Plato
Vance Morgan
June 3, 2026 DOI: 10.4324/9781003468813-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Philosophical and literary analysis |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Mysticism |
| Keywords | Narrative Mediation Multitude Frame networking Chose Epistemology Object grammar Perfection Theosophy |
| Key points | Argues that Simone Weil read Plato as a kindred mystic seeking to describe and participate in a mystical ascent toward the divine, finding connections between Plato's search for mediation and the activity of Christ. |
Abstract
Of all of the major figures in the Western philosophical tradition, none was more influential on Simone Weil or more ubiquitous in her writings than Plato. Weil uses Plato's thought to frame her considerations of matters ranging from science and mathematics to divine creation and the relationship of human beings to what is greater than us. Yet Weil makes no attempt to read Plato objectively or dispassionately and does not seek to understand and explicate Plato's philosophy in its own right. Rather, she reads Plato through her own unique interpretive lenses. In Plato, Weil found a kindred spirit, a fellow mystic seeking to describe and participate in a mystical ascent toward the divine, a path that she believed was uniquely framed by the Greeks. Weil finds a multitude of connections between Plato's search for mediation and the activity of Christ, the central mediating figure in the Christian narrative to which Weil was so closely connected through her own mystical experiences.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |