Mind

The Relevance of Plato’s Battle in Modern Philosophy

Here is a brief synopsis of Dr. Mijuskovic’s latest installment Plato’s Battle Between the Gods and Giants and its Continuing Relevance in the Speculative Philosophy of History published by Brill in the Value Inquiry Book Series.

Ben Mijuskovic’s concept of “Plato’s Battle between the Gods and the Giants” refers to a metaphorical interpretation of Plato’s philosophical ideas, where the “Gods” represent the realm of ideals, reason, and spiritual consciousness, while the “Giants” symbolize the material world, sensory perception, and deterministic forces, highlighting a continuous philosophical struggle throughout history between these opposing perspectives on reality and human knowledge; essentially arguing that this ancient conflict remains relevant in modern philosophical debates between idealism and materialism.

Key points about Mijuskovic’s interpretation:

  • Idealism vs. Materialism: The “Gods” are associated with Plato’s theory of Forms, the perfect and unchanging realm of ideas, while the “Giants” represent the physical world and its limitations, mirroring the ongoing debate about the nature of reality and whether consciousness is fundamentally spiritual or solely based on physical processes.
  • Application to Contemporary Philosophy: Mijuskovic uses this metaphor to analyze various philosophical positions throughout history, aligning thinkers who prioritize reason and spiritual aspects with the “Gods” and those who emphasize empirical evidence and physical determinism with the “Giants”.
  • Relevance to Societal Issues: By examining this battle through a historical lens, Mijuskovic argues that the tension between these two forces can manifest in societal issues like political conflicts. scientific controversies, and even personal struggles with meaning and purpose. 

Palgrave MacMillan Release January 2023

Dr. Ben Lazare Mijuskovic has another installment in The Philosophical Roots of Loneliness and Intimacy to open the New Year.

In this book, Mijuskovic combines Kant’s theory of reflexive self-consciousness with Husserl’s transcendent principle of intentionality to describe the distinctive philosophical, psychological, and sociological roots of loneliness and intimacy. He argues that loneliness is innate, unavoidable, and constituted by the structure of self-consciousness itself.

Check it out on Palgrave Macmillan’s official site for details.

Loneliness Kindle Edition

Dr. Mijuskovic’s second edition of Loneliness is now available on Kindle at an amazing price of only $3.99. This is a must have for students of philosophy of mind, consciousness studies, 20th century literature and psychology.

See the review by Kerrin A. Jacobs , Review of Loneliness on Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review, and Benedetta Romano’s Review of Feeling Lonesome for more information about this work that masterfully weaves a tapestry of philosophical, psychological and literary aspects of the fundamental human condition.

Another Installment by Springer

Fresh translations of key texts, exhaustive coverage from Plato to Kant, and detailed commentary by expert scholars of philosophy add up to make this sourcebook the first and most comprehensive account of the history of the philosophy of mind. Published at a time when the philosophy of mind and philosophical psychology are high-profile domains in current research, the volume will inform our understanding of philosophical questions by shedding light on the origins of core conceptual assumptions often arrived at before the instauration of psychology as a recognized subject in its own right.

The chapters closely follow historical developments in our understanding of the mind, with sections dedicated to ancient, medieval Latin and Arabic, and early modern periods of development. The volume’s structural clarity enables readers to trace the entire progression of philosophical understanding on specific topics related to the mind, such as the nature of perception. Doing so reveals the fascinating contrasts between current and historical approaches. In addition to its all-inclusive source material, the volume provides subtle expert commentary that includes critical introductions to each thematic section as well as detailed engagement with the central texts. A voluminous bibliography includes hundreds of primary and secondary sources. The sheer scale of this new publication sheds light on the progression, and discontinuities, in our study of the philosophy of mind, and represents a major new sourcebook in a field of extreme importance to our understanding of humanity as a whole.