Plato's aesthetics and religion

(Originally written November 7, 2016 in Book 26)

The Classical Mind
W.T. Jones

Chapter 5: Plato - The Special Sciences

Theory of Art

There is an eternal form "Beauty". Things are beautiful in proportion to their participation in the form beauty.

For Plato, order was beauty. "To the degree that any physical object possess order, it is beautiful (Jones, 192).

Mathematics, because of its orderliness is more beautiful than any object.

Natural objects are more beautiful than objects of art because natural objects are copies of the eternal form and objects of art are copies of copies (shadows of shadows).

The artist is a liar and a deceiver.

Plato treated art cognitively, but recognized the emotive and conative aspects as well. Thus he treated artists as cognitively inferior to scientists, but dangerous magicians for the power they held over people's emotions.

"Meanings can be communicated without words, by a kind of intellectual osmosis. In fact, this is the way all really important things are in life are communicated - not formally via lectures or books, but gradually over long periods of time" (Jones, 194). Plato used myth as a short cut to convey deep knowledge that would otherwise require a long-term relationship between teacher and pupil.

Art stands between two types of knowledge - the direct experiential knowledge and conceptual knowledge.

Religion

Plato often used myth to convey the deep truths of religion as they shortcut to teaching.

Plato argues certain aspects of the nature of God can be discovered via natural theology.
1. God is good and thus not the author of hurtful things
2. God is not the author of all things, not even the author of many things experienced by man because man experiences more evil than good
3. God does punish the wicked
4. God is unchangeable
5. God does not lie or make false representations of himself

Plato advocated a first-cause movement argument. This first cause is a self-mover. This self-mover is soul. The soul is more ancient than all other motions.

"The gods are good, yea, exceeding good" (Jones, 198).

"The gods exist, and that they are careful and that they are wholly incapable of being seduced to transgress justice" (Jones, 199).

Plato housed his religious views in the language of myth which he intended for readers to take seriously, but not literally.

Timaeus -
God is a creator
What God creates is the cosmos

Plato believed the universe is a purposive whole. The universe is well ordered and ordered for the best. It satisfied not merely our intellectual curiosity but also our moral demands.

Plato (opposite of Christianity) is more interested in the creation than the creator.

Plato's theology served two purposes:
1) The discoverable attributes of god shed light on the nature of the cosmos
2) A reminder of our limitations concerning our finite understandings

Plato's religion compared to Christianity

Plato had a profound impact on Christian theology because of similarities with Christianity.

But Plato's god is not an object of worship. His god is good, but not a loving Father.