Universe of Platonic Thought 2021

29th International Conference “The Universe of Platonic Thought: Rational Theology in Platonism”

Aleksandr Boitsov, CSc in Biology, Independent scholar

What unites us?

It turns out that the soul is arranged in such a surprisingly symmetrical way that it becomes possible to speak of the existence of certain invariants of phenomenological experience. This conclusion was made based on the dialogues of Plato with the only additional assumption - about the "economy of the mind". Consequences are proposed for discussion.

Keywords: Brahman, Atman, Plato, Parmenides, soul, structure, symmetry

What unites all of us? The answer suggests itself - nothing, “the nothing”. This is the correct answer, although not very clear. However, there can be no other answer at the initial stage of reflection, when only the cognitive ability of one's own soul - dunamis - is recognized as implicitly existing. This means that the cognized itself - “the nothing” - is also recognized as existing.

Then the logos leads to the hypothesis that the soul unites us. Because the soul is arranged in such a surprisingly symmetrical way that it becomes possible to speak of the existence of certain invariants of phenomenological experience. That is, the very structure of the soul provides the possibility of a third-person perspective. We made this conclusion on the basis of Plato's dialogues with the only additional assumption - about the "economy of the mind".

But this is not enough for a meaningful answer to the original question. After all, when “the nothing” is manifested in the soul by the power of knowledge - for each of us in his own way and independently of the others - the emerging picture is about the same for everyone, and only for this reason we are able to discuss a picture of the world common to all. Hence, the symmetry of the soul alone is not enough to explain this state of affairs. It is generally meaningless if, as a result of cognition, everyone has not just their own individual world, but a fundamentally different world. This means that “the nothing” is one for everyone. Only this assumption allows you to make ends meet.

That is, we are united by the One, as well as by the uniform symmetry of our souls. We both know one thing, and we can take the point of view of another in order to understand how the world appears to him. So, it is possible to talk about the absolute Soul, cognizing itself, cognizing the One. Hence, it follows that the Soul is above all. Hence, the Good is the Soul. Brahman is Atman, Atman is Brahman.