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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, +251 ¢ Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 251 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:23
