Musings on Plato

Something that I have been thinking a lot about is how to reach this level of purity at the top of the world of forms. I don’t know how much of the process that I subscribe to. As a Christian I know that the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ and having faith. I think that there are different paths for everyone in their walk with god. I do not see Plato’s argument that good is reached by thinking the correct ideal; the only ideal. Unlike Plato, I do not believe that there is a group ideal. There may be individual ideal. Each person is entitled to their own wants and desires and it varies based on the different personalities. The factors that attribute to the need for separate forms of perfection can be based on the separate cultural views, gender views, political views or any number of things. For example the ideal love for me would not be the same as my sister’s opinion. And my parents’ ideal child would not be the same as the ideal child from another country like China. My ideal education is the one I am receiving now but someone else might want a larger classroom or a more interdisciplinary education. Black Mountain College was formed because the professors wanted to provide a school for art students that didn’t fit into the mold of a rigid four year degree. For something to be so perfect that everyone is content would be somewhat impossible. There is the argument that God is the ideal but there are so many religions out there who do not subscribe to the same beliefs that I do that I don’t think He could be considered a GROUP ideal. One of our taxi drivers in Rome helped me realize this. He was of a Muslim faith and he correctly guessed that we were Christian. Then he said “But there is one God that fits for everyone.” We may not have the same god that our driver had, but that really doesn’t matter. His ideal god is Allah while mine is the Baptist version of God. Just because my God is different than his does not mean that we are not going in the same direction towards the Realm of the Good. I don’t see how people could be so varied through beliefs, race, gender, etc. though there exists only ONE entrance into the heavenly realm.