The Platonic tradition holds that the soul is a mysterious and amphibious creature that must negotiate two worlds, that of eternal being and that of time-bound “becoming”. What kind of experiences arise from these two orders of reality? In what way are they related? How is each order regulated? And how does the soul unfold […]
Two famous passages in Plato’s Republic are commonly known as “the divided line” and “the cave”, they are placed right next to each other, one at the end of book six, and the other at the beginning of book seven. We will read and consider both and explore how each enables us to understand the […]
Although modern rationalist scholarship has been reluctant to acknowledge how much Orphic material underpinned the philosophy of Plato, references to Orphic myth and cult teachings can be found throughout his writings. The Orphic Derveni manuscript is a relatively recent find which has ensured that Orphism is now more fully recognized as playing a part in […]