The Platonic Ideal, Part 4 to blupete's Essay
"On Philosophy"
Now what drives persons to adopt the Platonic ideal, to subscribe to a state of such a dreadful existence? It is the same thing that has driven all the conquerors found in history: In a word, egotism. This "cosmic philosophy,"8 this philosophy of Plato's which expresses the idea that there is the real and the unreal, the universe and the un-universe, is dualistic. The fact is, that the great natural world that we perceive, just, simply, exists; so far as we know it, it is neither good nor bad, it just exists: and, natural scientific laws may be used to define it.
To be a Platonist is to be one who aspires to change the world. He is convinced he is a philosopher king, a poet, a legislator, a person who knows what is good for others; one who is prepared to lie, (excuse me I should probably say maintain a myth) in the interests of order, -- necessary, if one is to deal with the "irrationality of the masses." Socialists, whether they belong to an organized political party or not, qualify on all counts; they are Platonists, though most of them could not begin to properly define the term at its roots.
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