Good Morning!

Happy Tuesday, everybody. I guess we have six more weeks of winter, per the animal.

Today, for our main course, we’re going to discuss metaphysics as it relates to substance, change, and identity, through the eyes of Plato. Burning that off, we’re going to analyze what identity really means. Wrapping it up, we’re going to open up Plato’s Phaedo.

Wash your hands. Thought Breakfast is served!

It’s no question that everything about us changes over time. Our bodies, beliefs, relationships, memories, and roles are in a constant state of change. Yet, we still tell ourselves “I am the same person.” Metaphysics comes in to ask: What makes that claim possible?

Plato’s core concern was a basic tension. The world we see constantly changes, but knowledge seems to require stability. If absolutely everything were pure flux, then nothing could be known, named, or identified for sure.

Plato uses this tension to distinguish between the world of change (becoming), and the world of what is (being). What we perceive changes, but what we know must be stable.

He uses the Forms as identity anchors. Forms are not physical objects but intelligible realities (what makes a thing the kind of thing it is). A thing changes, but it participates in a Form that does not. Therefore, Plato accounts, identity survives change.

You are not identical to your past self, at least in material terms. But something persists. A structure, a pattern, an intelligible “you.” Identity, then, may rest less in what happens to you and more on what you participate in.

This leaves something open, however. What is identity to be grounded in? Memory? Body? Character? Something deeper that’s more stable?

Plato doesn’t resolve that part psychologically, he just reframes it metaphysically.

Take five quiet minutes and mentally remove, one by one:

After each removal, ask yourself:

Then ask the harder question:

“The equal itself, the beautiful itself, and each thing that really is—do we say that they are always the same and never in any way admit of change?” — Plato, Phaedo

This is Plato’s way of introducing Forms without jargon. He frames permanence versus flux clearly. The focus, however, stays on identity, and not allegory.

Munch on that for today. I kept it short and sweet so everyone can really digest this simple but powerful message. Come on back tomorrow for another steaming hot plate of Thought Breakfast!

Thank you for reading along with us today! If you enjoy this content, and want to start your days grounded in thought and mindfulness, I suggest you have a seat at our table! Smash that button below to check out more editions and subscribe!

Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.

Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast