From the Religious to the Mystical: The Complementarity of Methexis and Dialektikē in Platonic Philosophic Education

This paper aims to demonstrate that, in Plato, the education of philosophers is essentially both religious and mystical, necessitating engagement in both methexis — active involvement in the practices of religion, such as participation in rituals, dances, processions, and festivals — and dialektikē — advanced intellectual training replete with mystical undertones. By looking closely into the Republic and the Laws, this study further contends that all the disciplines in the Platonic curriculum (mathematics, astronomy, music, and gymnastics) carry an underlying religious character, serving not merely an intellectual or moral purpose, but also acting as a sort of toner, preparing the soul for a more perfect participation in the Forms. In other words, in Plato's view, without methexis, it would be extremely difficult — if not altogether impossible — for anyone to thrive in dialektikē. Methexis complements dialektikē inasmuch as dialektikē completes methexis. The two, hand in hand, are what every philosopher needs to engage in, before reaching not only theōria (the contemplation of the Forms and the apex of philosophic1 education) but also homoiōsis theōi (the state of godlikeness), which Plato presents as the ultimate telos of the entire educational journey — from paideia to philosophia — and of human existence.