Apollodorus

Of course I have verified it. The Greek text does not say "a noble lie", period. And Socrates himself says, "Nothing new. But a Phoenician one". So he...

- D. Lee, Plato, The Republic, pp. 387, 388 1. I think if I have to choose between Lee and you, there can be only one option …. :grin: 2. In Socrates’...

There is no doubt that there are parallels. Straussianism itself is like a religious cult with a subversive political and cultural agenda. Whilst teac...

I don't know what "religious fantasy" you are talking about, as to my recollection I have never discussed my religious beliefs! I am simply pointing o...

However, Bloom is a Straussian, is he not? I would say philosophical and political. It is important to understand that Greek ?????? pseudos is not the...

But that doesn’t mean that there is no truth in those stories. I don’t think there is any evidence for that. There was no “Dark Ages” in the Greek Eas...

Indeed. Straussianism is a whole school, mainly based in Chicago. There are hundreds of them! And they are just the tip of the anti-Platonist iceberg....

I think "secular" is the key word. Islam has always been the sweetheart of the Left who see Islam as a form of atheism (invisible god, no religious im...

I think it positively freaks them out. But what is really hilarious is the way Straussians are attempting to cover up their master’s true colors. Stra...

Correct. One way of looking at it is that the Forms are within the Universal Consciousness or "Mind of God", in which case they are subjective to the ...

I think this can be annoying both in men and women. But is your complaint about women who think they look great without actually looking great, or abo...

It would probably depend on the particular society and culture we are talking about. In the Western world (some) women do get told things like “you co...

Good point. According to Plato: Plato makes it clear that in order to apprehend the Form of the Good, the philosopher must develop the power of abstra...

Good question. Mathematics starts with dianoia and ends in noesis, after which the Forms take over. In other words, mathematics takes us from sensible...

And that's why I don't think I confused intellect and imagination :smile:

But why single out Christians? The Jews got much of their religion and culture from neighboring peoples. Christianity is not a form of Judaism, it is ...

But this is not what I am doing. What I am saying is that Christian culture (and to some extent religion) is based on Classical (Greek and Roman) cult...

Yes. But we are talking about Plato. In Plato, sensory faculties, emotions, thoughts, are part of the soul the essential core of which is the nous. Th...

I don't think so. To begin with, sensory faculties, emotions, imagination, thoughts, contemplation, all are functions of the same one intelligence whi...

There are four levels of awareness given in the Allegory of the Cave: 1. Shadows on the cave wall. 2. Images of outside objects and beings whose shado...

Correct. It is the close proximity of mathematical objects to Forms that tends to lead to the erroneous assumption that they are Forms. In reality, ac...

This seems to be a plausible cause. But another possibility I had in mind would be that Plato's Forms are not mathematical objects.

"Vedic alphabet"? Do you mean Brahmi or Indus script (that no one knows what it is)?

I don't remember my math teacher saying anything about goodness or justice though.

If it does happen, it will be in places like Africa, Mid East, India, Indonesia. In the West Islam is far more likely to spread as it has done for dec...

Plato's connections with Orphism are essential in the correct reading of his writings. I have noticed that when anti-Platonists fail to understand som...

I think there can be absolutely no doubt about it. Both in general and in a Platonic context. Plato's philosophers, after all, were to be trained for ...

Good idea. European Christians were educated in institutions run by the clergy. The catechetical schools founded in the early days of Christianity at ...

It has happened in many places. And it is happening gradually. By the time Islam becomes dominant it will be too late for you to pick up your gun. Wom...

Exactly. Learning who we really are. Self-knowledge is the central aim of philosophy. Being godlike is not the same as being God. Nothing to do with "...

Correct. According to Socrates, particulars exist by virtue of their participating in the Forms. This is why Socrates urges us time and again to go be...

I think what Plato is saying is that not everyone can unshackle and free themselves. Plato's philosophers are an intellectual elite with special abili...

My linkage of nous with gno was due to Bailly's Greek-French Dictionary where he has: - Anatole Bailly, Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, p...

Certainly interesting as a working hypothesis, but given the paucity of supporting evidence it seems like an uphill task. What if the Greeks started w...

Would it be possible to know which of those attributes nous is claimed to be? And what is it an attribute of?

Sure. However, I would have thought that if nous is already known to mean awareness, consciousness, intelligence, etc., then it may be easier to simpl...

You are right about techne. If anything, it would be more like an art or skill. As to nous, if we can't decide what it actually means, I can see no ad...

As with everything else, there are different levels or degrees of goodness. The highest level is attained through knowledge or experience of the Good ...

Correct. "Prudence" is a rather odd translation that makes little sense to modern ears (to the younger generations in any case). And yes, sophia does ...

However, considering that there is a tradition to use Greek or Latin when creating new words, we may simplify matters by keeping the original nous.

According to the Bible, God created us in his own image, which implies that in some way we are godlike already. This seems to be the implication of so...

Good question. Philosophy was in its infancy. There were no exact technical terms in the modern sense. And even in modern usage the same word can have...

Unfortunately, there are no Ancient Celts available to confirm that this was their actual view. After all, they never put their beliefs into writing. ...

We do not know that there was no hierarchy in Celtic society or that there was no fear of deities and other supernatural forces. Plus, an empire canno...

Ancient Celtic Religion - Wikipedia If so little is known about Celtic religion, I wonder how much is known about Celtic spirituality?

The true origins of Platonism make an interesting topic and Kingsley does make some good points. Unfortunately, his In the Dark Places of Wisdom was p...

Perhaps. But he literally says "noesis en ethei", "wisdom in ethos", which seems to differentiate noesis from ethos.

Obviously, we can't know what Ancient Celts felt. But who says that Celts did not have kingdoms? Apparently, pre-Christian Iron Age Celtic social stru...

"Outsider"? You mean there are modern insiders to Celtic spirituality?

Another difficulty is that not all Greeks saw the nous in exactly the same way. But I think we can still get some idea as to what the nous means in Pl...