An optimistic Platonism

Plotinus wrote that, yes, the sensible world is a mere imperfect copy of the intelligible world, but he also wrote against the pessimism of the gnostics, against the idea that the sensible world is a bad thing.

He wrote thus: “what more beautiful image could there be? After the fire of the intelligible world, what better image of it could there be than our fire? What earth, outside of the intelligible earth, could be better than ours?"

In short: yes, we live in a cave looking at shadows, but the cave is not at all a bad place to be.

Those who aren't philosophers (most of the species, on Plotinian premises) can never get outside the cave, but that doesn't make their fate too dire. They get to look at all those fascinating shadows on the wall.

Meanwhile for those few who can sometimes get out of the cave and look at the real world ands even glimpse the sun, those times are of necessity brief. We'll have to return to the cave. We can resign ourselves to that necessity by seeing the image of the beautiful as itself a sort of beauty, although not Beauty.

Plotinus was anticipating Leibniz here. This cave is the best of all possible caves, given that it is of necessity ... a cave. We are lucky spelunkers all possibilities considered.

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