Agathological Realism:* Searching for the Good Beyond Subjectivity and Objectivity or On the Importance of Being Platonic

Abstract

Pointing to a radical concept of 'self-givingness' and self-transcendence, Plato’s notion of good offers a valuable means for delineating a realism which eliminates any dichotomy between subjectivity and objectivity, knowledge and morality, ethics and ontology. Plato's suggestions can be discovered in combining the characterization of the Demiurge given in the Timaeus with the analogy between the supreme Good and the sun presented in the Republic, as well as explicating the analogy between the Good and the sun with reference to the image of the intelligible sphere of light. The resulting notion of good could be integrated into the phenomenal dimension of our knowledge and perception, helping to illustrate the reality of the way that knowledge and perception transcend any separation between interiority and exteriority, self and world, individuality and community.