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A review by dngoldman
The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization by Arthur Herman
4.0
This is a thrilling, sweeping, tour of western thought from pre-socrates to post WWI. From philosophy, science, religion, politics, Herman sees a constant ying/yang battle between Plato and Aristotle. (see bullets below). Of course, any history this sweeping it subject to oversimplification. And his chatty, story telling style makes the book readable but there are times where the narrative thrust get's lost. But the biggest problem is that Herman too often fails to distinguish between ideas and writers directly influenced by Plato or Aristotle and those who just had similar idea. You could make a pretty good Buddha (plato) vs. Confucius (Aristotle) argument although those two thinkers never new the greeks.
While these are real problems, they don't take away from the fact that this is highly readable, highly informative tour of ideas.
Plato
- Idealist
- focus on the ultimate form - wether in morals or politics
- concerned with the meta, not the individual
- truth by logic and deduction
- Legacy is both toayslitarianism and MLk
- mathematics
Aristotle
- observation - verification
- concerned with individual man leading happy life
- Morality was active to be learned and developed. Based on context
- politics - diversity can lead to better opinion than even the best. Democracy but without radical changes
Next Gen
- Both legacies strayed from the masters. Plato’s left the science (cynics, stoics, - ) and concern with ethics; while aristotle is just science divorced from ethics
- Aristotle = library and museum - diverse knowledge
- Practical science v theoretical
- Plato - Euclid - math unrelated to physical
Rome - mixing of A and P
Polybius. Agreed with A's perfect mix of types of authority and thought Rome embodied. But agreed with Plato's analysis of the endless cycle of rise and fall between the many, few, and the one
Cicero attempted to solve that problem by using applying A "virtue ethics" to forms of govnemnt.
Plotinus - the first neo-Platonist. Fused Plantonic god into the entire chain of being. Thus, there was a way out of the cave and one could find truth now by mystical experiences
While these are real problems, they don't take away from the fact that this is highly readable, highly informative tour of ideas.
Plato
- Idealist
- focus on the ultimate form - wether in morals or politics
- concerned with the meta, not the individual
- truth by logic and deduction
- Legacy is both toayslitarianism and MLk
- mathematics
Aristotle
- observation - verification
- concerned with individual man leading happy life
- Morality was active to be learned and developed. Based on context
- politics - diversity can lead to better opinion than even the best. Democracy but without radical changes
Next Gen
- Both legacies strayed from the masters. Plato’s left the science (cynics, stoics, - ) and concern with ethics; while aristotle is just science divorced from ethics
- Aristotle = library and museum - diverse knowledge
- Practical science v theoretical
- Plato - Euclid - math unrelated to physical
Rome - mixing of A and P
Polybius. Agreed with A's perfect mix of types of authority and thought Rome embodied. But agreed with Plato's analysis of the endless cycle of rise and fall between the many, few, and the one
Cicero attempted to solve that problem by using applying A "virtue ethics" to forms of govnemnt.
Plotinus - the first neo-Platonist. Fused Plantonic god into the entire chain of being. Thus, there was a way out of the cave and one could find truth now by mystical experiences