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The "Euthyphro Problem" et al.
Jul. 19th, 2013 01:04 pmThe "Euthyphro problem" is already henadological, concerning the separability of a God and his/her attributes. The Gods are the opportune units for such an inquiry, because they are immortal; mortal units are naturally separable from their attributes. This is not the only instance in which Plato takes up a theological question for its philosophical value; another example is metempsychosis. The issue with respect to metempsychosis is also henadological, in fact the converse of the Euthyphro problem, namely, the issue of units separable from every attribute except a bare self-identity, a power of choice.
Just as a certain theology gave Plato opportunity for certain inquiries, changes in theology later blocked these inquiries. For the monotheist, incorporeals can always be individuated by intelligible attributes, and bare units are individuated by matter. Hence the monotheist's God is the necessary being, each angel is a species of one, and the mortal is inseparable from his/her attributes. At the end of antiquity, these henadological issues remain at the forefront of metaphysical inquiry in Damascius, but after the Christian interregnum, philosophical inquiry continues on the path laid by the monotheist appropriation of metaphysics. Hence the problems around uniqueness and individuation are taken up by movements that consider themselves anti-metaphysical, even where the concepts deployed by those movements are explicitly drawn from the tradition. Existentialism is an example, with its roots in the argument over relative priority of essence and existence. Western metaphysics, after Christianity loses the ability to control it overtly, gets as far as Kant and Hegel, who basically take either fork in a Christian aporetic.
Metaphysics per se has not been the beneficiary of the extraordinary flowering of diversity in more recent thought. On the contrary, metaphysics has been consistently framed as the natural enemy of that diversity. Today we find that the most consistent embrace of difference within metaphysics is framed within a monistic flux ontology. This clearly continues along the path of a monotheism transposed from the transcendent to the immanent position. Whether some form of "speculative realism" will be able to find its way out of the cul de sac remains to be seen. In the meantime, a better understanding of the real issues in the tradition can only help matters.
Just as a certain theology gave Plato opportunity for certain inquiries, changes in theology later blocked these inquiries. For the monotheist, incorporeals can always be individuated by intelligible attributes, and bare units are individuated by matter. Hence the monotheist's God is the necessary being, each angel is a species of one, and the mortal is inseparable from his/her attributes. At the end of antiquity, these henadological issues remain at the forefront of metaphysical inquiry in Damascius, but after the Christian interregnum, philosophical inquiry continues on the path laid by the monotheist appropriation of metaphysics. Hence the problems around uniqueness and individuation are taken up by movements that consider themselves anti-metaphysical, even where the concepts deployed by those movements are explicitly drawn from the tradition. Existentialism is an example, with its roots in the argument over relative priority of essence and existence. Western metaphysics, after Christianity loses the ability to control it overtly, gets as far as Kant and Hegel, who basically take either fork in a Christian aporetic.
Metaphysics per se has not been the beneficiary of the extraordinary flowering of diversity in more recent thought. On the contrary, metaphysics has been consistently framed as the natural enemy of that diversity. Today we find that the most consistent embrace of difference within metaphysics is framed within a monistic flux ontology. This clearly continues along the path of a monotheism transposed from the transcendent to the immanent position. Whether some form of "speculative realism" will be able to find its way out of the cul de sac remains to be seen. In the meantime, a better understanding of the real issues in the tradition can only help matters.
