The Death of God pt 1: Platonism

Regarding how the summit of understanding regarding God began with Plato, and how the history of philosophy has forgotten it's heritage

On the Death of God

This essay series will examine how the idea of God has evolved throughout the history of philosophy. Each essay in the series will move a step forward, starting from the classic understanding of the One rooted in Plato, forward through Aristotle and Christianity, and further still through to the modern understanding of today. The series will trace how philosophy has fallen away from its classic roots, to the modern conclusion that 'God is dead' and no longer of use to the world of today.

On philosophy and cosmology

The cosmology of classic times descends from Plato and the pre-Socratic philosophers. This cosmology was rich with meaning, and understood to represent the entire structure of reality. Reality was understood to be a mental process, proceeding by contemplation of The One upon its own nature.

Further principles are produced as a result of this contemplation in descending order, with a distinct role to play in governing reality and material existence. The result is a hierarchy whereby each level of reality is governed by each successive principle. The hierarchy results from the One's contemplation, with each level representing a hypothesis about reality that is derived from the principle preceding it. At each level down, reality is characterized by further division, multiplicity and complexity. And so it is from such a process that the manifold variety of our everyday existence is able to originate from an origin vastly more simple and unified in nature.

On the Platonic hierarchy

The hierarchy is characterized by four key principles:

• The One,

• The Intellect,

• The Soul, and

• The Personality

The history of philosophy regarding God may be understood as a series of successive misunderstandings regarding this hierarchy. From Platonic times, The One was understood to represent the pinnacle of existence. Over time, philosophers have substituted each successive principle further down the cosmology as the First Principle in their arguments. This is not to be understood as a mistake. This process of descent has resulted from human culture coming to participate in the One more fully. By paying more attention to each lower principle, human culture has been able to master existence to a greater extent, and it is such a way that progress as a human society has unfolded.

On the nature of the principles

Each principle has an internal element that represents its reflection upon its essence, and an external element that results by acting out the understanding of its essence. The essence of the One is unknowable. All activity in existence proceeds by contemplation of The One. It is at the level of the Soul that individuation takes place, and bodies are formed that interact with physical existence.

On The One

As mentioned already, the Platonic cosmology proceeds from the idea that all complex entities must itself proceed from that which is more simple. The One is the principle that is the most simple. The essence of The One is in fact so simple it is unknowable, therefore The One may only be grasped by deducing what it is not. The One being wholly one and simple cannot be many. Therefore it has no parts, it has no shape, it has no beginning or end, it shares no relation to another or indeed itself. It is beyond all discursive reason, meaning it's essence cannot be an object of thought, and therefore no ideas can be opined of it at all.

And yet being a supreme principle it encompasses the whole cosmos. It cannot be otherwise, for otherwise there would be more than The One. This means that all else has an individual identity for it shares in the nature of The One, and yet is also many for it is not The One.

Alone of all entities in the Universe, the One is completely self-sufficient. Strictly speaking it cannot be referred to as a source or a cause for this would imply movement and activity. Any activity The One seems to emanate then is simply a result of it's inexhaustible, effortless and abundant nature. The One provides for multiplicity not from any particular need, but simply due to its excess leading to endless possibility and begetting. It is its essence to create, much like a star provides light and heat by simply being.

On Intellect

The Intellect is the second principle of reality, and results from The One 'seeing' its own activity. The Intellect is the foundation of the cosmos, but is not truly self-sufficient for it depends on The One. Whereas the essence of the One is an undefinable form of contemplation, the Intellect differs in that its essence is characterized by discursive reason. It eternally reflects on the seeming activity of the One, and its activity is to manifest an intelligible cosmos from it's deductions about the One's nature.

So while the One transcends and negates all being, it represents an infinite potentiality that the Intellect acts to affirm and actualize. The Intellect is the source of intelligible order and structure. It is by reference to the universal Ideas set in place by the Intellect that predication and making sense of reality is possible. For example, it is by reference to The Same that one may assert identity between two objects, and by reference to The Different that one can make distinctions. It is by participation in ideas of The Beautiful or The Good that we can say that anything possesses beauty or is good.

On Soul

From the Intellect flows the Logos, the Word of God that speaks the entirety of existence into Being. The Logos forms the essence of the Soul principle, and it is at the level of the Soul that individuation starts to take place. Therefore it is by activity of the Soul that the One may influence existence in space and time.

It is through the Soul that bodies may take physical form, and the drama of existence unfolds. The soul has two parts, a higher part that remains with Intellect, and a lower active part that descends into a body. The higher part governs unaffected by the multiplicity of existence, it is never separated from its source. It serves as our conscience, and it is by this connection that we are always conscious of reality in some sense, even as we become lost and absorbed in appearance.

On Personality

The matter of existence is understood as formless stuff that is acted upon by The One. This process is enabled through the lower part of the soul that has descended into a bodily existence. The essence of the lower soul is to reflect on the ideas received from the higher part of the Soul, but by interacting with matter it takes on some of its nature. This causes the soul to take on the appearance of having a wholly unique personality. It thereby forgets its true nature, it becomes wholly enveloped in the drama of existence, it experiences emotional passion and it falls into vice.

This process is born from necessity as a result of interaction with matter, in order for the corporeal body to govern matter directly. Though forgetting itself, the Personality continues to proceed acting out the true images it receives from the higher part of the Soul in existence. The soul only falls into error by falling in love with its physical existence, and mistaking it for the larger reality.

By such a process, the Soul falls into the delusion of self will, and desire for self ownership. It makes judgments independently of its higher part and falls into sin, missing the mark. By such a process it becomes enamored with the physical, and loses its power to govern, becoming slave to that which it should rule. In ceasing to contemplate its higher part, it will be subject to judgment by the higher until it remembers itself and turns its mind back to contemplation.

On contraction

The Platonic cosmology presented a complete picture of the world that represented humanity's proper role in creation. As Western philosophy has progressed, our civilization has become gradually more enamored with existence. This process has allowed for a greater appreciation and mastery of the physical, but has also caused our culture to forget its divine nature.

Aristotle

The first descent commenced with Aristotle who placed the first principle at the level of The Intellect. This caused him to perceive God as a God of discursive reason rather than one of contemplation. This process allowed him to place the cause of the cosmos within the subject itself, rather than the transcendent principle of the One.

This tradition carried on through the Christian lineage. The Christian faith grappled with the need to integrate philosophical ideas with their Biblical scripture. Their Bible taught of a Creator God that was capable of creating the world from nothing, rather than the eternal contemplation of the One wherein no creation or destruction ever takes place.

Descartes

The second descent commenced with Descartes who placed the first principle at the level of the Soul. His thoughts kicked off the Enlightenment, which is where the idea of humanity as first principle started to take hold. Descarte's demon produced skepticism regarding all accepted tradition, meaning trust in one's faculties became paramount, an attitude that allowed for scientific knowledge to flourish. The empiricists spearheaded by Hume would extend on this further by tearing apart metaphysics, giving preference instead to the external world to guide one's thinking. Finally the idea of the soul as mediator between Intellect and existence was given its fullest expression in the works of Hegel and Kant.

Frege and Nietzsche

The third descent commenced with the flurry of philosophical activity that occurred at the end of the 19th century, spearheaded by Frege and Nietzsche. Frege and his contemporaries created a theory of existence that could do away completely with reality as a necessary principle of existence. It is in the midst of such revelations that Nietzsche was able to pronounce the death of God, and thereby kick off the cultural idea that the human race could do very well without him.