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added quote from haz substantiating the connection between plato and commnunism
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[[File:Image.png|thumb|Plato points upward]] | [[File:Image.png|thumb|Plato points upward]] | ||
Plato is the father of western Philosophy. For Haz, philosophy starts with Plato and ends with [[Hegel]].<ref>https://youtu.be/pOy9LvGizag?t=1827</ref> What both men share is an absolute courage of thought: the idea that ''nothing matters but philosophy''. At the same time, both avoid the temptation to establish some | Plato is the father of western Philosophy. For Haz, philosophy starts with Plato and ends with [[Hegel]].<ref>https://youtu.be/pOy9LvGizag?t=1827</ref> What both men share is an absolute courage of thought: the idea that ''nothing matters but philosophy''. At the same time, both avoid the temptation (of all idealism) to establish some established form, some achieved totality in which the restlessness of thought could submerge itself, (die,) and come to rest. It is this sense that these two are the the philosophical-ideal forefathers of [[Communism]], of the "real movement which sublates the present state of things." | ||
French Communist Alain Badiou is famous for claiming Plato as the first Communist, and although they each have critiques of him, [[Slavoj Žižek]] and [[Reza Negarestani]] both agree with Badiou on this. | French Communist Alain Badiou is famous for claiming Plato as the first Communist, and although they each have critiques of him, [[Slavoj Žižek]] and [[Reza Negarestani]] both agree with Badiou on this. Of this connection, Haz has said: <blockquote>We as [Platonic] philosophers somehow resign ourselves to the openness of the fact that the truth we discover in heaven is the same truth being disclosed to us from earth. We make finally the connection between the universal truth of philosophy and the reality of Humanity. That was how Marx discovers the proletariat …remember what [[Karl Marx|Marx]] called the proletariat: ‘the ingenious soil of the people’. </blockquote> | ||
=== Identity, Ambivalence === | |||
It is a mistake to identify the '''Socrates''' of with Plato with the historical Socrates, whom we know basically nothing about. It would also be a mistake to identify Plato with Socrates. ''Plato never speaks.'' Rather, his ''philosophy assembles itself in the dialogues as a dynamic between players''. For this reason Plato’s Dialogues are defined by a profound ambivalence; and by introducing this to thought, he gives life to philosophy. This ambivalence is reflected in the myriad interpretations: to the '''Neoplatonists''', a Christian fanatic; to the '''Tübingen school''', an exponent of the demiurge. It is this ambivalence which makes Plato truly immortal, and deeply unsettling. | It is a mistake to identify the '''Socrates''' of with Plato with the historical Socrates, whom we know basically nothing about. It would also be a mistake to identify Plato with Socrates. ''Plato never speaks.'' Rather, his ''philosophy assembles itself in the dialogues as a dynamic between players''. For this reason Plato’s Dialogues are defined by a profound ambivalence; and by introducing this to thought, he gives life to philosophy. This ambivalence is reflected in the myriad interpretations: to the '''Neoplatonists''', a Christian fanatic; to the '''Tübingen school''', an exponent of the demiurge. It is this ambivalence which makes Plato truly immortal, and deeply unsettling. | ||