Divine Madness__ Plato's Case Against Secular Humanism - Josef Pieper

"Divine Madness" . JOSEF PIEPER ''Divine Madness'' Plato 5 Case against Secular Humanism Translated by Lothar Krauth IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO . Title of the Gemun original: "Cottlicher Wal111sinn" Ei11e Platon-lmerpretation © 198 9 Schwabenverlag AG Ostfildern/Stuttgart. Gennany Cover by Roxanne Mei Lum © 1995 Ignatius Press. San Francisco All rights reserved ISBN o-8987o-557-6 Library of Congress catalogue number 95-75667 Printed in the United States of America . Contents Establishing the Theme 7 Prophecy II "Catharsis" 2I Poesy 29 Eros 37 Conclusion 57 Translator's Note 59 . . It shows that man is indeed o f such a kind as to possess his own self in freedom and self-determination. based on insight." This pronouncement by So crates­ with its central term mania remaining untranslated for now-co ntains an entire world view. that he is able and also obliged to examine critically everything he en­ counters. at the same time. and this not only in the form of forced oppressiOn but possibly. his own life. that he is above all able and obliged to determine. it pro­ claims above all a fundamental opinion about the meaning of human existence. so long as 7 . Yet it fur­ ther indicates that man. is in his personal selfhood integrated into the whole of real­ ity in such a way that he can very well be shaken out of his self-possession.ESTABLISHING THE THEME " THE HIGHEST GOODS come to US in the manner of the mania. inasmuch as the same is bestowed on us as a divine gift. Thus he never denied or disregarded the fact that both aspects are essential to man.) . even though he would have considered it a worse sickness not to be able to be "sick" in such a way. But he was not always disposed to interpret such loss of self­ directed autonomy as a gain. also in such a form that possession in the very loss of self­ there is bestowed on him a fulfillment not achieved in any other way." DIVINE MADNESS 8 man on his part does not barricade himself in refu­ sal. its inherent explosive potential indicates. in a unique way. can of course never be captured in some smooth formula. Like every true philosopher. he seems inclined to call the state of "being-beside-oneself-in-enthusiasm" a "sickness" . rather. self-possession as well as its loss through the irruption of a higher power. In his earlier writings. ("The sickness that consists in the ina­ bility to be sick"-this expression of modern psy­ chology comes to mind. Yet he was far fro m placing his emphasis on the same aspect. with the tension of its structure. And this concept of man. occupied Plato's mind all his life . This concept of man. an implacable and disturbing chal­ lenge. he was concerned not so much with finding some satisfying and handy for­ mula as with not overlooking anything. . by which he means precisely this god-given state o f "being-beside-oneself".ES TABLISHIN G THE THE ME 9 The following reflections are an attempt to inter­ pret primarily the late Dialogue Phaedrus. Socrates discusses four different forms of the theia mania. In this Dialogue. . "divination" in the strict sense. extending its influence far into Asia and Egypt.PROPHECY THE FIRST DISCUSSION concerns prophetic ecstasy. when they were of clear mind and calm self­ possession. they accom­ plished great things through their utterances. the priestesses of Dodona. can hardly be overesti­ mated. while they were i n a state of ecstatic frenzy. transport prophe­ Three figures are identified by name: the prophetess at Delphi. Delphi had b e e n a sanc­ tuary for more than a thousand years . the ti que. and the Sibyl. we now know that the effects o f the Delphian Oracle . they were unable to say anything impor­ tant. especially when aimed at the political arena. Its oracles contained religi ous and ethical II . They all have in common that . but. At the time of Socrates. Regardless of the interp retation of details. drive n by t h e god. And finally. Zeus is. The most ancient fornmlaic hymnic wisdom of the Greek religion originated with the priestesses of Dodona in northern Greece: "Zeus was. can also be traced back to the Delphian Oracle. not only is the inviola­ ble right to asylum proclaimed here. the Sibyl. it is itself cast in Sibylline obscurity: "The Sibyl. thou art most power­ ful!" All too easily do we tend to overlook such things in favor of those entertaining stories about the gods of the Homeric mythology. of course. and unanointed." Plato's contemporaries are so familiar with all this that the text states explicitly: Let us not talk at . The most ancient testi­ mony known to us derives from one of the great pre-Socratic philosophers. with raging lips uttering things unamusing. Heraclitus. For example. indeed for some kind of "international law". but the earliest rules for a more humane conduct of war. stories that Plato dismisses as a perversion of the true divine doc­ trine-according to the Greek conception. resounds through the millennia." DIVINE MADNESS" 12 demands found practically nowhere else in the pre­ Christian world formulated with such consistency and intensity. and not o nly is the custom of the blood feud denounced. and Zeus will ever be-0 Zeus. and unadorned. and the Sibyl. Lewis' I am re­ Screwtape Letters. therefore with the "history of Greek reli­ gion"-and thus to let it rest. the text says it would be go od to reflect o n the fact that the ancients.13 PRO P HECY length about things known to everybody . inexperienced in the ways of humans. And then. this title is c o n­ firmed once again: the ancient ones testified that more venerable than human reasonableness is the theia mania. Surveying the aca­ demic literature on Plato. grown "wise" th rough extensive experience. we are largely confirmed and encouraged in this approach. in letters expressing a philosophical anthro­ pology altogether as humorous as it is profound but. . mania as a A few lines later. But i n doing this we deprive ourselves of the genuine gain we might very well derive from studying Plato's words or even simply reading them attentively . the god-given and e nthusiastic state of being-beside-oneself We latter-day readers of Plato are at first inclined to connect the Platonic commentary o n the pro­ phetic trance o nly with Delphi. assigned to this oracular art of the seer-priestess and the Sibyl the name name of honor. imparts instructions and ad­ vice to his nephew. Dodona. who gave names to all things. A devil called "Screwtape". S. recapitulating. minded here of C. or in the general history of thought. . and what phase in the writer's development. and how it affected later writers. and so forth. turned upside down. We have done this by inculcating The Historical Point of View. Put briefly. it illustrates. . in view of Plato's comments on the first form of enthusiastic being-beside-oneself. The Historical Point of View means that when a learned man is presented with any statement in an ancient author.". and we [the united demons of hell] have now so dealt with the learned that they are of all men the least likely to acquire wisdom by doing so. and how far the statement is consis­ tent with what he said in other books . pose the question whether something is stated here that describes the reality of a situation. He asks who influenced the ancient writer. But as soon as I. One of Screwtape's letters deals with studying the ancients: "Only the learned read old books. whether something comes to the fore here that in actual fact is found in the reality of the human essence-then it immediately becomes impossible to confine Plato's testimony merely to the history of Greek ." " DIVINE MADNESS I4 of c ourse. the one question he never asks is whether it is true. and how often it was misunderstood (specially by the learned man's own colleagues) . right in the middle of th e Church's [former] funeral liturgy. there does exist such a "translation". we have to translate Plato's words and meaning more resolutely into our own mental framework. there she herself stood at the entrance. into a language closer to ours: the language of the Romans. perforated a hundred times and having a hundred mouths that carry "with rushing voices" the responses of the Sibyl. In order to address seriously the ques­ tio n of the truth of it all. which c ontains a consulting theia mania is indeed the Sibyl of presented as "sacred frenzy" : In the enormous cavern of Cumae. where she is mentioned i n one breath with the biblical king David. as she spoke. of the Aeneas Aeneid. although the modern-day C hristian has encountered the Sibyl in the sequence Dies !rae. Lati n . Suc h a question right away sweeps aside the narrow category of being merely something of the past. . Incidentally. both prophetically testifying to the catastrophic end of history Sibyl/a). F or example.15 PRO PHECY religion. and. In t h e sixth b o o k of t h e description Cumae. (teste David cum this connection may still be quaint flowery ornament without taken as a any particular implication . dating from pre-Christian times. The name for this "breath" . he needs to be for ced. this is accom­ plished through one single word used by Virgil. Instead. her breast heaved. I would not yet call this a translation into terms familiar to us.... It appears in the first verses of the same book.Apollo Pulled her up raging. is inspiratio.Taller to their eyes And sounding now no longer like a mortal Since she had felt the god's power breathing near . out of the self- .I6 DIVINE MADNESS " . inspi­ ration! In reference to this word we are now able to take the testimony found in the Platonic Dialogue Phae­ drus and reformulate it in contemporary and more specific terms. of course. Human nature is so positioned within its existential realm as to be essentially open toward the sphere of the divine.. Man is constituted in such a way that. her wild heart Grew large with passion.neither her face Nor hue went untransformed. or else whipped her on. Even so. through inspiration. Digging the spurs beneath her breast. nor did her hair Stay neatly bound. on the one hand. where it is said about the Sibyl that the Delian god Apollo "breathed into her the richness of the spirit" . Such overwhelming inspiration is possible not o nly in the abstract. Whenever it does happen. it happens in suc h a w a y that the sophros}mc [self-possessio n]. That is. light. an event that comes to him only in the form of some­ thing unpredictable. a divine power . no matter how much the dignity of the human person is ordinarily based on it. of intuitio n. and insight into reality. truth. It is immediately obvious that such a statement invites discussion of the metaphysical structure of man's natur e. it really happens every now and then . above all.I7 PRO PHECY sufficiency of his thinking-through an event. a theia m a nia - hence that inspiration like­ wise appears to "the multitude" as madness. all of which would other­ wise remain beyond his reach. a loftier. Inspiration as an event occurs in the form of being-beside­ oneself. Here we are explic­ itly lo oking not at the results of human genius but at the effects of a different. as w e l l a s everything implied by it. that lies beyond his disposing power. therefore. i s being forcefully sus­ pended. it is pre­ cisely in this loss of rational sov ereignty that man gains a wealth. to put it briefly and in blunt . On the other hand. which lies all but beyond the grasp of "science". He who would discuss the truth of this discourse has to be prepared to declare his ultimate convictio ns. almost literally the same description of the revelatory event. for their part. . C ould a C hristian theologian really accept Plato's talk of enthusiastic being-beside-oneself or even his talk of mania. as well as its infinite openness and capacity-both together-are manifest in the occurrence of revela­ tory divine inspiration." " DIVINE MADNESS !8 terms. These teachings . compared with Plato's description of the theia mania. no matter how often it be declared a "divine madness"? How. The question remains. the limitations of man's nature. as found in Plato's Phaedrus. does Christian theol­ ogy conceive of revelation and inspiration as an event happening to the first recipient? I have to admit that I expected. an answer much more composed and. a Christian. cannot easily escape the necessity of including in the discussion teachings of the C hristian faith. whom no one could accuse of a lack of sobriety. more rationally unimpassioned. in Thomas Aquinas . of course. whether this agreement might also extend to the specific ways and means of revelation and inspiration. to my surprise. confronted with such statements and pursuing a philosophical interpretation of Plato . But then I encountered. more de­ tached. as it were. indeed. in any case. clearly agree with Plato that. Prophecy as well. for instance. He answers: N o . He asks . quoted by Thomas: "being lifted up through a higher power. a talent. . and toward those things that are against nature" (in id quod est contra naturam).PRO PHECY 19 Thomas discusses the instance of rev elation and inspiration under the heading of prophetia and The v e ry term raptus. but in reference to the light that is received suddenly and in the manner of something passing through ('like the sun's light in the atmosphere') . connectio n is confirmed immediately by Scholasti­ cism's definition. "In the process of prophetic revelation. the prophet's mind is being moved by the Holy Spirit . a skill. . the "prophet" like a possession. is obviously n ot far removed from T his theia mania.. insofar as it refers to the seeing o n the part o f the prophet. is in a certain sense admittedly a mental action. it is something received. away fro m those things that pertain to nature . . having a clearly discernible connotation o f something intrusive and violent. Prophecy. the prophetic light appears in the prophet's soul as a reception or a "fleeting e ngrav­ ing. raptus. seen as an event in the min d of the one who experiences revelation and inspirati o n . . whether belonging to prophetia is a habitus. i s describe d by Thomas in terms n o t only o f passio but even of "failure . . giving way". however. . necessarily finds both thinkers equally incomprehensible and inaccessible. . . the accepted model of the most unimpassioned rationality. . declares cognition during sleep to be more powerful as regards receptivity than the cog­ nition of one who is awake-thus positio ning him­ self by one single surprising step squarely on Plato's side . because it distorts the entire reality of human life. it is an entirely unexpected discovery that Thomas.20 " DIVINE MADNESS" like an instrument that submits . Ratio nalism. finally. " And. we seem not to have such an opinion.''CATHARSIS'' THE SECOND FORM of divinely caused being-beside­ oneself dis cussed by So crates has been character ized as "cathartic mania". mania devised a remedy. is meant by the term "cathartic mania"? First of all . Any comparison and connec­ tion with certain tenets we ourselves deem true is possible. only if we hold an opinion at all regarding the topic considered here. At first sight. and to the proper persons revealed its secrets. then. and thence obtaining purifications 21 . what does the text say? The passage in the Dialogue Phaedrus reads thus : Again. after it had entered into the heart of the proper persons. of course. for it fled for refuge to prayer and ser­ vices of the gods. which you are aware lingered in certain families as the wraith of some old ancestral guilt. What. for those sore plagues and dire afflictions. that is. if we i n fact-confronted with s u c h a specific pronounce­ ment. is there in it something that corresponds to what Plato called "those sore plagu es and dire affiictions" ."DIVINE MADNESS" 22 and atoning rites made its possessor whole for time present and time to come. by showing him the way of escape from the evils that encompassed him. the literature on Plato offers o nly some extremely meager and stammering words . one could pro­ pose simply to disregard this matter altogether if it were not rather vexing that we should be so utterly incapable of recognizing as meaningful. a thesis pronounced by Plato with obviously serious intent. b u t rather because we would have reason to suspect that we have developed a blind spot as regards reality. and I am at a loss myself." Of course. On this point. if only he were rightly frenzied and possessed. which Plato evidently deemed fundamental­ do not understand at all what he is talking about. rooted "in some old ancestral guilt"? . as connected to reality. At this point. Wil­ amowitz candidly declares this to be "not under­ stood" as yet: "Nowhere did I find an explanation. irking to t h e historian a n d philologist. First: Looking a t our current total knowledge of man. two questions should be aske d . This would be disturb­ ing not so much because of the gap in interpretatio n . The second ques­ tio n : Looking at our knowledge of man. affiictions.. and woun ds but rather as bur­ dens of the soul. above all. we should recog­ nize at once that the ailments. menima. But it is not only in the tragedies of antiquity that we encounter these Eummides. plagues. w h o is haunted by the avenging specters. and miseries mentioned by Plato are obvi­ ously not. indeed. means b oth: guilt and (divine) wrath. may be the German Verhangnis [doom] . c o mbining both elements. suffer ings. or not primarily. Concer ni ng the first question. One conte mporary commentary on the Phaedrus Dialogue holds that Plato probably was thinking o f something like the story of Orestes. to be seen as physical infir mities. the Eumenides [Er innyes] . The most appropr iate ter m. The modern-day . K. "flowing fro m an ancient curse". which he declares to be alone able to relieve man of such an ancient burden? Only if such corresponding ele­ ments exist will we be at all prepared to understand what Plato is talking about here. is there i n it something t h a t c orresponds to w h a t Plato says about the divinely appointed mania. which oppress and darken the heart. burdens. Hildebrandt) also say." " CATHARSIS 23 Some translations (e. o nly then can we apply Plato's discourse to those notions we ourselves deem true.g. These findings con­ fir m this. impossible to define. in T. Eliot's Family Reunion. less important to find agreement i n vo cabulary than in t h e matter itself."DIVINE MADNESS" 24 spectator can watch them appear. did not bring to light any totally independent and "new" insights. i n which the affiicted individuals themselves. of course. Regarding t h e subject matter here. are caught up in some unspecified par­ ticipation. as the chorus stepping out of the window alcoves of a contemporary English country manor : And whether in Argos or England. the findings of modern psychoanalysis. tr ibulations. There are certain inflexible laws Unalterable. a certain i nner corruptio n. any . and in which. they simply confirmed to a large extent those things already known and uttered since ancient days by renowned authorities on the human heart and in sapiential traditions of nations. In short. moreover. and ailments that can be shown to flow "from ancient doom". These findings. It is. indeed. as well as preceding generations. in the nature of music. S. coincides with an inescapable and fateful external destiny. w e should recall. too : In the life of the soul there are indeed burdens. On the contrary. for i nstance. Indeed. its author is none other than C. however. it is not some busily pursued activity that is here in order but. Like Plato. is something we do not originate our­ selves. of abandoning oneself to a state of being-beside­ oneself. Plato was no doubt aware that Asclepius' healing art originally had a magical character. o n the c ontrary. for the sake of healing and restoration. Furthermore. offering the supplicant advice and healing in dreams. a willingness to submit to being led a n d affected-for instance. that. "We suffer a dream." cATHARSIS " 25 reflection on the totality of man's existence will even today lead to the insight that such burdens. G. flowing from such roots. Liberation can occur only through a process of healing characterized. and he quotes here the "ancient . b y delving to the domain of the unconscious and of dreams. of mania. he too mentions the necessity. this insight suggests that man is unable to free himself from these burdens by means of mere rational technique. are real." This sentence is not an ancient pronouncement. at least negatively. Jung. by the necessity for the one desiring healing to relin­ quish temporarily the steering wheel of rational self­ control and self-possession. suc h an attempt would render the burden even more burdensome. on the c ontrary. A dream. Against this attempt to draw an analogy between Plato o n the one hand and modern psychoanalysis on the other. does not at all abandon himself into the realm of what is merely "irrational" . by letting go of himself. He enters the healing darkness of his own divine or igin . has been given the same name in modern psychology as in Platonic teaching: the gift of cleansing. one could certainly object as follows: No matter how much the "liberation of the sub­ conscious" in modern parlance might resemble the "being-beside-oneself" of the Platonic decisive point divinely caused for Plato mania. a theia mania. the consists in its being a "being-beside-oneself". at least silently intimate the possibility of a supernatural . does not this soul's existential foundation. catharsis. . explicitly unde­ clared position of modern psychoanalysis . I would try to counter it with this question: Inasmuch as the soul itself certainly knows its wants and needs . lying beyond any rational calculation. and regarding this the theory of the subconscious does not utter a word! As much as this objection is justified in view of the explicitly declared or. rather. divinely created origin also of the healing process? Man." 26 DIVIN E MADNESS " oracle: ' Let go of what you possess.' " The gift of receiving. and so you shall receive. then. In that case. Metanoia through can be absolved repentance and only through convers1on. which likewise asserts that guilt metanoia. at least. that it is the fruit of philosophy "never to regret anything".One " " cATHARS IS 27 more aspect should be mentioned her e . could have understood the burden "rooted in ancestral guilt" specifically as guilt in the literal sense of the word or. as including such personal guilt. Second. cr ime. here the ultimate existential roots have to be brought into the disc ourse and not only when agreement prevails but also in the face of disagre e­ ment!). Guilt is wiped out by means of the theia mama. Plato. Metanoia is precisely the opposite of the attitude. defined by Seneca and spanning the centur ies. his thesis would assert that guilt. can hardly avoid taking Plato's side and speaking of his own conviction. means. if he is a Christian (once again. the notion of metanoia . Contemporary man. however. if he really h a d in m i n d the story of Orestes. first. no matter how sublime. that one surrenders and aban­ dons the self-sufficiency of a mind that claims total independence. the matr icide. and sin cannot be undone and that we cannot get rid of such burdens simply through a rational program of inner discipline or through some external regimen. it is bestowed on man as a divine favor. rather. ." " D IV INE MADNESS implies that such conversion can never be fully decided by a mere act of the will. stand side by side with the condemnation found in the Republic. Whosoever wishes to be a poet by his own devices will never experience the blessed initiation. stirring it to raptur­ ous frenzy". And a clear note of caution is added immediately: Genuine and grand poetry is not possi­ ble unless born out of divine madness. The poetry of those who are reasonable and sensible fades into obscurity before the poetry of those who speak in the ecstasy of b eing-beside-oneself. the ecstasy inspired by the Muses and seizing "upon a tender and virgin soul. . which would ban Homer and Tragedy fro m the ideal commonwealth?" This observation ( by Wilamowitz) appears again and again in the lit29 . "How can this recognition of poetry .POESY THE TH IRD FOR M of divinely prompted being­ beside-oneself discussed by Socrates is the poetic mania. . poets. as in the Dialogue was wr itten much ear­ lier than the Meno. Among those other. then. "we" does not mean simply con­ temporary man in general but. or some other drug but is caused by some higher power. originates with divine in­ spiration. which Republic. poison. Plato distinguished between "divine poets" and those who have no claim to this title. All alo ng. Can we moderns look at this Platonic thesis in any way other than merely histor ically? After we consider everything we know scientifically about psychological requisites and other relevant condi­ tions for poetic creation and artistic production as such. can we still seriously assert that poetry flows from divine inspiration? In this context." " D IV INE MADNESS 30 erature on Plato in different variations. above all . if it is true poesy. Genuine poesy. because Homer attrib­ utes ungodly things to the gods. it flows from a condition of the soul closer to a state of being-beside-oneself than possessing­ o neself. non-divine. he evi­ dently counts also Homer. Can a Chr istian accept a thesis that puts poesy . flows from "enthusiasm" in the str ict sense of the word. and this being-beside-oneself is not the result of wine. Poesy. There may be no real problem lurking here at all. the Chris­ tian . POES Y 3I on the same level as revelation and inspiratio n? In a biography on Rilke we read : "Rilke is the quintes­ sential figure of a poet. To pursue this question here is. at the least. "as the years go by. might have to be reconstructed ever anew. One necessarily has to believe this in order to do justice to Rilke. in the simple sense of being a vessel for divine inspiration. to consider such words as. in his experience. a task becom­ ing ever more difficult. And yet. incidentally. Reinhold Schneider." You do n ot have to lack a poetic inclination. after all. and this would probably tur n out to be. of c ourse. or be specifically unsympathetic toward Rilke. accord­ ing to the different spiritual conditions of each epoch. does not Plato say the very same thing? The reflection here points out the sad deficiency of our not having available any theological or philo­ sophical doctrine on the nature of the fine arts. it becomes more and more difficult to find an answer". stated that he never ceased searching for the nature of poesy but that. like theology and philosophy in general. if n ot simply blasphemy. Such a theology or philosophy of poetics. . shortly before his death. which would provide the framework for discussing Plato's thesis in more adequate critical ter ms. romantic exaggeration. in spite of all the superficial popular success of man­ ifest pseudo-poetry (no matter whether it presents itself as literary art or politically engaged propaganda or "entertainment"). this element every now and then comes to the fore . It is so self-evident that we see no need to belabor it at any length. to prevent us from giving in to our immediate reaction of taking Plato's thought as merely historical and thus dismissing it . at ." " D IV INE MADNESS 32 impossible. must most forcefully be called to mind. In all the reflective meditation on poetry. an element clearly tending to side with Plato and his thesis . This fact. we must emphasize one particular aspect: In spite of all "scientific" analyses of poetry. At this point of our Phaedrus interpreta­ tion. This particular element is attested hundreds of times in the works of such poetic masters as Navalis or Holderlin. even as its result. in spite of the fact that we no longer have any illusions when we consider person­ ages such as Brecht or Benn-in short. within the framework poetry. of our there spontaneous remains attitude nevertheless one toward element entirely unaffected. indeed. This element obvi­ ously cannot be attacked and eliminated either through our acquaintance with degenerate poetry or through any dose of analytical and caustic criti­ cism. It is appropriate. however. to call them poetry. the great writer of letters. that at the height of co nscious­ ness it moves away from consciousness ." Similar utterances came from Adalbert Stifter. he has to admit that his con­ dition is altogether a trance betwe en waking and dreaming.... an irresistible urge. . I do not deny that many a thing appears to me like a dream . an insistent passion".I do not feel it inside myself .PO ES Y 33 any rate. . t o consider the unromantic precision o f t h e following sentence i n Holderlin's "Comments o n Antigo ne" : "It is of great benefit to the soul." But it is altogether more surprising to hear a rational thinker such as Lessing declare ab out his own crea­ tions that it would be too much of an honor to call them "po etry" and himself "a poet" : "That living spring. .." As the "main pre­ requisite for true poesy" he lists "an overwhelming nature. There are very few poets in this world. . Is not all of this simply another description of the . he says that "at no time did [he] regard [his] own writings as poetry". . . He offers all but Platonic formulations: "The poet is in fact out of his senses". and "in keeping with the humble truth. " The impressive real­ ism of G o ethe.. always so level-headed. working in secret. is not content with such merely negative characteriza­ tions. nor would he "ever presume . in effect. resulted in some kind of incantation. there is no need to dig i nto the past . at the very moment we are touched . became a mystic. . i n his epilogue to Gottfried Benn's Letters: Selected " ." " D IV INE MADNESS 34 same poetic mania discussed by Plato m his Phae­ drus? And yet. this I do not affir m . that such perfection exists in and of itself. this is an experience that might happen to anybody. with its lowly. a compulsion that can neither be controlled rationally nor avoided." Nevertheless . the being-beside-oneself rooted at least beyond the human sphere: "The essence of poetry is perfectio n and fascination . when Max Rychner de­ clares . After all . populous lone­ liness. and his beer stein a chalice. his evening ritual of walking to the neighborhood tavern. with a heavy hand and with his Berlinesque diction. . even Benn is completely aware of the compulsion involved in poetic creation. totally absorbed into himself. I think this is probably an accurate description of the inner reality. really. a poem is made") . when he. he expresses in specific words the very elements of the theia mania. Many explicit remarks to the contrary notwithstanding. . who clearly loved to destroy. any romantic atmosphere ("a poem very rarely 'comes about'. . Even a poet such as Gottfried Benn." It sounds rather grotesque. we know that it is not the two insurance agents Kafka and Ber nanos to whom we ascr ibe any such author ity. And yet . . would we consider ourselves to b e c ompletely correct if we affirmed that the intense emotional power of great poetry is entirely without any connection to the embracing divine foundation of the ultimate . Benn? We will certainly not go so far as to claim a divine voice speaking simply and directly through the medium of the po et. or Franz Kafka . if not the dermatologist Dr. all­ world? This precisely is the question Plato challenges us to face when he speaks of the poet's divine mania. would "poet" be. or G e orges Bernanos.POESY 35 and moved by the voice of genuine poesy m the creations of G ottfried Benn. The clic he-stale by now-of saying "according to the poet" is not entirely who this mistaken! Of course. . EROS FINALLY, SocRATES S PEAKS of the erotic experience, through which we humans, if circumstances are rightly ordered and favorable, can also encounter and expect something healing, enriching, even divine. This means, not that every infatuation b etween any Jack and Jill is eo ipso a divine gift, but that in every erotic emotion there is contained the possibil­ ity, the reaching context, and the promise infinitely beyond its of something immediate signi­ ficance. Yet man will truly partake of the promised gift only on condition that, when receiving the impetus born of emotion, he accepts and sustains it in lasting purity. In this context, the possibilities of c orruption, adulteration, dissimulatio n, prete nsion, and pseudo-actualization lie dangerously close-as they do, incidentally, in the case of the prophetic, the cathartic, and the poetic 37 mania. " " DIVINE MADNESS Much worse, of course, and more hopeless than an honest "No" is a faked "Yes" , when perhaps the semblance of inner emotion is being deceptively upheld, perchance even deceiving one's own think­ i ng, as if there were enchantment with beauty whereas in reality there is nothing but totally un­ emotional, calculating craving for pleasure. N one­ theless, Plato holds that for the true lover a gift awaits that is entirely comparable to what man receives in divine revelation, in catharsis, and in poetic inspiration. Goethe, after having discussed, in Wahrheit Dichtung und [Poetry and Truth] , his own erotic experi­ ences, states the same: "The sincere loving yearnings of uncorrupted youth take quite a spiritual turn. Nature seems so to arrange things that one gender would sensibly perceive in the other whatever is good and beautiful. Thus when I beheld this maiden, when my heart yearned for her, a whole new world of beauty and excellence unfolded before me." It is an evil thing when lustful desire comes before erotic emotion, suffocating it! "As soon as lust intrudes , love cannot claim perma­ nence"-so wrote Andre Gide in his diary. To make this point evident is the intent of the dis­ course that now follows in Plato's Phaedrus. At the EROS 39 outset, however, he states that this discours e will indeed sound convincing to the wise yet unc onvinc­ ing to the "clever". The Greek ter m employed h ere is dein6s, which in our dictionaries is rendered as "dreadful, terrible, tremendous", as well as "power­ ful, efficient, exc eptional". Obviously, something is meant h ere that is at one and the same time admira­ ble, astonishing, and terrifYing; and such can indeed be ascribed, justifiably, to the "purely rational mind". A clever man, Socrates states, will always consider unconvincing the notion that true lovers, in their being-beside-themselves, are promise d and might receive a divine gift. But then, Socrates starts all over again, and the theme of "Eros" seems at first to get hopelessly lost. "Before anything else," he says, "we must investi­ gate the truth with regard to the nature of the soul, by observing its conditions and powers." Someone else had once begun a discourse on Eros in the same manner-namely, Aristophanes, in Plato's sium: Sympo­ "Before anything else", that is, before you can say anything substantial about Eros, you must know the nature of man and reflect on all that has affected it ( pathemata). To answer the question raised here can never b e easy. And Plato's multi-layered explanation makes does not the Christian doctrine in the end agree with this Platonic notion? We. has a direct contemporary relevance. as something above all incompatible with the Christian and Wester n concept of the human soul . we read in Phaedrus. which "develops" and "unfolds". This thesis. which refers not only to the future but to the past as well. The human soul-this is his meaning-is not only without end but also without beginning. is directly "created" contains without doubt the correct insight that. for it appears alien to us and outside our customary thinking. The things we are familiar with do not prepare us for Plato's notion of immortality. The theological teaching that the human soul. by the way." DIVIN E MADNESS 40 use. it obviously expresses the very same thought! This sameness is being underlined here not . like every spiritual being coming into existence. of course. unlike everything else. A "genesis" of the soul would be inconceivable. the soul does not actually "originate". of the "ancient lore". too. And yet. conceive of the spiritual soul as something that. "every spiritual being is immortal" . preserved in the mythical tradition. "Thus do I begin my demonstra­ tion". it does not merely approximate Plato's concept. strictly speaking. does not "become" . agenetos. We are wont to disregard this idea. EROS for the purpose of forcing it into some modern per­ tinency. As Thomas Aquinas for mulated it : the nature of this spirit is manifested first and foremost in its convenire cum omni ente (affinity with all that is). They have kept their rele­ vance. we cannot. and we are unable to replace them with insights more pertinent. The same applies to Plato's philosophical dictum that the natural habitat of the soul is the universe of all that exists. Even though we do not appropr iate Plato's for mulation that the soul "reigns throughout the entire cosmos". perhaps dealt with to the point of weari­ ness. even though their verbal expression may seem questionable. bring ourselves to understand and describe the spirit as anything but an essence whose nature includes existing within the universal horizon of all there is. on the other hand. are by now only of historical interest and hence n o longer relevant. Plato's genius manifests itself in the very fact that his insights cannot easily be dismissed. but in order to prevent the contemporary student of Plato from thinking that such reading exercises. Plato tr ied to gain some insight into the pr imor­ dial accidents and fates that befell the soul by . "To be endowed with spir it" means specifically this: to be dealing with all there is. in which he deems himself rather confidently at home. then. The pr imordial condition. is he who has lost. the perfection or iginally reserved for him as part of his super natural destiny and that. eros. furthermore. However. can affect and str ike him more than any other "value" . For beauty. being at the same time the true goal and end of human existence. through his own offense. "Attracted" ." " DIVINE MADNESS 42 employing several illustrations. finally. specifically physical beauty. Common language informs us. in the end. which. he is now incessantly chasing after the or iginal ideal form. if man approaches it receptively. leaves behind the busyness of his activities and steps outside the concerns of his workaday world. all bring out the same idea: that man has lost. the erotic the basic for m of man's being-beside-himself occurring specifically in his encounter with sensual beauty. both remembrance and longing can u nfold only if man. constitutes the object of man's remembrance as well as his longing. that beauty is above all "attractive". be it only for a moment . can push him outside the realm of his familiar and controlled environment. the calm . be it ever so briefly. in consequence. we shall speak of mania. outside his "neatly explained world" . And so. as Rilke puts it. ferment. The lovers-this we read i n Aristophanes' speech in the Symposium-do not know what they ultimately desire o f each other. Socrates speaks of the uncom­ fortable c ondition of a child who is teething. the one being loved is. restlessness. "moved" by something else-he has to "suffer" all this. h elplessness. We also find rather "unpoetic" com­ parisons. and its own explana­ tions are but riddles. in a strict sense. This state. the soul is unable to name: "It has o nly some vague idea about the true object of its desire. Yet desire is n ot the same as love. entirely self-possessed. being beside o neself while not knowing what is going o n. at heart he is calculating.EROS 43 contentedness of his self-possession. He who desires knows clearly what he wants. he is. He who . This "other". in which all orderly familiarity (together with one's self-possession) vanishes. Plato describes again and again with ever new expres­ sions: a desire to soar o n wings while being utte rly unable to do so." At this point something important comes into view: the difference between desire and love. it is rather evident that their souls yearn for something other than the mere pleasures of love. as we say. n ot the one who is being desire d but the one for whom something is desired. for instance. howeve r. In its power to lead toward a reality beyond the here and now. this is a specific characteristic of beauty. Plato insists . "Few there are who remember . the sacred things they once beheld. however. it cannot be compared to anything in this world . he has no illusions about the fact that much . whatever we experi- . Anyone who has some understanding of Plato's philosophy will know that. is beauty. Plato's discourse is entirely rational. he is "being moved" when contemplating the beloved . as Plato states. Whatever is being loved most and moves us most. however. We latter-day. does not deter mine his actions or initiatives all by himself. Yet I believe this would be a mistake. rather. beyond immediate perception. and romantic . unrealistic. for which reason those who love beauty are called simply "lovers" ."DIVINE MADNESS" 44 loves in such a non-desir ing way. . He knows that true rapture enticed by beauty occurs only rarely. of what generally passes for "love" is nothing but desire." Nothing evokes this remembrance more intensely than beauty. if not most. in his conception. that this rare event alone actualizes the essential purpose of all human encounter with beauty. . enlightened readers of Plato are all too ready to consider such a discourse to be overly emotional. or of anything else. they do not transport us b eyond the here and now. justice. and good is but a reflection. Plato is obviously unwilling to conceive of the ultimate perfection in store for man in terms other than the encounter encounter with with the idea divine beauty. perhaps in the person of a just ruler-such that it would b e almost impossible not to react with admiration and devo­ tion.EROS ence m 45 this world as real. we have only to quote a few lines from Diotima 's speech in the Syrnposium: Toward this end of his . Beauty alone can accom­ plish this. not as of the "good". prompting in the one so touched the desire to get away from the c ourse of all those things that usually absorb the human mind. only the encounter with beauty evokes remembrance and yearning. T his distinctive essence of beauty is describe d by Plato on two levels: the level of oth erworldly expe­ rience ( beauty "beyond" this space and time) and the level of the present existence ( beauty here and now). that is. true. or of "b eing". we may encounter embodiments of goodness. Still. something pointing to an arche­ type not directly observable. Such experiences nonetheless do not have the power to enrapture us. To illustrate this point. or wisdom-no matter to what degree of perfection. followed in this band of Zeus . . . we. This is a straight­ forward answer. and were initiated into that mystery. as well as the future.". No other spiritual reality comes before our eyes with such . beauty. we perceive beauty through our eyes." Even on the level of our earthly existence. "! Are you not convinced that at that point he "is destined to become the beloved of the gods"? And in the Dia­ logue Phaedrus we read: "At that time" (linguisti­ cally. beauty is something incomparably exceptional. for our part . . which by eternal right is pro­ nounced the most blessed of all mysteries . .". neither a scent. the most light-filled of our senses. "at that time. Pulchrum est quod visu placet-beautiful is that which pleases the eye of the beholder . and beheld that blissful sight and spectacle. . . . beautiful in its nature. this expression denotes the past . nor a taste. he will see "a wondrous vision. . not even a special sound can. including the primordial past. "existing ever in singular­ ity of form independent by itself . beheld at that time in its shining splendor. . be called a thing of "beauty". in the strict sense."DIVIN E MADNESS" jour ney. It is the one thing most eminently visible. beautiful not "in the guise of a face or of hands or any other portion of the body . nor any­ thing tangible. including the eschatological future) . . but as primordial beauty. For this reason do the gods call Eros not the "winged one" but the "wing-giver" . therefore . Only those who open up to remembrance will be shaken to their core . "then a fearsome love would nigh be enkindled" .EROS 47 immediate visibility. Wisdom. without fail. Plato. not even that this happens with regularity-he is very much aware that beauty may well awaken an irreverent. an expression Plato quotes fro m an ancient poem . the nature of Eros is experienced and activated. automat­ ically. if wisdom were as visible to our eyes as beauty is. In this very experi­ ence. for instance. selfish desire. Plato adds here. to transport us in total rapture outside our earthly existence. Like gentle rain passing through the win­ dows of the eyes . The essence of beauty. precisely d o e s n o t consist in pro- . as it were. if what has b e e n said here i s true. cannot be "seen". in the opinion of Plato's Socrates. does not hold that beauty moves man's inner c ore inevitably and. to soar to the dwelling of the gods. fro m where the soul originated . Neither wisdom n or anything else worthy of love but "only beauty was destined to be most visible and most lovable at the same time" . beauty prompts the soul to sprout wings again . a love apt to upset and destroy our existential structure. to repeat. who holds that the deep erotic emotion tied to the encounter with beauty is a form of theia mania. seems to express accurately the thought of Plato. insofar as the actual occurrence does not produce a "fulfillment"-any satisfaction in dwell­ ing here and now-but instead e ntices our inner existential space to reach for some infinite ful- . satisfaction. by absorbing beauty with the right disposition. we experience." In other words."DIVIN E MADNESS" vi ding satisfaction. and enjoyment but the arousal of an expectation. no matter how highly spiritual a gratification it may be. captured this Pla­ tonic notion in an admirably succinct senten c e : "Beauty i s n o t so much a fulfillment as rather a promise . like something that "gratifies" . He who submits properly to the encounter with beauty will be given the sight and taste not of a fulfillment but of a promise-a promise that. can never be fulfilled." Claudel's statement. not grati­ fication. we are oriented toward some­ thing "not-yet-here". the god-given being-beside­ oneself. as well as Goethe's . in our bodily existence. Goethe. This last for mulation in turn closely echoes a quotation found in Paul Claudel's writings : Woman is "the promise that can never come to pass : this very fact constitutes my grace. rather surprisingly. long before our common exile has lapsed. He who in contem­ plation of earthly beauty remembers the one true beauty "again sprouts wings . Lovers and philosophers are connected by special ties. This is not the place to discuss it in detail. for example. if man opens up totally to the object of the encounter. and thus the true lover. in our finite world-which may mean. . insofar as both erotic excitement and genuine philosophical quest trigger a momentum that. a passion is born that. on the contrary. in this finite existence. indeed.". he envisions something very specific. at first sight rather puzzling. can never be satisfied. In an enc ounter with sensual beauty. And this. in the realm of the senses. . The same holds true for the first moment of philosophical wonder (the wonder that arises fro m our contact with "reality").EROS 49 fillment not available here and now except by way of yearning and remembrance. which at first would seem to be the only adequate realm. is transported into communion with the gods. with the tools of "science"-will also . a question arises that. yet at the very least we must notice that Plato here is not thinking at all of something non-committal and poetic. can never be stilled. is said not only of the lover but of the philosopher! This connection. is found also in the Symposium. too. His own conviction. And this . you may be tempted to conclude that all this . is clear: Man has the capacity to experience in erotic emotion . these closing pas- . in retrospect. He simply describes a possibility."DIVINE MADNESS" 50 never receive an answer. This text is so astonishing that Wilamowitz himself is at a loss for words to express his surprise. while admittedly impressive. in the closing passages of Socrates' speech. is at the same time an "ideal" concept that hardly applies to the reality of any living and breathing human being. The philosopher and the true lover-neither will find fulfillment except through a divine favor. accepted and sustained with purity-and possibly in no other context-a unique promise pointing to a fulfillment more deeply satisfying than any fulfillment in the realm of the senses . you consider the core of what has been said. How little danger there is for Plato to stray and lose touch with real life is shown. If. is asserted in Plato's Phaedrus as indisputable fact: only when this happens has the true meaning of "eros" become manifest . Plato does not in fact make a series of apodictic assertions . however. Everything depends on how one defmes human "reality" and a "genuine" human being. Incidentally. in the Phaedrus. It is point­ less to argue with such an impression. EROS 5I sages. self-giving. again to par­ ticipate in the heavenly procession and the great banquet o f the gods. upo n their death. Socrates speaks of love that is not entirely continent. is the Plzaedrus' dis­ cussion of the fourth form of eros. "as if on wings and without oppressing burden". leave this earthly life. he says. The third for m is an eros that renounces pleasure. A close scrutiny of the text shows that Socrates ( Plato) speaks o f four different experiences in which eros is figured or disfigured. we are . Most astonishing. they will be able to rise at once aloft to the divine sphere. however. No trace here of romanti­ cizing and disregarding reality! In second place he discusses the refined sensuality of a rational hedonism. Those possessed by this kind of love. simply represent a contradiction to everything Plato has otherwise taught. b eing love's heroic fullness and its most blessed real­ ity. yet at the same time is not mere craving but true loving yearning. which in essence aims at pleasure alone. and non-calculating rap­ ture. enchantment. The first form he mentions is the brutality of the many who desire nothing but pleasure in the most vulgar sense of the word. Those whose love is of this kind will. at least. with sprouting ones. entirely misses the substance of the discussion. Most clearly. the soul will leave the body not with perfect wings but. the ability to "remember" and . I think." " DIVINE MADNESS told. When they die. This question. The learned literature on Plato asks in amazement where else in the Platonic Dialogues "we can find such leniency toward the weaknesses of the flesh" . thanks to their mania. may at first find it rather strange that the powers attributed to "true love"-namely. their readiness to rise above their own selfishness . it will not get lost in darkness . Because the soul had already set foot on the path of the heavens. Cast i nto perdition. "greedily calculating. The point is not that Plato would have excused here sins stemming from the weakness of the flesh . Modern man. thus breeding in it only vulgar ity" . the notion of "salvation" is i nvolved. Rather. and "salvation" takes place only-but also always­ in circumstances where true love is present. is that for m of "ration­ ality" which. it is stated that such weakness can be compensated. even transfor med-through the wing-giving power of true love. this is meant in an eschato­ logical sense. a Christian especially. will gain no mean victory trophy. assigns earthly and imperfect things to the soul. into darkness. can neither come about as a truly human act nor endure in living expression. based on divine grace-can become a liv ing reality without the passio amoris. without doubt. Still. this great magister of Chr is­ tianity. we find there its clear parallel. leading back t o t h e dwelling o f t h e gods-should reside in such closeness to what is physical. this view does not necessarily imply that elevated and spiritual love is no more than the progression or "sublimati o n" of the erotic passio. This conviction is by no means only of theoreti­ cal importance for a conceptual definitio n of human . even biologi­ cal. sensual. resulting from will. not unlike Plato. passio amoris.EROS 53 t h e wing-g1vmg capacity o f eros. that is. Tho mas would insist rather that an elevated and spir itual love is capable of pur ifYing and co ntrolling this passio amoris. on the c ontrary. True. this Platonic thought is not really for­ eign to Christianity's traditional moral notio ns. And yet. without the soul's being moved by a concrete sensory presence. Thomas Aquinas is e qually convinced that neither "elevated" nor "spir itual" love-neither a conscious choice of the dilectio. is of the opinion (difficult to explain to a "Christian" co nsciousness prone to e mbrace Manichaeism and spiritualism) that when cut off from the vital root of the caritas. nor caritas. Plato's notion of eros. be­ tween Plato's concept of eros and what the Christian sees as the truth turns out to be. and giving." " DIVINE MADNESS 54 nature . the harshness. for instance. On this . which makes each person either a man or a woman. and the stubbornness often found in people who claim to be very "spiritual" could well be the result of an unnatural suppression of the passio amoris. Similarly. Thomas Aquinas and Plato thoroughly agree. Such experiences. Indeed. while the Christian idea of caritas and agape. even on the high­ est level of spiritual life. the intolerance. it finds its clear verification time and again in the experiences of the psychoanalytical profession . reveal that the aggressive suppression of a person's poten­ tial for sensual. in itself already . even in his most sublime spirituality. is always an incar­ nate being. amounts in this end to nothing more than a selfishness that aims to enrich and satisfY the self. it is said. means a love that is generous. it is at the same time the beautiful wellspring of all human activity. Man. does not constitute simply a barrier and a limitation. To construct such a contrast. erotic emotions makes love impossible and also suffocates dilectio and as such caritas. muc h discussed. when closely examined. unselfish. of no consequence. in con­ trast. This bodily reality. One other "discrepancy". Man is by nature a being that thirsts and year ns. Such bliss. too. in Plato's conception. is unable 110 f to desire such bliss. . eter nal bliss. invites ready challenges from both sides of the question. however. To be so "unselfish" as to be ready to re­ nounce the ultimate fulfillment. is nothing other than the final quenching of man's most profound thirst. eros. ascending to the co ntemplation of archetypal beauty. as Thomas Aquinas has for mulated many times. Christia n theology. which ulti­ mately is the quest of all love. as Kant has it. is entirely impossible for us. defines the highest for m of caritas as that state in which God is loved as the source of all bliss. but precisely insofar as he is spirit. moreover. Above all. and not o nly because he "moves in the world of the senses". be trans­ formed into an attitude that leaves far behind all selfish desires and is most appropriately called a for m of "worship". will also. The conclusion of Diotima's disc ourse in the Symposium can hardly be inter­ preted differently. For one.EROS 55 a n almost inadmissible simplification. it is questionable whether man is at all capable of a totally "unselfish" love. Our will. . It cries out for resistance to the attempt and the temptation to establish the autocratic rule of man. sexuality must n ot be hindered in its expressions or idealized romantically. we ourselves take care of any psychological problems that call for relief. It is quite evident that the present time especially cries out for a keener awareness of the Socratic­ Platonic wisdom as discussed in this essay.CONCLUSION IT IS EASY to see that our discussion here c overs questions of striking relevance. nor serves the political and technological control of the world is not welcome. even if this need is only entertainment. a type of man who says : We do not need any super natural answers. one has only to focus on a certain under­ standing of man that already appears on the horizon of our possibilities. and above all. To appreciate this point. who deludes 57 . any "art" that neither satisfies a specific need. " " D IV INE MADNESS himself that he possesses sovereign powers over the world and over himself and thus squanders his real existential patrimony. Such patrimony is achieved and preserved only through a willingly accepted openness: openness for divine revelation. through the attitude rooted in the mysteri­ ous experience that Plato called theia mania. for the recollecting power of the fine arts . . for the emotional shock brought about by eros and caritas­ in short. for the salutary pain of catharsis. The Screwtape Letters (New York. Symposium. Robert Fitzgerald T. Phaedrus. r trans . in The Complete Poems and Plays : 1 9 09-1 95 0 (New York. Wright Virgil. R . Aenead. Eliot. 1 9 5 2) C . thereby at times slightly deviating fro m the German text. The Family Reunion. Lewis. 1 944 ) 59 . S. trans . Lamb (Cambridge. 97 5 ) Plato.Translator's Note I have tried to render direct quotations according to an acknowledged E nglish source. S. Mass . W. trans. E nglish versions used: Plato. J. / London.