By Dr. Kevin Beardmore
The season we call fall officially begins with the autumnal equinox. This year, it will be on September 22, but by a variety of definitions, it is underway. It may be the passing of Labor Day, the end of August, the start of a new school year, or the return of football on the weekends. By some of these markers, fall is already here, but by taking a somewhat different perspective, there is still time to prepare.
Using “fall” to describe autumn makes sense even to the youngest. It is when leaves fall from the trees that are not evergreen. The term “deciduous” is applied to trees that shed their leaves, and it has its origin in the Latin word “decidere,” which means to cut off or conclude. It is the season of falling temperatures and it is when we harvest many crops, a time of cutting and completion as well.
The one commonality among all these meanings is that fall is a time of change. It can be slow, as a tree loses leaves one by one after a frosty morning, or it can be sudden, as a windstorm whips many away quickly. It can be repeated days of practice for a football team, or one play in the final seconds of the big game. It can be a gradual process of renewal, sometimes unseen below the surface, or it can be, by the very definition, a fall, something that happens quite quickly and unexpectedly.
These connotations can be applied to what we call an education. Returning to school and college provides a multitude of opportunities to address misconceptions and come to new realizations. Football serves as a useful metaphor. Most plays do not end with a score. Either a ball or a player is down or out. Learning how to fall so you can get up and play again—and to fall forward, whenever possible—is essential. We all need to do this as learners.
Falling is an element of Plato’s metaphysics, specifically his Theory of Forms. Plato believes that the world in which we live, a place of constant change, is not what is most real. Only the eternal and timeless forms (also called ideals or essences) are unchanging and true. For example, we learn that a triangle is a three-cornered shape made of three straight sides. We can recognize a triangle and we can draw one ourselves, but the concept of a triangle can only be ideal when we conceive it in its perfect form in the mind’s eye. For Plato, that is where it is truly real.
The Theory of Platonic Forms may be applied to the most important ideas of all, such as Beauty, Truth, and the Good. These are capitalized to denote them as the perfect ideals. Arriving at an understanding of these may be thought of as the epitome of an education. This is not to devalue the development of skills through practice, or the attainment of knowledge that is the basis for evaluating new ideas, but an education should help one develop a sense of what is ideal. Plato compares it to falling in love. In the moment you see the true beauty of your loved one, you gain a glimpse of the original, capital B, timeless Beauty. In his view, this realization will seem like a kind of remembering, because once you see it, it will be like you always knew it. It is in those moments that we discover what is Real.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful autumn. May you fall—and fall well.
Kevin Beardmore may be reached at kbeardmore@senmc.edu or 575.234.9211.
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