Reassessing Ancient Philosophy: Authority and Argument in Socratic Thought

In this episode, John Vervaeke and Harvard professor Charles Stang explore the concept of the 'daimon’', stemming from Stang's book Our Divine Double. John and Charles discuss semi-autonomous entities in psychological and philosophical contexts, linking ancient wisdom and modern cognitive science. Key topics include Socratic 'daimonion', Platonic thought, phenomenology of visionary encounters, and cultural ontology. They emphasize the embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended nature of cognition, highlighting the relevance of understanding these phenomena amid emerging technologies like AGI and virtual realities. The episode calls for Socratic self-awareness to navigate these transformative potentials and risks.

Charles Stang is a Professor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions. His research focuses on ancient Mediterranean religions, Neoplatonism, and contemporary philosophy and spirituality. His research and teaching focus on the history of Christianity in the context of the ancient Mediterranean world, especially Eastern varieties of Christianity. More specifically, his interests include: the development of asceticism, monasticism, and mysticism in Christianity; ancient philosophy, especially Neoplatonism; the Syriac Christian tradition, especially the spread of the East Syrian tradition along the Silk Road; other philosophical and religious movements of the ancient Mediterranean, including Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and Manichaeism; and modern continental philosophy and theology, especially as they intersect with the study of religion.

Notes: 

• (0:00) Introduction: Welcome to the Lectern

• (2:30) Charles Stang, Background, Framework

• (4:45) John’s Experience and Dialogue with Hermes (IFS) 

• (7:45) IFS (Internal Family Systems) - a psychotherapy model that focuses on dialoguing with various parts of the self

• (10:00) Platonic Tradition and Daimonology

• (15:00) Socrates and the Concept of Daimonion in Plato's Apology

• (20:40) Real-Life Accounts of Felt Presence

• (28:00) Socrates' Complex Relationship with the Imaginal

• (33:00) Socrates' Authority vs. Rational Argument

• (41:30) Corbin's Notion of the Imaginal

• (46:30) Daimonology and Angelology - Encounters with the Higher Self

• (49:00) The Role of Hermes in Personal Encounters

• (54:30) Lucid Dreaming and Cognitive Science

• (1:03:30) The Interplay of Subjective and Objective Realities

• (01:12:00) Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions

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Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

• Plato, Apology

• Plato, Republic

• Charles Stang, Our Divine Double

• John Geiger, The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible

• Henry Corbin, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism

• Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi'

• Gregory Shaw, Theurgy and the Soul: The Neoplationism of Iamblichus

• Socrates

• Socratic philosophy

• Daimonion (Divine sign)

• David Gordon White, Daemons Are Forever: Contacts and Exchanges in the Eurasian Pandemonium

• Porphyry, Life of Plotinus

• Daimonology

• Paul VanderKlay

• Christopher Mastropietro

• Carl Jung

• Theurgy

• Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Quotes:

"Socrates’ daimonion was unique in that it only ever told him ‘no,’ which highlights its role as a dissuading force rather than a guiding one." — Charles Stang (13:30)

“One of the things that seems to be a requirement for rationality is a metacognitive ability, ability to step back and reflect, and know, become aware of your cognition so that you can redirect it. In fact, that seems to be an essential feature. If you don't have that, if your attention and intelligence couldn't ever do this reflective thing, then it's hard to know how you could ever be rational in the, in the way we seem to indicate like noticing bias or noticing fallacy or noticing misdirection.” — John Vervaeke (39:40)