A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Plato
Myths, Symbols, and Lies
We live in a world ruled by lies. Lying and stealing are the dominant elements of human character whatever the race, creed or caste. Whoever says that this is not true simply tells another lie. Man lies because in a world ruled by lies it is not possible for him to do otherwise. Continue reading
Designing a Republic
In our time, no one considers the acquisition or conquest of a land as a basic right. Rather, it must be justified (i.e., made just) in some way. It is instructive to follow news accounts and to discern what is common in all such justifications. Any thinker considering the creation … Continue reading
Esoteric Anthropology
So the first task is to begin observing and transcending the misconceptions of the first stage. A temporary “I” develops that integrates the three lower centers. This is still a transitional, or psychological, state, often represented as the lower Ego. Continue reading
Prole Thoughts
Since I had been taking notes about various news programs over the past week, I was intending to comment on them. That turned out to be distasteful and probably futile, so instead I prefer to continue commenting on European aristocratic philosophy as succinctly summarized by Prof Alexander Jacob in his … Continue reading
The Coronation of the King
Signs of decline: substitution of feeling for knowing as a basis for judgment; altruism will take the place of that of justice; words will be used for their emotive effect than as the vehicle of thought Continue reading
The City and the Republic
The first question must be, “Is the City just because it was constituted by the gods?” This justice was simply assumed, but that is not acceptable to the philosopher. After many long dialogues, Plato’s conclusion is that there is an idea of Justice that is independent of both man and gods. Continue reading
There is no God but God
Since everything has a reason for its existence, so does theology. In particular, man as he is a contingent being, will respond and understand theological language, while finding metaphysical language abstract and unapproachable. Continue reading
Order and the Soul
Picking up on the theme of Order and Chaos from the previous post, I thought it might be of interest to explicate Plato’s concept of an ordered soul in The Republic. For Plato, the soul (psyche) is composed of three main faculties – the epithumetikon, the thumoeides, and the logistikon. … Continue reading