… in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public or private life must have his eye fixed. — Plato’s Republic, Book VII
midwife” to its birth. We can neither teach virtue, nor package it and sell it; but most importantly, we can and must awaken it in others. Note that Plato’s Forms do not have opposites: there is no “Pure Form” of Evil, or Folly, or Injustice. If people commit evil or foolish or unjust deeds, it is because they are ignorant of the Forms, and require education to heighten their awareness and awaken their inner virtue. The Elevation Laws that operate in human domains are also eternal (i.e., true at any time and place in which they can be understood) and immutable (i.e., unchanging over time). In Plato’s terms, Bellwether’s Laws and Credo represent a set of Ideals that we try to emulate in our daily lives. They aim at human flourishing and principled wealth creation. The more their essence of elevation flows into and through us, the better we succeed. The Laws likewise have no Platonic opposites: people fail primarily because of their ignorance of them, or failure to apply them, and not because any “Elevation Laws” are operating against them. Western philosophers took more than two millennia to mount a popular challenge to essentialism, namely existentialism. It inverts Plato’s formula (and contradicts his theory of human nature) by asserting that existence precedes essence. While existentialism can be a heroic philosophy, it can also demoralize or depress adherents, .
by obliging them to find virtues in a Godless, morally empty universe Plato’s essentialism fits hand-in- glove with Christianity’s Trinity. The Father is the Pure Form of God, the Son is the embodied copy, and the Holy Spirit is the essence of divinity. That is also why one of the most important paintings of the Italian Renaissance—Raphael’s School of Athens , commissioned by Pope Julius II around 1503—features Plato and Aristotle at the center, with Plato pointing upward and beyond at the heavens, where the Forms reside. Aristotle was Plato’s most outstanding student, and another noteworthy Bellwether practitioner. We’ll look at him in a future issue. Raphael depicted Aristotle not as contradicting Plato, but rather as complementing him. Their arms are orthogonal: 90 degrees apart.
Plato is holding the Timaeus, his cosmology describing an orderly and beautiful universe. Aristotle is holding his Ethics, a guide to well- proportioned virtuous behavior in human society. The painting was originally called “Causarum Cognitio” (“Knowledge of Causes”), attained through rational inquiry and sound practices. Now fast forward to our age: Bellwether reveals knowledge of causes of principled wealth generation, taught by mentors who have apprehended its Pure Form. ******************************************** Lou Marinoff is a professor of philosophy at The City College of New York and founding president of the non-profit American Philosophical Practitioners Association. He is also an internationally bestselling author, a table hockey champion, and a Bellwether Alliance member since 2021.
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