Evolving Beyond Plato's Republic

Great philosophers have a conception both of man and a vision of mans possible enhancement. Plato's Republic grounds the city-state in the idea of the Good, an involutionary vision of “forms,” which could then be seen or experienced by philosophers, who would then manage the city-state with that vision. This vision of forms is more or less in harmony with the involutionary vision of the God-Within of the Traditional Religions, especially in their esoteric versions.

Even though this internal vision acknowledges the importance of the city-state, or the city of man, this involutionary vision sees the material world as a lesser thing. In this view, the goal of man is to become an enlightened philosopher knowing the forms, or a saint knowing God. Plato's Republic, or the religious state, are grounded in this involutionary vision, and they seek to set up societies so that this preferred kind of philosopher or saint can most easily arise, and manage the states.

Contrary to the Traditionalists, mankind has in fact learned more about human nature and religion in the centuries since Socrates debated these concepts, which has led to other conceptions of man, and other conceptions of where man is going. The philosophy of the Theoevolutionary Church seeks to evolve beyond Plato's Republic,

The involutionary view of man and God is only half a view of man, this internal vision of God is only a mirror of Godhood, not the other way around. Real Godhood is evolved to in the material and supermaterial world, and this evolution necessarily leads to setting up an evolutionary, outward-going view of the state. It is the material world that is the sacred vehicle to Godhood by way of evolution, and this reevaluation leads to a reevaluation of states and city-states, which have previously been grounded in the internal half-view of truth and God.

The evolution of man can this way be seen as working best in a variety of small, diverse states, where improvements in evolution can be more easily and quickly reflected. These small states, or ethnostates, need to be protected in their independence and evolution by a light federalism, perhaps not unlike the original Constitution of the United States, but each state is considered unique.  And the global world certainly needs to be considered in the ethics of small states and nations.

Human nature is in fact individual-selecting, kin-centered, group-evolving and group-selecting, and to fight against real human nature in political philosophy is unrealistic, to say the least. Small states or ethnostates best reflect human nature as it really is, and they offer the best long-term chance for human order and evolution on the planet.

The Traditional internal, involutionary, vision of God, or the forms, is retained in the Twofold Path of the Theoevolutionary Church.  This was one of the first views of God, but this half-vision of God also needs evolutionary priests and research scientists to help complete the religious and political vision, with the sacred mission of evolving to Godhood in the cosmos.