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Platonism as a Way of Life

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Atheistic Platonism

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Abstract

The Platonic way of life aims at transforming you into a deity. And while ancient Platonists recommended many contemplative practices for self-deification, they also recommended ascetic ways of life. Ancient Platonists pursued the he telestike techne, the craft of self-surpassing. Further, they recommended theurgical procedures for raising your self to the heights of the deities. But the old Platonic dream of self-deification evolved into the dreams of the modern transhumanists, and the ancient craft of self-surpassing evolved into practical transhumanism. Practical transhumanists apply the experimental method to the self. They update the craft of self-surpassing into the hacker methodology. The Platonic way of life is the way of self-hacking.

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  1. Philosophy, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, USA

    Eric Charles Steinhart

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Steinhart, E.C. (2023). Platonism as a Way of Life. In: Atheistic Platonism. Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17752-1_8

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