Plotino – Tratado 20,1 (I, 3, 1) — A dialética como método de escalada

1. Quel est l’art, quelle est la méthode, quelle est la pratique qui nous conduisent où il faut aller ? Où faut-il aller ? C’est au Bien et au principe premier. Voilà ce que nous posons comme accordé et démontré de mille manières ; et les démonstrations qu’on en donne sont aussi des moyens de s’élever jusqu’à lui. Que devra être celui qui s’élève ainsi ? Est-ce, comme dit [Platon], celui qui [dans une vie antérieure] a vu tous les êtres ou le plus grand nombre d’entre eux ? À sa première naissance, il entre dans le germe d’un homme qui deviendra un philosophe, un ami du beau, un musicien, ou un amant. Oui, le philosophe, l’ami des muses et l’amant doivent s’élever.

Mais de quelle manière ? Tous doivent-ils procéder de la même manière, ou chacun d’eux, d’une manière différente ? Il y a deux voies pour ceux qui montent et s’élèvent ; la première part d’en bas ; la seconde est la voie de ceux qui sont déjà parvenus dans le monde intelligible et y ont en quelque sorte pris pied ; ils doivent s’y avancer jusqu’à ce qu’ils arrivent à la limite supérieure de ce monde ; ce qui marque la fin du voyage, c’est le moment où ils arrivent au sommet de l’intelligible. Laissons de côté la seconde de ces voies, et essayons de parler de l’ascension jusqu’au monde intelligible2. Distinguons d’abord les divers hommes dont nous venons de parler ; et, commençant par le musicien, disons quelle est sa nature. Il est ému et transporté par la beauté ; incapable de s’émouvoir de lui-même, il se prête à l’influence des premières impressions venues. Comme un homme craintif et sensible au moindre bruit, il est sensible à tous les sens et à leur beauté ; dans les chants, il évite toute discordance et tout désaccord ; dans les rythmes, il recherche la mesure et la convenance. Après les sonorités, les rythmes et les figures perceptibles aux sens, il doit séparer la matière en laquelle se réalisent les accords et les proportions, et arriver à saisir la beauté de ces rapports en eux-mêmes ; il doit apprendre que les choses qui le transportaient de joie sont des êtres intelligibles, à savoir l’harmonie intelligible, la beauté qui est en elle et, d’une manière absolue, la beauté et non pas telle beauté particulière ; et il lui faut employer des arguments philosophiques qui l’amènent à croire à des réalités qu’il avait en lui sans le savoir. Nous verrons plus tard quels sont ces arguments.

Quelle méthode, quel art, quelle étude nous conduira au but qu’il faut atteindre, et qui n’est autre que le Bien, le Premier Principe, Dieu, comme nous l’avons solidement prouvé ailleurs, par une démonstration qui peut servir elle-même à élever l’âme au monde supérieur?

Que doit être celui qu’il s’agit d’élever à ce monde? Il doit tout savoir, ou du moins être le plus savant possible, comme le veut Platon. Il doit, dans la première génération, être descendu ici-bas pour former un philosophe, un musicien, un amant. Car ce sont là les hommes que leur nature rend les plus propres à être élevés au monde intelligible. Mais comment les y élever? Suffit-il d’une seule et même méthode pour tous? N’est-il pas besoin pour chacun d’eux d’une méthode particulière? Oui, sans doute. Il y a deux méthodes à suivre : l’une pour ceux qui s’élèvent d’ici-bas au monde intelligible, l’autre pour ceux qui y sont déjà parvenus. C’est par la première de ces deux méthodes que l’on débute; vient ensuite celle des hommes qui sont déjà parvenus dans le monde intelligible et qui y ont pour ainsi dire pris pied. Il faut que ceux-ci avancent sans cesse jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient arrivés au sommet : car on ne doit s’arrêter que quand on a atteint le terme suprême.

Mais laissons en ce moment la seconde de ces deux marches, pour nous occuper de la première, et essayons de dire comment peut s’opérer le retour de l’âme au monde intelligible.

Trois espèces d’hommes s’offrent à notre examen : le Philosophe, le Musicien, l’Amant. Il nous faut les bien distinguer entre eux, en commençant par déterminer la nature et le caractère du Musicien.

Le Musicien se laisse facilement toucher par le beau et est plein d’admiration pour lui ; mais il n’est pas capable d’arriver par lui seul à l’intuition du beau ; il faut que des impressions extérieures viennent le stimuler. De même que l’être craintif est réveillé par le moindre bruit, le musicien est sensible à la beauté de la voix et des accords ; il évite tout ce qui lui semble contraire aux lois de l’harmonie et de l’unité et recherche le nombre et la mélodie dans les rhythmes et les chants. Il faudra donc qu’après ces intonations, ces rhythmes et ces airs purement sensibles, il en vienne à séparer dans ces choses la forme de la matière et à considérer la beauté qui se trouve dans leurs proportions et leurs rapports ; il faudra lui enseigner que ce qui dans ces choses excite son admiration, c’est l’harmonie intelligible, la beauté qu’elle enferme, en un mot le beau absolu, et non telle ou telle beauté. Il faudra enfin emprunter à la philosophie des arguments qui le conduisent à reconnaître des vérités qu’il ignorait tout en les possédant instinctivement. Quels sont ces arguments, c’est ce que nous dirons plus tard.

1. What method, art or study will lead us to the goal we are to attain, namely, the Good, the first Principle, the Divinity [Eneada V, 1, 1], by a demonstration which itself can serve to raise the soul to the superior world ?

METHODS DIFFER ACCORDING TO INDIVIDUALS; BUT THERE ARE CHIEFLY TWO.

He who is to be promoted to that world should know everything, or at least, as says [Fedro], he should be as learned as possible. In his first generation he should have descended here below to form a philosopher, a musician, a lover. That is the kind of men whose nature makes them most suitable to be raised to the intelligible world. But how are we going to raise them? Does a single method suffice for all? Does not each of them need a special method ? Doubtless. There are two methods to follow: the one for those who rise to the intelligible world from here below, and the other for those who have already reached there. We shall start by the first of these two methods; then comes that of the men who have already achieved access to the intelligible world, and who have, so to speak, already taken root there. Even these must ceaselessly progress till they have reached the summit; for one must stop only when one has reached the supreme term.

RETURN OF THE SOUL OF THE PHILOSOPHER, MUSICIAN AND LOVER.

The latter road of progress must here be left aside [to be taken up later, Eneada V, 1, 1], to discuss here fully the first, explaining the operation of the return of the soul to the intelligible world. Three kinds of men offer themselves to our examination: the philosopher, the musician, and the lover. These three must clearly be distinguished, beginning by determining the nature and character of the musician.

HOW THE MUSICIAN RISES TO THE INTELLIGIBLE WORLD.

The musician allows himself to be easily moved by beauty, and admires it greatly; but he is not able by himself to achieve the intuition of the beautiful. He needs the stimulation of external impressions. Just as some timorous being is awakened by the least noise, the musician is sensitive to the beauty of the voice and of harmonies. He avoids all that seems contrary to the laws of harmony and of unity, and enjoys rhythm and melodies in instrumental and vocal music. After these purely sensual intonations, rhythm and tunes, he will surely in them come to distinguish form from matter, and to contemplate the beauty existing in their proportions and relations. He will have to be taught that what excites his admiration in these things, is their intelligible harmony, the beauty it contains, and, in short, beauty absolute, and not particular. He will have to be introduced to philosophy by arguments that will lead him to recognize truths that he ignored, though he possessed them instinctively. Such arguments will be specified elsewhere [Eneada I, 3, 4 ss.].

1. What art is there, what method, what discipline to bring us there where we must go?

The Term at which we must arrive we may take as agreed: we have established elsewhere, by many considerations, that our journey is to the Good, to the Primal-Principle; and, indeed, the very reasoning which discovered the Term was itself something like an initiation.

But what order of beings will attain the Term?

Surely, as we read, those that have already seen all or most things, those who at their first birth have entered into the life-germ from which is to spring a metaphysician, a musician or a born lover, the metaphysician taking to the path by instinct, the musician and the nature peculiarly susceptible to love needing outside guidance.

But how lies the course? Is it alike for all, or is there a distinct method for each class of temperament?

For all there are two stages of the path, as they are making upwards or have already gained the upper sphere.

The first degree is the conversion from the lower life; the second- held by those that have already made their way to the sphere of the Intelligibles, have set as it were a footprint there but must still advance within the realm- lasts until they reach the extreme hold of the place, the Term attained when the topmost peak of the Intellectual realm is won.

But this highest degree must bide its time: let us first try to speak of the initial process of conversion.

We must begin by distinguishing the three types. Let us take the musician first and indicate his temperamental equipment for the task.

The musician we may think of as being exceedingly quick to beauty, drawn in a very rapture to it: somewhat slow to stir of his own impulse, he answers at once to the outer stimulus: as the timid are sensitive to noise so he to tones and the beauty they convey; all that offends against unison or harmony in melodies and rhythms repels him; he longs for measure and shapely pattern.

This natural tendency must be made the starting-point to such a man; he must be drawn by the tone, rhythm and design in things of sense: he must learn to distinguish the material forms from the Authentic-Existent which is the source of all these correspondences and of the entire reasoned scheme in the work of art: he must be led to the Beauty that manifests itself through these forms; he must be shown that what ravished him was no other than the Harmony of the Intellectual world and the Beauty in that sphere, not some one shape of beauty but the All-Beauty, the Absolute Beauty; and the truths of philosophy must be implanted in him to lead him to faith in that which, unknowing it, he possesses within himself. What these truths are we will show later.

I. What art, or method, or study, will lead us to that end to which we ought to proceed ? That we ought, indeed, to arrive at the good itself, and the first principle of things, is granted, and is demonstrated through many arguments. The arguments also through which this is demonstrated, are a certain elevation to this end. But what kind of a person is it necessary the man should he who is elevated thither ? Is it not, as Plato says, one who has seen all, or most things? And who in his first generation has descended into the seed of a man who will he a philosopher, or a musician, or a lover ? The philosopher, therefore, the musician, and the lover, are naturally adapted to he elevated! What, therefore, is the mode ? Is there one and the same mode for all these ? Or is there a different mode for each ? There is, indeed, a twofold progression to all of them; one to those who are ascending; but the other to those who have arrived at the supernal realms. For the former proceeds from things beneath ; but the latter ranks among those who are now in the intelligible region, and who in that place have as it were fixed their footstep. There, also, it is necessary for them to proceed, till they have arrived at the extremity of the place. The end of the progression, however, is then obtained, when some one arrives at the summit of the intelligible world. But let this at present remain [without any further discussion]. And let us first endeavour to speak concerning this elevation.

In the first place, therefore, let these men be distinguished by us, and let us begin from the musician, and show who he naturally is. We must admit, then, that he is easily excited1 and astonished at the beautiful; yet is not disposed to be moved from himself, but is prepared from casual occurrences as from certain types or impressions, to be excited by sounds, and to the beautiful in these, just as the timid are by noises. He likewise always flies from dissonance; and pursues in songs and rythnis, that which is one, congruous, and elegant. After these sensible sounds, rythms, and figures therefore, he is thus to be elevated, viz., by separating the matter, in which analogies and ratios are inherent, and contemplating the beauty which they contain. He must also be taught that the things about which he was astonished were, intelligible harmony, and the beauty which is in it, and in short, the beautiful itself, and not a certain beauty only. The reasonings, likewise, of philosophy must be inserted in him, through which he will be led to a belief of truths of which he is ignorant, though he [occultly] possesses them. What these reasonings however, are, will be hereafter unfolded.