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The Monad, Self-Image, and Self-Awareness

Maleah Harris Clayton State University Philosophy 2601 Alexander Hall

Harris 2 Maleah Harris Professor Hall Philosophy 2601 29 October 2011 The Monad, Self-Image, & Self-Awareness In this present day and age, young adults ideas of their self-image are directly correlated with how aware they are of their own flaws and fixations. A daily topic that weaves itself into everyday conversation is the concern displayed for others and their capacity or non-capacity for being self-aware. This particular concern for anothers self-awareness is evidenced by gossip, complaints, and praises for other individuals that young people exchange with one another. The subject of such conversations usually entails captivation with someones behavior and demeanor and what lead them to act in such a way. These concerns are a testament to the idea that people cannot help but care about the welfare or misfortune of others, no matter how much that they might want to appear to the contrary. Platos philosophy on the idea of the Good and the Forms comes into play here with regard to the natural, innate tendency human beings have to care about the well-being of others, despite whether or not they were spurred to do so out of consideration or spite. The primary idea behind someones welfare is, at heart, how self-aware they are of themselves, which in turn dictates how someone views themselves. Plotinus interpretation of Platos idea of the Good is a great example that can be used to expound upon the social dynamic of self-awareness. Plotinus refers to the idea of the Good as the One or Monad, the self-caused first principle of all, which is the cause of being for everything else in the universe. It cannot be directly described because it is much too simple, so it can only be grasped by understanding what

Harris 3 it is not. It is called the One because there is no better term to call it. The One is not exactly a principle of goodness or oneness or anything that can be assigned a concretely discernible characteristic (Lloyd). An example that can be used to describe the One would be the white light that passes through a glass prism in order to create a rainbow. The best way to relate how self-awareness is presented when people criticize one anothers actions (in this example) is that the self-awareness is the prism, concern is the white light, and the rainbow is the possibilities of personality or behavior that issue forth based on how much light is allowed to pass through the prism. The more obscured the prism is or the less self-aware a person is, the less colors or developed personality that a person has. The amount of colors present dictates the capacity an individual has to realize their fixations and faults. Everything cooperates in three-part unification, and you cannot have one without the other. The One or Monad is responsible for the existence of the dyad, or Plotinus philosophy of the Intellect and the Soul (Moore). As self-awareness is to the prism, so the prism is to the Intellect. The One shines through the Intellect creating the forms as mentioned in Platos theory. The Platonic Forms, unlike the One, create distinction and are responsible for perceptibility among all things (Lloyd). In regards to the prism allegory, a persons self-awareness dictates their ability to distinguish their own blunders, where they should improve, and where restraint should be administered; a problem can only be fixed once someone is made aware that it exists and that it is indeed a problem. This also feeds and maintains self-awareness: the more problems that an individual realizes that they have, the more self-aware they become, and so it is with the One and the Intellect. The Intellect needs the One to initiate its existence in order for the Intellect to be the model of cause or distinction, and the One needs the intellect in order for anything to be understood or to have structure (Lloyd). Flaws, hindrances, vices, and fixations manifest as

Harris 4 matter or evil. According to Plotinus, matter should be identified with evil and deprivation of all form and understanding. Plotinus theory of matter can be likened to the shadows of things in the world in Platos allegory of the Cave, because all natural things are made of forms in matter (Lloyd). Bad or unwanted habits will sometimes reveal themselves to those other than the victim when self-awareness is not present, and so they shall remain unknown to the victim until they finally become aware of the existence of such habits. Just like matter needs the Intellect in order to be discernible but is still caused by the One, the same goes for unruly personality traits. Matter or evil is created by an act of separation from the One by the Intellect, which defines the Ones boundaries: beyond the boundary is matter or evil (Lloyd). Likewise in the case of selfconsciousness, the extent to which a person understands themselves lies in how self-aware they are. The path to a healthy balance of self-awareness and self-image can be best explained by the application or practical use of Neo-Platonism, whose aim is to become like God or the supreme Good. Basically, it is similar to using a whetting stone to sharpen a sword: to reach an apex of divinity or, in this case, for an individual to try their best to figure out what problems they have so they can attempt to rectify them. The consequence of someone realizing that they have a problem is the inevitable task of gradually working on it and fixing it. As long as the subject has no idea there is something wrong with them, then they will never attempt to try and redeem themselves from the unidentified flaw. This leads back to the prior point, of how concern of others actively identifies flaws and proceeds to reveal them either to peers or to the victim themselves. Self-awareness is the most prominent mental preoccupation and one of the biggest answers to several problems we encounter in society in the present, especially dealing with social issues such as hatred, narcissism, oppression, intolerance, and depression. The progress of

Harris 5 society as a whole towards self-awareness is one of humanitys oldest struggles, but it is also the answer to many of the problems we have today. Blatant ignorance and blind acceptance of failings and compulsions is accountable for every single social issue we encounter at hand.

Harris 6 Maleah Harris A. Hall Philosophy 2601 28 October 2011 The Monad, Self-Image, & Self-Awareness: An Annotated Bibliography

Gerson, Lloyd. Plotinus, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/plotinus/> This source is helpful in outlining Plotinus background. It goes over his life, his work, and summarizes the ideas of his texts. The author of this article intended his audience to be those who are utilizing it for educational or informational reasons and those concerned with Plotinus interpretation of Platonism and core principles of NeoPlatonism. My paper utilizes the summaries of the One, the Intellect, the Soul, and matter and evil. The article avoids being biased by using factual data and is also a peer-reviewed source. Plotinus, by Edward Moore, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, <http://www.iep.utm.edu/>, October 28, 2011 This source is also helpful in outlining Plotinus background, but it more modernized than my previous source. It not only goes over his life and summarizes his text, but compares and contrasts his texts with Aristotle and interweaves his theories beautifully with one another. It also mentions Plotinus influence on mysticism. The author of this article intended his audience to be students or those looking for educational content on Neo-Platonism. My paper utilizes the summaries used to connect the One, the Intellect, and the Soul together. This article remains unbiased by using factual data and being a peer-reviewed source.

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