Quakers and Plato

I am under the impression that the early Friends were not sympathetic with the Cambridge Platonists, and I am wondering if anyone who reads this blog knows more about this.

I see lots of resonances between Plato's ideas and Quakerism.

For example, in Plato's Republic, Socrates argues that "it is never just to harm anyone" (335e).

Another example: the account of wisdom in the Republic is based on the sun analogy (506e-509d). Goodness is like the sun: it shines down the world offering illumination and warmth. The wise person sees not just what there is, but also perceives the play of light cast by the sun (goodness) upon what is. I interpret this to mean that the wise person is not merely knowledgeable about what there is and how it all works, but is also able to perceive or discern ebbs and flows of goodness in all that happens.

And I think that this is similar to the Quaker quest to look for that of God within everyone, and to live in a way that lends strength to the growth of goodness in the world. Isaac Penington writes about this in his letter to the Royal Society, where he argues that scientific knowledge alone (based on observation and reason) are not enough: attention to the spiritual dimension is important too. And Arthur Eddington, much later, writes about how science and religion are not at all at odds, because we have two modes of knowing: we perceive the world both in terms of what is, and what ought to be.

Both Penington and Eddington seem to be saying something similar to how Socrates defines wisdom. The best form of knowledge, wisdom, does not stop with just observing what is. We must also hone our ability to perceive the play of goodness over the world: to perceive what is in relation to what ought to be.

References:

Eddington, Arthur Stanley, Science and the Unseen World, 1929.

Penington, Isaac, Some Things Relating to Religion, Proposed in the Consideration of the Royal Society (So Termed), to wit, Concerning the Right Ground of Certainty Therein, 1668. Available in: The Works of Isaac Penington, Vol. III, Quaker Heritage Press, Glenside, PA, 1996.)

Plato's Republic (multiple translations and editions available).

Laying This Blog Down

I think it is time to recognize that it is time to lay this blog down. There hasn't been sufficient interest to continue it. I think it is better to make this as a conscious decision than it just let it happen through inertia. As Quakers we should let our yea be yea and our nay be nay. I wish the blog could have been more of a success but I must recognize that it is not. It is time to lay it down.