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If one is interested in Platonic education then one is interested in being educated by Plato. Plato provides an exoteric education that pretends to let you in on the secret, but, of course, it is all right there for even the most casual reader to hear all about the ascent from the cave and the transcendent world of Forms. For those who are not charmed by such stories and the appearance of mystery rites one discovers a far more austere teaching about self-knowledge and human ignorance. A tethered teaching that keeps the imagination from creating the semblance of knowledge. A teaching that does not allow us to fool ourselves into imagining we possess noetic knowledge.
Apparently you are unaware that Plato and Socrates are part of the Perennial teaching that has always existed. Now for those looking on, the idea seems absurd so l’ll post some background
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Our starting point will be a definition taken from the primary writer on the Perennial Philosophy in the twentieth century, Frithjof Schuon:
The term philosophia perennis…designates the science of fundamental and universal ontological principles…
This is certainly a very compact statement. However, we will look at it word by word in the rest of this slideshow, and in doing so we hope to gradually unfold the layers of meaning that can help us understand the Perennial Philosophy.
However, before we examine Schuon's terse statement, here is a paragraph that should immediately offer some keys to understanding the Perennial Philosophy. It is found in William Stoddart's introduction to Ye Shall Know the Truth: Christianity and the Perennial Philosophy. Stoddart writes:
The central idea of the perennial philosophy is that Divine Truth is one, timeless, and universal, and that the different religions are but different languages expressing that one Truth. The symbol most often used to convey this idea is that of the uncolored light and the many colors of the spectrum which are made visible only when the uncolored light is refracted. In the Renaissance, the term betokened the recognition of the fact that the philosophies of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus incontrovertibly expounded the same truth as lay at the heart of Christianity. Subsequently the meaning of the term was enlarged to cover the metaphysics and mysticisms of all of the great world religions, notably, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
What is important to note here are two prominent characteristics of the Perennial Philosophy: First, its starting point is an Absolute. It proceeds from the notion that there is a God, which puts it at odds with most modern philosophies. Second, though resting on the principle of an Absolute Reality, it is non-sectarian. When writing of the Divine Truth, for example, Perennialists have no agenda due to their personal religious affiliations. They only search to express that Truth on its own terms, not on the terms of one or another of its earthly expressions. The Perennial Philosophy respects the theologies of the great religious traditions, but points out to us that these all are various "colors," to use Stoddart's image, derived from the same uncolored Source. It is this Source and its nature that is of primary importance to perennialists.
We can now move on to Schuon's statement, but first we will have to clear up the confusion that arises from the use of certain terminology………………...[/quote]
The value of Platonic education is that it reflects the essence of the perennial philosophy which is the potential for Man to consciously evolve towards its source and become a conscious being. This requires turning towards the light. The need is the same in all the perennial traditions. Platonic education revolves around inwardly turning towards the light. In contrast progressive education revolves around fixating and arguing opinions based on fragmentary knowledge
Of course modern secularism must be closed to the idea since it only accepts one level of reality and ridicule all those open to it. But the idea must be kept alive in the world for those still inwardly alive and open to the awareness of a reality greater then themselves which provides objective meaning regardless of how they are scorned
You know nothing of a universal perspective. You accept what you have been told and think that everyone else should as well. You mistake indoctrination for experience of something you have not experienced..
No, you know nothing of the third dimension of thought. You only recognize a flat perspective. You are yet to experience the third dimension of thought which enables the experience of the quality of the moment. If you ever do you will experience the psychological inner vertical direction which leads to inwardly turning towards the light.
Plato introduced a mythology to replace that of the gods. Socrates is quite clear in saying that he does not know whether what he has said “happens to be true”. You may believe that you have the potential to know the arche and telos of the whole, but that is something you imagine to be true. Believe it if you want, but it should not be the basis of the education of others.
Plato created the myth of the cave to arouse contemplation and the attempts towards verification. Without the myth people just argue. The myth of the cave allows for the momentary inner experience of what it means to turn towards the light. It contributes to awakening. It is an essential goal of Platonic education.
Here’s the irony. What you think of as opening the mind is just the opposite. You are the one who is enslaved. The most effective means of slavery is to make the means of enslavement the means to freedom. You have not learned a basic lesson of the divided line. You mistake an image for something real. You only imagine it to be a reality you actually know nothing of. Thus you have failed to learn the most basic Platonic teaching - know thyself.
You’ve described the goal of progressive education. It pretends “to make the means of enslavement the means to freedom.” The sad part is that you are not alone. Secular progressives do their best to destroy the awakening impulse within the young through the process of spirit killing just to protect their own inner slavery.
Yes, a basic effort in Platonic education is the attempt to “know thyself” When you experience that you cannot do it, you will be closer to the experience rather than be content to imagine yourself.
