Introducing: The Platonic Troglodyte
Philosophy for people allergic to academia.
People often read Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and see themselves as the one who ascended out and saw the light. I was not satisfied with applying that to myself.
I never found myself particularly enlightened by simply reading the allegory, though it did move me. I could see how easily it could inflate someone into thinking that they are in the light, and their opponents must be in darkness. Even fewer of those who view themselves as the escapee actually care about Plato himself and the context in which the allegory appears.
I do not come from academia. I do not consider myself especially intelligent. I do not think I’ve come to any conclusions that are beyond what any person could reach on their own.
I do think I have been given a great gift - a life that was somewhat difficult, often stressful, and with just the right amount of rigor to push me towards philosophy.
Not philosophy as an academic discipline. There are few dead Germans who interest me. There are even fewer times I’ve been inspired when anyone has preached the doctrine of dead German men to me.
Not philosophy as an abstract, symbolic tale moving towards a vague idea of enlightenment. I love the light and wish to live in it, but have seen how inflated people have become when they make grand claims without earning them.
Not philosophy as an exercise in being smarter than someone else. Not philosophy to exalt myself in any way over others.
But the real, lived experience of striving towards truth, well-ordered thinking, a good life, expressed and made concrete in a beautiful way.
I believe that I’m on the right track. But… I’m speaking from deep inside the cave of ignorance, and not as someone who has seen the light and wants to blind others with it.
Hello, everyone. I’m the Platonic Troglodyte.
Please, call me Trog.
I have had very limited formal training in philosophy. For a short time, I had a mentor walking me through the foundational texts of Western Philosophy, who tested my definitions and pressed me for precision. Every argument was earned. Pretty symbolic poetry and strong rhetoric was honored for what it was, but couldn’t be treated as beautiful until it was first earned by being true and good first.
“Hm, that’s quite a pretty poetic definition, Trog. But that fails to take X into account.”
“Are you sure you mean that, Trog? If X is true, then Y must follow, don’t you think? And if Y follows…”
“I’m not sure if you’re accurately recounting what he said. Wouldn’t a more charitable interpretation be…”
This was repeated until an assertion was deserved, not just gestured towards.
As time passed, life took the reins. I lived thoroughly in the symbolic, relational, and personal realm that was greatly assisted by my early formation. Unfortunately, my precision atrophied when I relied on synthesis, symbol, allegory, and image where my logic was lacking.
Now imagine this creature formed in the bosom of the deepest ritual theology most people ever experience being forced into writing the most boring, concrete examples of literature you could ever imagine: corporate documents.
My world of canons, prosomia, irmoi, and troparia, was interrupted and challenged by the great legal backbone of any business entity: Bylaws. Policies. Procedures. Memoranda of understanding. Quite exciting, I’m sure!
It did cause me to confront a weakness in my thinking: “Why can’t I just spit it out?!”
After some thinking, I realized it was because my thinking wasn’t right. I could no longer rely on intuition and knack for storytelling imagery to carry me along. I needed the wings of both logos and sophia to truly ascend and soar to the heights that I desired.
The Platonic Troglodyte is a neo-Socratic project that will document my return to the foundational texts of philosophy, working from Plato’s dialogues, through Aristotle, and back into the Patristics of first millennium Christianity. This will not be a religious or theological project - it will be solely a philosophical one. This is much more an exercise in forcing myself to refine my ideas before integrating them, rather than leaning on my intuition as a crutch.
The major process behind this blog will be reading, analyzing, refining, and exploring these texts as they are. I aim to make no “unearned” assertions.
I welcome any criticism where my logic and precision is lacking. I am always willing to learn.
I do not see myself as having left the cave. I see myself as still wandering around with a flashlight that often flickers leaving me tripping and falling in the dark. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a new pair of batteries.
Yours,
Trog.