Recent links of note:
“The sage and his foibles”
James Romm, Aeon
Did Plato indeed write the Seventh Letter, or is the purportedly autobiographical document a fraud, as most scholars consider the majority of the so-called Platonic Letters to be? James Romm explores this question and the surrounding debate in an inquisitive reconsideration for the digital magazine Aeon. Plato’s Seventh Letter gives an account of his teaching of Dionysius II, the ruler of the Greek city-state of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, and the pair’s efforts to enact governmental reform. More significantly, the letter details Plato’s practical concerns with his “reputation, influence, even finance”—worldly concerns that show the Republic author’s humanity in stark contrast to the content and style of Plato’s accepted philosophical work. Controversy around the letter’s authenticity dates back to the fifteenth century, when Leonardo Bruni first translated the Platonic Letters.
“‘The Reopening of the Western Mind’ Review: Old Ideas, New Dawn”
Barton Swaim, The Wall Street Journal
The closing of the Western mind, posits Charles Freeman in his 2003 book of the same name, resulted from early Christianity’s adoption of Plato’s philosophy in the fourth and fifth centuries. Not until Aquinas synthesized Christian values and ideals with the observational teachings of Aristotle did Western thought open up again, as evidenced by the Renaissance and the scientific revolution. In his new book, The Reopening of the Western Mind, Freeman argues that Christian theology cannot be understood without acknowledging its doctrinal authoritarianism, which the author connects to the Neoplatonism of Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.). This argument, that the medieval Church stunted intellectual progress, is “contentious” and “preposterous,” writes Barton Swaim for The Wall Street Journal, the central problem being Freeman’s overstatement of Augustine’s dependence on Platonic authoritarian philosophy as a way to explain the Church’s “woeful history of ecclesiastical coercion.”
“It’s a Constable—but not the one you know—in a new show of forged art”
Dalya Alberge, The Guardian
Galleries and museums typically don’t celebrate forgeries, but some fraudulent art still captivates the viewer and tells a compelling tale, such as the Constable seascape actually by one of the artist’s sons, on view in the Courtauld Institute of Art’s upcoming June exhibition, “Art and Artifice: Fakes from the Collection.” Around twenty-five drawings, six paintings, and a collection of sculpture—all forgeries—will be on display, alongside wall text explaining the stories behind their creation and the uncovering of their deception. The exhibition, entirely sourced from the Courtauld’s own holdings, includes both works donated to teach students about forgeries and ones that were believed to be genuine. Fakes of a female nude sculpture by Rodin, a drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and a painting of the Virgin and Child by Botticelli—proven to be fraudulent for Mary’s strange resemblance to a 1930s movie star—are among the works to be on view.