We shall have occasion later on to return to the precise meaning of this philosophical exercise. For the moment, suffice it to say that when Plato wants to describe the philosophical life, he does so by means of the image of the soul's gathering itself together, and its subsequent flight into the infinity of the heavens. This flight allows the soul to look down from above at human affairs, in the truest sense of the phrase.
As for the philosopher himself, Plato describes him as follows in the Theaetetlls:
In fact, it is only his body that lives and has its residence in the state; his soul, however, holds all this to be puny and meaningless, and con1 cmp1 uously wanders all over the place, "under the earth," as Pindar N11y11, 11 ml mt•u11urinic whatever is on its surface, and "above the heavens,"
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Themes
observing the stars, and in general thoroughly investigating the nature of everything that is, but without lowering itself to the level of any of the objects in its vicinity .1a
In the Republic, Plato expresses the view that greatness of soul consists in precisely such an attitude: "For smallness is particularly contrary to the soul which always strives after the complete and perfect, both divine and human." 19 Such a soul, capable of observing the totality of space and time, has no fear even of death.
Here it might not be inappropriate to try to formulate more precisely two concepts with which we have been dealing: on the one hand, the concept of philosophy as a means of achieving spiritual death, and, on the other, the idea of philosophy as the ascent of the soul into the celestial heights. Plato developed these ideas and concepts in a specifically Platonic direction, but in and of themselves they arc not specifically Platonic. Rather, they are to be found in all the ancient philosophical schools, be they Epicurean, Stoic, or Cynic.
In other words, in all schools - with the exception of Skepticism -
philosophy was held to be an exercise consisting in learning to regard both society and the individuals who comprise it from the point of view of universality. This was accomplished partly with the help of a philosophical theory of nature, but above all through moral and existential exercises. The goal of such exercises was to help people free themselves from the desires and passions which troubled and harassed them. These needs and desires, it was thought, were imposed on the individual by social conventions and the needs of the body. The goal of philosophy was to eliminate them, so that the individual might come to see things as nature herself sees them, and consequently desire nothing other than that which is natural. If we leave aside for the moment terminological and conceptual differences, we can say that, within each school, philosophy signified the attempt to raise up mankind from individuality and particularity to universality and objectivity. For example, philosophical death for the Platonists consisted in getting rid of one's passions, in order to attain to the autonomy of thought. For the Stoics, philosophical death consisted in putting oneself in accord with universal reason, the all-embracing Logos, both interior and exterior.
Thus, in each philosophical school we encounter one and the same conception of philosophy. Similarly, in each philosophical school we find the same conception of the the cosmic flight and the view from above as the philosophical way par excellence of looking at things. In particular, Platonists, Stoics, and Epicureans all discovered, in addition to their theoretical physics, a practical physics, which was conceived of as an exercise in which the imagination speeds through the infinite v11stnesscs of the univc1·sc. EN11ecinlly for t.hc Plntonists nnd t he StoicN, t he icrntl of thi11 liwd 11hysic11 of the univerNc
The View from Above
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was to attain to greatness of soul, and in all schools its function was to teach people to despise human affairs and to achieve inner peace.
The exercise of practical physics is already hinted at in Plato's Timaeus,20
where the soul is urged to bring its inner movements into accord with the movements and harmony of the all. Again, we find the same theme in the area of meteorologia: that is, speech which - according to the Hippocratic method, as Plato says in the Phaedrus21 places the soul and human affairs within the
-
perspective of the all. Such a method, Plato adds, leads to nobility of thought.
Epicurean physics also opens up a wide field for mental flight, in the infinity of space and the infinite number of worlds. Thus Lucretius: "Since space stretches far beyond the boundaries of our world, into the infinite, our mind seeks to sound out what lies within this infinity, in which the mind can plunge its gaze at will, and to which the mind's thoughts can soar in free flight. " 22 Elsewhere, Lucretius says that Epicurus has "boldly broken down the tightly shut gates of nature," and "Advanced far beyond the the flaming walls of our world. " 23 In mind and thought, claims Lucretius, Epicurus has sped through the whole of infinity, thence to return victoriously and teach us what can and cannot come into being. 24
This spiritual conquest of space kindled the enthusiasm of the eighteenth century, which dreamed of producing a new Lucretius. Andre Chenier25
sought to give new life to this ideal in his unfinished poem "Hermes": Equipped with the wings of Buff on
And lit by the torch of Newton, my flight
Often soars, with Lucretius, beyond the azure girdle That stretches around the globe.
I sec Being, Life, and their unknown Source; And all the worlds tumbling through the Ether.
I follow the comet with its fiery tail
And the stars, with their weight, form and distance; I voyage with them in their immense orbits . . .
Before my avid gaze, the diverse Elements unfold, With their Strife and their Love, the Causes and the Infinite.26
To return to Epicurean cosmic flights: the Epicurean sage's gaze upon infinity probably corresponds to that of the Epicurean gods. Unconcerned by mundane affairs in their bright, eternal tranquillity, they spend their time contemplating the infinity of space, time, and the multiple worlds.
We encounter this same tranquillity in the Stoic tradition, especially in the text from Philo of Alexandria cited more fully below, which describes philosophers in the following terms:
As their gonl is a life of peace and serenity, they contemplate nature and eve1·y1 hin� found within her: they attentively explore the earth, the sea,
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Themes
the air, the sky, and every nature found therein. In thought, they accompany the moon, the sun, and the rotations of the other stars, whether fixed or wandering. Their bodies remain on earth, but they give wings to their souls, so that, rising into the ether, they may observe the powers which dwell there, as is fitting for those who have truly become citizens of the world. 27
For Marcus Aurelius, only the "physical" viewpoint on things is capable of giving us greatness of soul; thus we have often found him practicing those spiritual exercises which have to do with the "physical" viewpoint on things.