Discussion Post

I admit it. Im a big nerd when it comes to ancient philosophy. I love this stuff. Each time I picked up Platos Republic to do the days reading, I felt blessed. Im honestly still a little surprised that Im an adult that gets to read this stuff as my job. I get paid to read philosophy. Im in awe of that. Do you realize how hard it is to create a life where it is actually lucrative to read philosophy? Im proud of myself.And I think Plato would be proud of me too. After all, I think one of the big lessons of Republic is that in order to be a just persona good personyou need to spend your time thinking philosophically. At least thats what Plato believes. I happen to agree with him, but I admit that Im biased.  PhilosophyPhilei Sophiameans lover of wisdom. When Plato is talking about thinking philosophically, hes describing the process of being willing to ask really tough questions. Actually, its even more intense than that. Platos Philosopher King is passionately in love with the quest for wisdom, the quest for truth, the quest to see the Good.It is not just passionate love of wisdom. It is an erotic love for discovering that ones current reality is nothing more than a shadow, a reflection, a pale imitation of the real deal. It doesnt matter to Plato how committed we are to our shadow narratives. He wants us to be willing to question our most sacred beliefs no matter how much it hurts. And as we learned from the Allegory of The Cave, we can expect that it will hurt. Turning our souls towards the light always hurts. Just as our eyes take time to adjust to the light, so our intellectual constitutions must adjust to new ways of seeing the world.This is the kind of thing that causes nervous breakdowns. Plato doesnt care. He wants us to participate in a kind of masochistic intellectual flagellation. He promises that at the end well know true pleasureessential pleasurein a way that means our lives will be better for it. And bizarrely, our lives will simultaneously become more moderate, as the three conflicting parts of our psyches achieve equilibrium.Then, and only then, will we be living a just life. Because justice, we realize when we finish this great book, has something to do with the relationship between the individual and the collective. The citizen and the politia (citizenship, government). That makes me think about my own life, and my responsibility toward others, in a very different way.See, one of the most exciting things to me about reading Platos Republic is just how relevant it remains even 2500 years after it was written. In fact, the books relevancy is evidence that theres some truth in Platos thinking. After all, he believes hes describing the eternal city. The  or form in which all other cities participate.And simultaneously, hes telling us something about the human soul, about truth, about language, about justice, about reality. He shows us that these things are all connected. Just as we are, in a way, all connected to one another.See, the thing about Platos forms, the , is that they enable us to speak and write and connect with one another. The gives meaning to the particular. Without the there can be no communication. And without communication there can be no relationships. And without the ability to relate to one another there can be no social collective. And without a social collective theres really no individual because theres no need to distinguish if theres only one.Suddenly, just like that, Plato has taken us so deep to the essential truth of the issue that the conversation needs to change. Its not about governance anymore, its about the relationship between souls.WAIT! Scratch that. I shouldnt have said it that way. He doesnt take us DEEP. Depth is something we find in Freuds archeological model of experience. For Plato, whats deep is shadows at the bottom of the cave. Depth is the jibberish, silly reflections of the Good.For Plato, things get more real on the surfacewhen you move away from whats underneath and toward whats on top, whats closer to the light. The Good enables things to present, or maybe we should say, to be present.When I ask myself about the Good, about the truth, about justice, I ask about the way I present in and to the world.How do you present to the world? Is your authentic truthyour true formhidden deep in the shadows, or do you bring it to the surface, to the light? Andwhat are the painfully difficult questions youd need to ask in order to do so? Because without Philei Sophiathe love of seeking the souls truthyou cant possibly contribute, in a just way, to a , a community, a civilization, or even a relationship.