PLATO'S 5 PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES, NIETZSCHE & NEGATIVE POSTMODERNITY, etc. (UNIT 4)

Last time we reviewed the third part of the Republic, How to become just, right, and immortal — and also Relationship and the Recognition Meditation. Today’s topics are (1) the conclusion of the third part of the Republic: the 5 philosophical studies (which activate our Reason and enable us to see the Truth, the Good), and (2) Nietzsche and Negative Postmodernity, and a summary of the History of Philosophy.
Plato introduces us to the 5 philosophical studies by saying on page 232: “Hence there may well be an ART whose aim would be the conversion of the soul, such that the soul’s eye – REASON – instead of looking in the wrong direction [at changing sense-individuals] is turned the way it ought to be [towards its proper object: the unchanging eternal Universals, Forms, and the Good!]. Plato also underscores on page 233, the problem affecting all people that live in the Cave: “the ignorant have no single mark before their eyes at which they must aim in all the things they do in their daily lives.” — the “single mark” being the Good!
Plato identifies 5 studies that will awaken the power of Reason and Thought and draw the soul towards UNITY, Truth, and Reality, and away from the world of multiplicity, change, and the senses.