Idea and God: Plato's Theory of Forms and its Theological Significance

Author: Zhao Guangming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: From Diotima's teaching in the Symposium that philosophy is a way of life, to the myth at the end of the Republic where souls choose their respective ways of life, to Socrates' advocacy and plea for a beautiful life in the Phaedrus, Plato established the theme that philosophy is a way of life, and one that is essentially beautiful. It is achieved through the soul's recollection and pursuit of the highest reality and wisdom, "beauty itself." By re-examining Plato's metaphysics, the author seeks the deeper essence beyond the surface contradictions.
What is philosophy? On one hand, we can find many definitions of philosophy in the literature; on the other hand, we cannot expect any true philosopher to answer this question directly with a clear proposition or statement. Strictly speaking, this is not a question that needs to be answered, but merely one that needs to be contemplated. It is a question that should and can provoke thought, its significance lying in the fact that it initiates us into thinking. Thus, philosophy stands at the starting point of thought. Philosophy should be the starting point of thought, and a unique one at that, because it has no end. However, this does not mean that philosophy is unbounded. As a starting point with no end, philosophical thought always remains within its distinctive perspective and mode of thinking, persistently self-limiting. This self-limitation means that philosophy always remains philosophy, metaphysics, and not any other cultural type or form of thought. The key to this distinction lies in the fact that all specific disciplines take certain aspects, domains, or parts of the world and universe as their objects of study, while metaphysics alone takes the "whole" of the world and universe as its object and goal. In other words, what philosophy—or rather, metaphysics—faces and concerns is what remains and emerges after the phenomenological "suspension" of all specific disciplines, sciences, their objects of study, research fields, and content. And it is nothing more than this phenomenological "remainder." This is the fundamental characteristic of philosophy; its finitude and existence are precisely defined by this, and metaphysics begins here, embarking on an endless journey of thought. This is a path of the soul's ascent, as well as a path of the self of life. What is achieved through the metaphysical ascent of the soul is the restoration of the soul's natural and inherent life, and the unity of this ascent and restoration endows this life with divinity. In this sense, we can, like Socrates, understand philosophy as a way of life. Philosophy is a life, an existence, a mode of being that begins with thought. This soul's contemplation should not be arduous or burdensome, for life is a joy, existence is a pleasure, and it is beauty.