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Tag Archives: Plato
SIMULACRUM
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“Some people have observed that truth is relative to all other truth. It can also be said that truth is a cooperative effort of creators, solidified through mutual agreement, and the perception of those who view creation.”
~ Lawrence R. Spencer ~
Definition: “The simulacrum has long been of interest to philosophers. In his Sophist, Plato speaks of two kinds of image making. The first is a faithful reproduction, attempted to copy precisely the original. The second is intentionally distorted in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers. He gives the example of Greek statuary, which was crafted larger on the top than on the bottom so that viewers on the ground would see it correctly. If they could view it in scale, they would realize it was malformed.
This example from the visual arts serves as a metaphor for the philosophical arts and the tendency of some philosophers to distort truth so that it appears accurate unless viewed from the proper angle. Nietzsche addresses the concept of simulacrum in the Twilight of the Idols, suggesting that most philosophers, by ignoring the reliable input of their senses and resorting to the constructs of language and reason, arrive at a distorted copy of reality.
French social theorist Jean Baudrillard argues that a simulacrum is not a copy of the real, but becomes truth in its own right: the hyperreal. “The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth. It is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true.” Precession of the Simulacra, Jean Baudrillard
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
THE POLITICAL ICON
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“The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. …This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” — Plato, 380 BCE
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“Plato (423 BC – 348 BCE), was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.” (Wikipedia.org)
WEAK IS WRONG
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TOTALITARIAN CREDO: “History is written by the victors”
Plato’s The Republic (380 BCE) claims that “justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger”. This is the maxim of The Physical Universe. The entire history of humans on Earth is a demonstration of this fundamental principle. Altruism, egalitarianism, love, beneficence, and kindness have forever been overwhelmed and trampled in the dust of the brutal force of armies. “Right” and “Wrong” are the same is “Strong” and “Weak” in the physical universe. If you are seeking a “loving” moral code, you must find it within yourself. It does not exist in the physical universe.
— Lawrence R. Spencer
THE NEXT WORLD
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PLATO — 348/347 BC) was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.[3] In the words of A. N. Whitehead:
“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them.“
Plato’s sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him. Plato’s writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato’s texts.[5] Plato’s dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and mathematics. Plato is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. — Wikipedia.org