by Roy Jackson
The city of Alexandria
The city of Alexandria in Egypt, established in 331 BC, is key to the very survival of Greek and, indeed, Plato’s philosophy. The city itself was named after Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), who was at one time a student of Aristotle. Alexander became the king of Macedon in northern Greece and his title of ‘the Great’ is due to the empire he created by the age of 30, which spread from the Ionian Sea to the Himalaya. Undefeated, Alexander established one of the largest empires of the ancient world. It saw the end of the independent, or semi-independent, city-states and the unification of Greece. Alexander died young and his empire soon splintered, but it nonetheless resulted in the spread of Greek philosophy beyond the Hellenic states.
Although Alexander spent just a few months in the city, Alexandria grew to become the largest city in the world within a 100 years of its foundation. It became the home of a large Greek community, becoming the centre of Hellenistic learning with the largest library in the ancient world. Just how large the library was we do not know with any certainty, but it contained hundreds of thousands of scrolls at its peak. One visitor to Alexandria was the Greek philosopher and historian Strabo (c. 64 BC–c. AD 24), who describes the city as consisting of one-third royal grounds and gardens, and the ‘Ptolemaic shrine of the Muses’ (or what today we would refer to simply as the ‘Museum’). This museum, according to Strabo:
‘… has a walkway, an arcade, and a large house, in which there is the eating hall for the men of learning who share the Museum. They form a community with property in common and a priest in charge of the Museum.’
Strabo, Geography, 2002: 51
The museum was seemingly modelled on Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, with the great library being housed within the museum.
With the decline of Greece as a world power, Alexandria came under Roman rule in 80 BC. In around AD 47 the library was damaged by a fire, but the greatest damage was likely caused by Christian attacks on paganism, although scholars hid what books they could. There were also a number of natural disasters, including a tsunami in AD 365.
Under Roman rule, the new dominant power in the Mediterranean, Greek philosophy continued to flourish as the empire adopted much of Greek culture. Originally, the great philosophical schools such as Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum were supported by Rome, but this eventually came to an end. Alexandria came under Byzantine rule until AD 641, when it came under Muslim rule and was to remain so until Napoleon conquered Egypt in 1798. When the Muslims entered Alexandria it was the last remaining centre of Western philosophy. There is a story that when the Academy in Athens closed, seven of its philosophers fled to, first, the ancient city of Ctesiphon in the Persian empire, before then setting up in Alexandria. These philosophers were Neoplatonists (see below) as the Academy by this time was Neoplatonic. Therefore, when the Arabs conquered Alexandria in the 7th century AD, what they encountered was the writings of Neoplatonists.
The Arabs did not, then, begin reading the works of Plato and Aristotle as had been taught originally in the great schools of Athens, but rather translations and commentaries of Plato and Aristotle, which combined Neoplatonism (itself a synthesis of philosophy and religion), Christianity, mysticism and Egyptian thought. The works that were produced by these Neoplatonists were in Greek, but this was not the only language that the philosophers were translated into before Arabic. They were also available to the Muslims in Syriac, which is a dialect of Aramaic (purportedly the language spoken by Jesus). One can imagine the difficulties that the Arab Muslims had to overcome in interpreting the works of Plato and Aristotle through this varied cultural lens, not to mention the struggle to fit this within an Islamic worldview. It was this task that was to preoccupy so many of the Muslim philosophers in the centuries following (see below).
Neoplatonism
Very little is known about the supposed founder of Neoplatonism, the philosopher Plotinus (c. AD 204/5–270). Speculation says he may have been a native Egyptian, but with family origins in Greece. He studied philosophy at Alexandria for some 11 years before travelling to Persia to study Persian and Indian philosophy. At 40 years of age he settled in Rome to become a teacher and, it is said, he made a failed attempt to persuade the Roman emperor to build a ‘city of philosophers’ that would live under the constitution set out in Plato’s dialogue Laws.
Plotinus regarded himself as an interpreter of Plato, but he was much more than that, for his philosophical and religious views essentially created a ‘new Plato’, hence a ‘Neo-platonism’. Alexandria was a melting pot of ideas; not just Greek thought, but it also housed a large Jewish population, and there were many other religious, philosophical and mystical traditions and cultures within its walls. Plotinus’ own travels meant he encountered even more traditions and his interpretation of Plato is a blend of differing cultures, certainly more religious and mystical than the original, and no doubt this made it more appealing to the major religions that encountered it.
Plotinus does not appear to have written anything until he reached the age of 50, and the works we now have are 54 essays that together present his understanding of Plato. In actual fact, much of what we know of Plotinus comes from his disciple Porphyry (AD 234–c. 305), who was born in the ancient city of Tyre (now in Lebanon) and who edited and published Plotinus’ Enneads in about AD 300. Porphyry was himself an influential thinker who was very critical of Christianity and wrote on the importance of reason and logic.
Neoplatonism is a complex belief-system, not helped by the fact that it is not one homogenous school of thought. Nonetheless, there are certain characteristic features of Neoplatonism that can be briefly outlined here:
• The universe is the result of divine emanation from the supreme ‘One’.
• The ‘One’, also known as the Good, is infinite and perfect.
• The ‘One’ also created the Divine Intellect (nous), which contains the Forms and provides order to the universe.
• From the Intellect comes the World Soul (psuche), which contains and animates the universe.
• The World Soul is the source for the souls of all living beings.
• There exists, therefore, levels, or gradations, of being: One – Intellect – World Soul – world of matter.
Man, though existing in the world of matter – the lowest gradation – also has the potential to access the higher realms. He can rise to the consciousness of the World Soul, the Intellect and finally to be united with the One when he has overcome bondage to the physical world. This can be achieved through moral and spiritual purification and so on. Neoplatonism, in a variety of forms, has had a huge sway on especially the mystical traditions. It was also a move away from the more rational element of Greek philosophy to the more appealing and accessible emphasis on bodily practices for the achievement of enlightenment.
Muslim philosophers
Reference is made above to the problems the Muslim Arabs encountered when they first came across the Greek philosophers, given the fact that these were often Neoplatonic interpretations, together with the fact that they were translated into Syriac from the Greek. This resulted in something of a scatter-gun approach to what they were confronted with, resulting in confusing Plato’s works with those of Aristotle and vice versa, as well as attributing writings to these two philosophers that were not actually the case. The Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato was certainly more appealing to Muslim thinkers than Plato per se; the latter being more dualistic and, therefore, much more difficult to fit within the monotheistic tradition.
The impetus to translate the Greek philosophers grew considerably during the reign of the Abbasid caliphs in the 8th and 9th centuries AD, especially under Caliph al-Mamun (AD 786–833). This caliph populated his court with scholars to translate not only the Greeks, but Persian and Sanskrit texts. In his capital of Baghdad, these texts were housed in a library called Bayt al-Hikma, the ‘House of Wisdom’ which, like the library in Alexandria, was actually much more t
han just a library – it was a university, a museum, a translation bureau. Notable translators include Yahya ibn al-Bitriq (d. AD 835), who is responsible for the Arabic text of Plato’s Timaeus. Also, mention should be made of Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. AD 873), who, together with his son and nephew, was responsible for the translation of so many of Plato’s works.
Perhaps the first systematic Islamic philosopher is Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Kindi (c. AD 801–73) who studied at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. He commissioned translations of a number of Plato’s works, while he was particularly taken with Neoplatonism. His best-known work is Treatise on the First Philosophy, and in his introduction he states the following:
‘The noblest in quality and highest in rank of all human activities is philosophy. Philosophy is defined as knowledge of things as they are in reality, insofar as man’s ability determines. The philosopher’s aim in his theoretical studies is to ascertain the truth, in his practical knowledge to conduct himself in accordance with their truth.’
Al-Kindi, Al-Kindi’s Metaphysics: A Translation of the Treatise on the First Philosophy, trans. by A. L. Ivry, 1974: 97
This is interesting and certainly contentious, for to state that philosophy is the ‘highest rank of all human activities’ would inevitably upset the religious establishment. However, al-Kindi saw no conflict between philosophy and religion, or both were ways to seek the truth, though he encouraged the theologians to use philosophical tools and to not rely on faith alone or a literal interpretation of the Qur’an. Al-Kindi’s understanding of God was certainly influenced by Greek thought, as he prefers to refer to God with such Arabic terms as al-bari (‘the creator’) or al-illat al-ula (‘the first cause’) rather than the more common Allah (‘the God’), and thus presents a more philosophical understanding of God as a causal agent. This is one of the first philosophical debates in Islam: what is the nature of God? Did he create the universe ex nihilo (out of nothing)? The kind of questions you find especially in Plato’s Timaeus (see Chapter 11).
Another early Muslim philosopher was Abu Bakr al-Razi (c. AD 864–925), whose works include Metaphysics According to Plato’s View, Metaphysics According to Socrates’ View and Commentary on the Timaeus. Certainly the influence of Plato’s Timaeus comes across in al-Razi’s philosophy. Al-Razi’s view is that there are five eternal beings or principles, which are ‘God’, ‘soul’, ‘time’, ‘space’ and ‘matter’. These five principles coexisted and interacted with each other to create the world we live in. The only things that are beyond time and space are God and the soul, and the world began when the soul mixed with matter, which initially caused chaos and disorder. God’s role, in a way not dissimilar to the demiurge in Timaeus, was to bring order to this chaos. Again, this sits uncomfortably with orthodox Muslim views, especially the idea of five eternal things. In addition, al-Razi also considered the possibility of reincarnation.
There are far too many Muslim philosophers who were influenced by Plato to consider here, but one more must be mentioned: Abu Nasr al-Farabi (c. AD 872–951). In his work Principles of the Opinions of the Inhabitants of the Virtuous City, al-Farabi parallels Plato’s Republic. The approach is similar in that al-Farabi compares the virtuous state with the virtuous person, the ‘micro-macro’ approach.
Plato’s musical dialogue
Modern scholarship on Plato continues to be exciting and revealing. For example, Dr Jay Kennedy, an expert in ancient music and ancient mathematics at the University of Manchester, wrote a book in 2011 entitled The Musical Structure of Plato’s Dialogues in which he argued that Plato’s dialogues contain a second layer of meaning, a ‘code’, a pattern of secret musical symbols. Why Plato might choose to write this way is speculative, but it may well be a result of fear of religious persecution, given, Kennedy says, that the hidden message argues for the importance of science over religion.
Christian philosophers
St Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430; see also Chapter 7) was one of the most eminent Doctors of the Church. This small group of ‘Doctors’ are given such a title in recognition of their contribution to Christian doctrine. Augustine was well aware of Plato’s work and he is important because of his incorporation of Platonic metaphysics with Judaeo-Christian belief:
• The Forms could not exist separately from God as this would mean that God was not all-powerful. Rather, God created the universe ex nihilo (‘out of nothing’) according to ordering patterns established by the Forms existing in the mind of God. The Forms are the expression of God’s Word, the Logos. The emphasis, therefore, is more on God than on the Forms.
• Augustine agreed that knowledge is innate, that it is contained within the God-given soul. However, Augustine believed there is another source of knowledge: Christian revelation as contained in the Bible.
• A direct relationship with God based upon love and faith was more important than the intellectual encounter with the Forms because the Forms themselves were dependent upon God for their existence.
If it were not for the Muslim world preserving, translating and interpreting Greek philosophy, we would not have access to it today. From the 8th century, Islam spread to Europe, to Andalusia in Spain and remained there until the 15th century. Many Muslim philosophers lived in Andalusia, including perhaps the greatest of them all, Abu Al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Rushd (1126–98), better known in the West by his Latin name Averroës. As a result, non-Muslims were able to access the knowledge they possessed, and the first Christian philosophers learned of Plato through the works of these Muslim thinkers.
One great Christian thinker (and Doctor of the Church) who studied Plato through this Muslim lens was the Italian philosopher and theologian St Thomas Aquinas (1225–74). Aquinas blended Christian teachings with both Plato and Aristotle. Aquinas accepted that there are Forms, but held that these could be approached through observation of the everyday world. The Forms are embedded within matter. Therefore, sense-experience is important in attaining knowledge, not just reason or faith. This is important because of its emphasis on reason and empirical observation, rather than the reliance on faith alone.
The Cambridge Platonists
In the middle of the 17th century there were groups of theologians and philosophers who called themselves the Cambridge Platonists. They believed that there was no conflict between faith and reason, and that the material world interacts with the non-material world of the Forms.
Modern contributors
Plato continues to inspire and cause controversy. His most severe opponent of recent years was the Austrian-born British philosopher Sir Karl Popper (1902–94; see also Chapter 6). In his work The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) he criticized the political views of Plato because of its totalitarian implications. For Popper, the best kind of society is one that is open to changing circumstances, criticism, differing proposals and problem-solving. This, Popper argues, is what democracy entails, and he cites examples of democratic countries to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Although recognizing Plato’s genius, he believed the mistake is in seeking definitions for terms such as ‘justice’, which, he believed, was futile and misguided. Popper argues it is wrong to be seeking a Utopia and definitions for terms, when in actual fact we should be addressing the problems that exist in our society through immediate action.
However, others have been more positive towards Plato. For example the novelist and philosopher Dame Iris Murdoch (1919–99), who incorporates much of Plato’s philosophy within her novels. Another scholar and writer, the Christian C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), was often inspired by Plato. In the final Narnia book, The Last Battle, the land of Narnia comes to an end. The children of Narnia enter a new and more wonderful land. It is explained to the children that Narnia was not real, just shadows of the real world they now find themselves in.
Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527) was an Italian philosopher, historian and politician whose most famous and influential work is The Prince. Like Aristotle
, Machiavelli was a political realist: he was highly critical of realism in politics. He was writing in Italy at a time that has some parallels with Ancient Greece for, in the same way that Greece was not one nation but a number of city-states, Italy was also similarly composed. Machiavelli’s own city-state was Florence, but other places included Venice and Pisa. These cities were ruled by a prince, and so Machiavelli’s book The Prince is concerned with a possible ruler, a ‘new prince’, of the best kind of city-state. In this work, Machiavelli argues that for a Prince to establish order in society it is sometimes necessary to act immorally. A term that has now entered the English language is Machiavellianism, which is a reference to politicians who engage in unscrupulous methods to gain or maintain power. Machiavelli argues that he is being a realist because a ruler who concerns himself with being morally good, with high-minded ideals, will be unable to anticipate the realities of the political world. This is the start of what is called realpolitik, a term from the German ‘realistic politics’, and, as the name suggests, it is the form of politics that bases power on practical concerns rather than moral or ideological. Essentially the ends justifies the means: if the end is to have power, then how you achieve this is irrelevant to morality. In many respects it is reminiscent of Thrasymachus’ views in Book I of Republic, although there is no evidence that Machiavelli read any Plato. Nonetheless, it raises that question once more as to whether it is better to be good, whether this makes you a happier person, or whether wealth and power is the key to fulfilment.