of human desire can find order and 231 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.559 move in a unified direction. However, at least based on 232 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.480 what we have, Heraclitis is only beginning to develop this 233 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.279 logos doctrine, and so he is principally known as the 234 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:37.399 philosopher of becoming or of change. On the other side 235 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:40.759 of the spectrum of being becoming, we have Parmenides, the 236 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.159 philosopher of being, who argues that movement is rationally impossible. 237 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.320 As he says in his poem on Nature, being is 238 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:54.240 uncreated and imperishable, whole, unique, unwavering, and complete, meaning it 239 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.679 has no potential. There's nowhere that it can go. The 240 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:01.679 easiest way to understand his argument is to consider paradoxes 241 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.679 that are provided by his student Zeno. Zeno has this. 242 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:09.000 Imagine a race between the Greek hero Achilles and a tortoise. Now, 243 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.200 obviously Achilles has the advantage, and so the tortoise gets ahead. 244 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:14.679 Start to keep the math easy, let's say the tortoise 245 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.639 begins one hundred yards in front of the starting line 246 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:20.879 where the Achilles begins. The race goes off, and then 247 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:23.600 Achilles takes off. Now, before he can get to where 248 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.240 the tortoise began at one hundred yards, he first has 249 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:28.759 to cross half that distance. He has to go fifty yards. 250 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:30.559 Well before he goes fifty yards, he has to go 251 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:32.600 twenty five. Well before he goes twenty five, he has 252 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.320 to go twelve and a half, and so forth, and 253 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:38.399 so forth, and so forth, and so rationally speaking, mathematically speaking, 254 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.600 it turns out that there is an infinite amount of 255 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.759 distance between any two points. Well, how long does it 256 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:47.159 take to cross an infinite distance? Well, it takes an 257 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:49.519 infinite amount of time, which is another way of saying 258 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:54.240 that movement is rationally impossible. Now, you may be tempted 259 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.600 to say that this is absurd, because we experience an 260 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:00.399 observed motion all the time. However, Parmenides believe that there's 261 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.600 a conflict between our sense, experience and reason, and so 262 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.000 we ought to choose reason right, because if we're not 263 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.519 going to prioritize reason, then what business do we have 264 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.840 do in philosophy to begin with? With this move he 265 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:16.080 really serves as an early modern, as Descartes, going to 266 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.240 do the same thing right, He's going to isolate reason 267 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.200 over again sense experience, and that's going to set the 268 00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:23.279 tone for a lot of what happens in modern and 269 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:27.279 postmodern philosophy. And I would consider that modern turn, which 270 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.879 very much is I believe in keeping with Parmenides, I 271 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:34.480 think that it leads to disastrous ends. But in any case, 272 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:37.159 here we have our philosopher, a being who believes that 273 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:41.159 reason leads us to a completely stable reality, the world 274 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:45.279 of being. Well, in Plato, being and becoming will both 275 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.039 find their place. Promenides and Heraclitis will be brought together. 276 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:51.679 And I believe that the best introduction to Plato's thought 277 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:54.080 is the one that is usually chosen for this purpose, 278 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:56.840 and that is Plato's allegory the cave, which is found 279 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.960 in the Republic. In this section of the Republic, Soco 280 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.679 has us imagine a cave. In this cave are prisoners 281 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.559 who are shackled, and they've been in that position for 282 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.360 their entire lives. All they can do is stare at 283 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.639 the wall in front of them, and on this wall 284 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.039 they see shadows of objects and animals and whatnot pass by. 285 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.720 These shadows are the only reality they have ever known, 286 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.000 the only thing they've ever perceived. Eventually, one of the 287 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.559 prisoners is set free. And how this happens we're not told, 288 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:25.919 but it doesn't really matter for the allegory. And so 289 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.200 he's set free. He turns around and he sees the 290 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.200 fire that had been producing the cave's light, and he's 291 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.279 initially pained greatly by looking at light directly for the 292 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.480 first time, he sees these cutouts that have been passing 293 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:40.960 back and forth in front of the fire to project 294 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.320 the shadows and between the pain of his eyes and 295 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.399 the confusion regarding what he's looking at, he's inclined to 296 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.559 go back to watching the shadows because they seemed more 297 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.919 real to him. At this time. However, he is, apparently 298 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:56.399 through no real design of his own, kind of almost 299 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:59.480 dragged out. He's compelled out of the cave and up 300 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.279 to the surface world, and now he's blinded by the 301 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.839 light of the sun. But his eyes eventually adjust and 302 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.920 he experiences the real things that were previously imaged on 303 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.599 the cutouts, which he previously only saw through the images 304 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.359 of the shadows, and so now he is in genuine reality, 305 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.400 illuminated by the genuine light of the sun. He eventually 306 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:21.759 remembers the prisoners who are still in the cave, and 307 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:23.759 he feels pity on them, and so he goes back 308 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.960 to share this new revelation that he's had. Now at 309 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:29.519 this point, he's a difficult time seeing in the darkness 310 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.279 because he's used to the light, but he eventually finds 311 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:34.400 his way down and he tells the prisoners of this 312 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:39.240 glorious reality that he has experienced. Well, they don't take 313 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.480 too kindly to this, as they've developed a value system 314 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.680 a hierarchy based on who is best at figuring out 315 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:49.079 the shadow pattern and detecting what would come next. This 316 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:54.039 new revelation shattered their shadow society, and so they initially 317 00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:56.680 thought him to be mad, and eventually they got ahold 318 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.680 of him, and they actually killed him. And of course, 319 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.880 when Plato is telling us this story, he very much 320 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.559 has in mind his teacher Socrates, who was executed by 321 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:08.319 the city of Athens for practicing his philosophy. In addition 322 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:12.359 to providing a general introduction of philosophy, this allegory gives 323 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.599 us some images that are particularly helpful in understanding Plato's 324 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.880 system of thought. The shadow world or the shadowlands, which 325 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.039 is a term that C. S. Lewis adopts, is the 326 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.880 one that we all have access to by nature, kind 327 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.480 of like by default. That's probably even a better word 328 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.960 than saying by nature. That's more of a loaded term. 329 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:33.839 And so by default, as material beings in a material world, 330 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:37.480 we all have access to this shadowland, and this is 331 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:41.640 the corruptible world of partial truths or of obscure truths. 332 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:46.440 Perhaps we can expect to see obscure particular images of justice, 333 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:49.400 but we will never see the ideal pure justice in 334 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:53.559 any particular historical instantiation. So too with love, and with 335 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.319 the ideal of humanity, with loyalty, or even the ideal 336 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.319 of a horse or whatever else. All of these ideas, 337 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:05.359 the full actualizations of what things are, imperfectly in potential, 338 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.839 reside above the material world, in what Plato would call 339 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.680 the world of the forms. And so by default we 340 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.279 live in the shadowy world of becoming, but we can 341 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.799 aspire to the illuminated world of being. After all, if 342 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:20.920 you are to have a shadow, there must be a 343 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.920 solid object in order to cast the shadow. Well, the 344 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.640 solid objects that cast the shadows are the forms, such 345 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:30.839 as the form of justice and whatnot. These are things 346 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.240 that we can know through our minds, but it actually 347 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.440 takes more than that. To no justice, for example, is 348 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:39.279 not just to be able to provide a definition, although 349 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:43.720 such propositional knowledge is important, But to really no justice 350 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:47.640 is to be just, to love justice and to instantiate 351 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.359 justice in your life. Remember that philosophy in its truest 352 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.839 sense is the love of wisdom, not just the knowledge 353 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.240 of wisdom, but the love of wisdom. And so the 354 00:19:57.319 --> 00:19:59.519 forms of the highest level of reality that we can 355 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.680 consciously we know, and as we better know such reality, 356 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.480 we gain stability in this world of change. Even when 357 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.319 we experience in justice, we ourselves can still be rooted 358 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:16.480 in the unending, eternal reality of justice itself. Well, remember 359 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:18.079 that I said that the world of forms is an 360 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.720 illuminated reality. Well, if it is illuminated, then it must 361 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.640 be illuminated by something. And this something in the allegory 362 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.200 is the Sun, which for Plato is the form of 363 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.720 the good, or we would not even be far off 364 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.200 to call this God, as Plato seems to do in 365 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:36.039 the timaeis Now. Admittedly, this is a place of some 366 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:39.160 contention within Platonic scholarship, but for our purposes I don't 367 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.640 believe that this complation is unfounded. And so God is 368 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:45.759 the light that illuminates the world of the forms, which 369 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:48.599 is the solid substance that cast shadows in the world 370 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.599 of becoming. And just as you do not stare at 371 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:54.000 the sun directly to understand its light, but you must 372 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:56.279 instead look to what it illumines, you must look to 373 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.559 the effects in order to understand the cause, so too 374 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:02.920 we own only understand God by understanding the forms. You 375 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:04.960 look at the sun directly and you go blind. And 376 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.720 this makes sense if we say that reason is good, 377 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.160 then we mean that goodness is a higher reality than reason. 378 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:15.880 Reason participates in the goodness that makes all good things good. 379 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:17.720 And so what this means is that we can never, 380 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.559 really never fully apprehend God directly by reason, because the good, 381 00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:26.200 the good that makes reason good, stands above reason. And 382 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:28.359 so we see this idea in the Medievals as well, 383 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:31.839 that as we approach the heights that reason can assail, 384 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:34.599 we have to engage at that point in a kind 385 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:39.240 of mysticism that doesn't work against reason. Right, we're still 386 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:41.960 making use of reason. We're not saying anything goes, but 387 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.799 there is a kind of mysticism that we need to 388 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:48.839 use to close the gap between reason and God. This 389 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:52.359 gap must be traversed in love and in faith, in 390 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.200 a realm that goes beyond what reason can assail. And 391 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.000 we see this idea in Scripture as well, as we're 392 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:02.480 told that God's presence is engulfed in unassailable light or 393 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:06.119 impenetrable darkness, which are two ways of saying the same thing. 394 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:08.640 This is not a place in which we can see 395 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:11.400 by ordinary means. So for Plato we have got at 396 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:14.279 the top. Then we have forms in the knowable world 397 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.880 of being, and then the shadows or particulars are in 398 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.279 the world of becoming. And let's flush us out a 399 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.480 little bit more with his dialogue that gives us his 400 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:27.400 creation account. That is, the tomaeis the Tomayos is a fascinating, 401 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:31.880