Oldal 253 [253]
AUTHENTIC PRESENCE:
A PHENOMENOLOGY OF INITIATION
——~o » —_—_
KATE LARSON
ABSTRACT
In this text I trace Simone Weil’s reading of Plato “as a mystic” through the eyes
of phenomenology and specifically a phenomenology of initiation. In this, lam
inspired by Pierre Hadot and Aryeh Kosman, although they would both rather
describe my project in terms of “authentic presence.”
In the Phaedo we find Socrates’ famous description of philosophy as
training for death. Pierre Hadot has pointed out that this spiritual exercise
of the philosopher has its foundation in the form of Platonic philosophy,
the dialogue, and in its method, dialectics. In every spiritual exercise we
must let ourselves be changed, as in a genuine dialogue in which, through
the meeting with another, we ourselves become other.
In the Platonic dialogues we can discover a phenomenology of initiation,
a change of point of view, ranging from the dictum “know thyself” to “becoming
like God.” Weil parallels this movement in her concepts of reading, attention,
and decreation. In the text I turn to passages in Plato’s writing as a form
of phenomenology of initiation and locate their influence on Weil’s thinking.
I also want to show their respective and deeper understanding of the mystery
of incarnation: there is no elsewhere; rather, there is a change of vision, of
seeing the world aright.
The French philosopher Simone Weil suggests that Plato is a mystic, and that
through his texts we have, perhaps not all of the wisdom of the ancient world,
but at least the essentials of this wisdom.
My aim is to discuss this thought together with an idea of a phenomenology
of initiation inherent in Plato’s philosophy, both in its form and content.
There are several connections between Weil’s notion of decreation and
Plato’s concept of virtue. Although Weil speaks of love and Plato of reason,
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