Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion . The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common ideas it maintains is monism , the doctrine that all of reality can be derived from a single principle, "the One".
137-534: Neoplatonism began with Ammonius Saccas and his student Plotinus ( c. 204/5–271 AD) and stretched to the sixth century. After Plotinus there were three distinct periods in the history of neoplatonism: the work of his student Porphyry (third to early fourth century); that of Iamblichus (third to fourth century); and the period in the fifth and sixth centuries, when the academies in Alexandria and Athens flourished. Neoplatonism had an enduring influence on
274-708: A Christian. One way to explain much of the confusion concerning Ammonius is to assume that there were two people called Ammonius: Ammonius Saccas who taught Plotinus, and an Ammonius the Christian who wrote biblical texts. Another explanation might be that there was only one Ammonius but that Origen, who found the Neo-Platonist views of his teacher essential to his own beliefs about the essential nature of Christianity, chose to suppress Ammonius' choice of Paganism over Christianity. The insistence of Eusebius, Origen's pupil, and Jerome, all of whom were recognized Fathers of
411-480: A Hellenized Jew, translated Judaism into terms of Stoic , Platonic, and Neopythagorean elements, and held that God is "supra rational" and can be reached only through "ecstasy". Philo also held that the oracles of God supply the material of moral and religious knowledge. The earliest Christian philosophers , such as Justin Martyr and Athenagoras of Athens , who attempted to connect Christianity with Platonism, and
548-490: A confused and vicious sect." Iamblichus ( c. 245 – c. 325 ) influenced the direction taken by later neoplatonic philosophy. He is perhaps best known for the compendium The Life of Pythagoras , his commentary on Pythagorean philosophy, and his De Mysteriis . In Iamblichus' system, the realm of divinities stretched from the original One down to material nature itself, where soul, in fact, descended into matter and became "embodied" as human beings. The world
685-566: A court politician at Constantinople in the 1030s and 1040s. Gemistos Plethon ( c. 1355 – 1452; Greek: Πλήθων Γεμιστός) remained the preeminent scholar of neoplatonic philosophy in the late Byzantine Empire. He introduced his understanding and insight into the works of neoplatonism during the failed attempt to reconcile the East–West Schism at the Council of Florence . At Florence, Plethon met Cosimo de' Medici and influenced
822-524: A doctor of Scythopolis ; and Serapion from Alexandria. He had students amongst the Roman Senate beside Castricius, such as Marcellus Orontius , Sabinillus , and Rogantianus . Women were also numbered amongst his students, including Gemina, in whose house he lived during his residence in Rome, and her daughter, also Gemina; and Amphiclea, the wife of Ariston, the son of Iamblichus . Finally, Plotinus
959-619: A flowing, ροη, out, απο), similar to the metaphysics of Creation, describes the absolute transcendence of the One or of the Divine, as the source of the Being of all things, but which remains transcendent of them in its own nature. The One is in no way affected or diminished by these emanations, just as the Christian God in no way is augmented or diminished by the act of Creation. Plotinus, using
1096-465: A form of secular education. The university maintained an active philosophical tradition of Platonism and Aristotelianism , with the former being the longest unbroken Platonic school, running for close to two millennia until the fifteenth century Michael Psellos (1018–1078), a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian, wrote many philosophical treatises, such as De omnifaria doctrina . He wrote most of his philosophy during his time as
1233-401: A life of piety into heathen customs. ... Ammonius held the divine philosophy unshaken and unadulterated to the end of his life. His works yet extant show this, as he is celebrated among many for the writings which he has left. However, we are told by Longinus that Ammonius wrote nothing, and if Ammonius was the principal influence on Plotinus, then it is unlikely that Ammonius would have been
1370-497: A number of students. His innermost circle included Porphyry , Amelius Gentilianus of Tuscany , the Senator Castricius Firmus , and Eustochius of Alexandria , a doctor who devoted himself to learning from Plotinus and attending to him until his death. Other students included: Zethos , an Arab by ancestry who died before Plotinus, leaving him a legacy and some land; Zoticus , a critic and poet; Paulinus ,
1507-470: A perfect universe, and invites moral depravity. He does, however, claim the stars and planets are ensouled , as witnessed by their movement . Plotinian concepts have been discussed in a cinematic context and relate Plotinus' theory of time as a transitory intelligible movement of the soul to Bergson’s and Deleuze’s time-image. The emperor Julian the Apostate was deeply influenced by neoplatonism, as
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#17327647851841644-403: A pure form of idealism. The demiurge (the nous ) is the energy, or ergon (does the work), which manifests or organises the material world into perceivability . The image and product of the motionless nous is the world-soul , which, according to Plotinus, is immaterial like the nous . Its relation to the nous is the same as that of the nous to the One. It stands between the nous and
1781-536: A requisite principle of totality which is also the source of ultimate wisdom. After the Platonic Academy was destroyed in the first century BC, philosophers continued to teach Platonism , but it was not until the early 5th century (c. 410) that a revived academy (which had no connection with the original Academy) was established in Athens by some leading neoplatonists. It persisted until 529 AD when it
1918-456: A sect of Gnostics that held anti-polytheistic and anti-daemon views, and that preached salvation was possible without struggle. At one point, Plotinus makes clear that his major grudge is the way Gnostics 'misused' Plato's teachings, and not their own teachings themselves: There are no hard feelings if they tell us in which respects they intend to disagree with Plato [...] Rather, whatever strikes them as their own distinct views in comparison with
2055-544: A snake crept under the bed where Plotinus lay, and slipped away through a hole in the wall; at the same moment the philosopher died. Plotinus wrote the essays that became the Enneads (from Greek ἐννέα ( ennéa ), or group of nine) over a period of several years from c. 253 until a few months before his death seventeen years later. Porphyry makes note that the Enneads , before being compiled and arranged by himself, were merely
2192-405: A soul may be reincarnated into another human or even a different sort of animal. However, Porphyry maintained, instead, that human souls were only reincarnated into other humans. A soul which has returned to the One achieves union with the cosmic universal soul and does not descend again; at least, not in this world period. Certain central tenets of neoplatonism served as a philosophical interim for
2329-507: A strong influence on the perennial philosophy of the Italian Renaissance thinkers Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , and continues through 19th-century Universalism and modern-day spirituality . Neoplatonism is a modern term. The term neoplatonism has a double function as a historical category. On the one hand, it differentiates the philosophical doctrines of Plotinus and his successors from those of
2466-509: A teacher and founder of the neoplatonic system. Porphyry stated in On the One School of Plato and Aristotle , that Ammonius' view was that the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle were in harmony. Eusebius and Jerome claimed him as a Christian until his death, whereas Porphyry claimed he had renounced Christianity and embraced pagan philosophy. Plotinus ( c. 205 – c. 270 )
2603-525: A tradition of thought begun by Plato himself. Plotinus's metaphysics, at least in broad outline, was therefore already familiar to the first generation of Plato's students. This confirms Plotinus' own view, for he considered himself not the inventor of a system but the faithful interpreter of Plato's doctrines. At least two modern conferences within Hellenic philosophy fields of study have been held in order to address what Plotinus stated in his tract Against
2740-486: A venerable analogy that would become crucial for the (largely neoplatonic) metaphysics of developed Christian thought, likens the One to the Sun which emanates light indiscriminately without thereby diminishing itself, or reflection in a mirror which in no way diminishes or otherwise alters the object being reflected. The first emanation is Nous (Divine Mind, Logos , Order, Thought, Reason), identified metaphorically with
2877-446: Is a perfect image of the One and the archetype of all existing things. It is simultaneously both being and thought, idea and ideal world. As image, the nous corresponds perfectly to the One, but as derivative, it is entirely different. What Plotinus understands by the nous is the highest sphere accessible to the human mind , while also being pure intellect itself. Nous is the most critical component of idealism , Neoplatonism being
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#17327647851843014-615: Is an imperfect copy of the Nous and the Platonic realm of the Forms. The process of Emanation is beyond temporality as time does not exist in the One, the Nous, or the Soul, but only in the sensible world. Despite their distinctions, these four realities are all part of the same unified reality unfolding within the One. The original Being initially emanates, or throws out, the nous (νοῦς), which
3151-520: Is both the creative source of the Universe and the teleological end of all existing things. Although, properly speaking, there is no name appropriate for the first principle, the most adequate names are "the One" or "the Good". The One is so simple that it cannot even be said to exist or to be a being. Rather, the creative principle of all things is beyond being, a notion which is derived from Book VI of
3288-454: Is both the knower, the known, and the act of knowing, embodying a complete unity. The Platonic realm of the Forms is contained within the Nous and acts as the archetype of the sensible world. From the Nous emanates a lesser reality known as the Soul, which receives information from the Nous and actualizes it. This act of "actualization" is the same as the creation of the sensible world, the realm of multiplicity, time, and space. This sensible realm
3425-626: Is called soul ( World Soul ). Henosis for Plotinus was defined in his works as a reversing of the ontological process of consciousness via meditation (in the Western mind to un contemplate ) toward no thought ( Nous or demiurge ) and no division ( dyad ) within the individual (being). Plotinus words his teachings to reconcile not only Plato with Aristotle but also various World religions that he had personal contact with during his various travels. Plotinus' works have an ascetic character in that they reject matter as an illusion (non-existent). Matter
3562-512: Is no dualist in the sense of certain sects, such as the Gnostics; in contrast, he admires the beauty and splendour of the world. So long as idea governs matter, or the soul governs the body, the world is fair and good. It is an image – though a shadowy image – of the upper world, and the degrees of better and worse in it are essential to the harmony of the whole. But, in the actual phenomenal world, unity and harmony are replaced by strife or discord;
3699-406: Is one of Plotinus’ greatest imprints on Western thought, as he is one of the first to introduce the idea that eudaimonia (happiness) is attainable only within consciousness. The true human is an incorporeal contemplative capacity of the soul, and superior to all things corporeal. It then follows that real human happiness is independent of the physical world. Real happiness is, instead, dependent on
3836-420: Is possible any longer to distinguish between seer and seen, and not boldly to affirm that the two are one." Although Plotinus never mentions Christianity in any of his works, he seems to offer an alternative to the orthodox Christian notion of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing), though this is disputed. The metaphysics of emanation (ἀπορροή aporrhoe (ΙΙ.3.2) or ἀπόρροια aporrhoia (II.3.11)) (literally
3973-506: Is set always and only inward.” (Enneads I.4.11) Overall, happiness for Plotinus is "... a flight from this world's ways and things." (Theaet. 176) and a focus on the highest, i.e. Forms and the One. Plotinus regarded happiness as living in an interior way (interiority or self-sufficiency), and this being the obverse of attachment to the objects of embodied desires. Henosis is the word for mystical "oneness", "union", or "unity" in classical Greek. In Platonism , and especially neoplatonism ,
4110-479: Is the utilization of the most authentically human capacity of contemplation. Even in daily, physical action, the flourishing human’s “… Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul.” (Enneads III.4.6) Even in the most dramatic arguments Plotinus considers (if the Proficient is subject to extreme physical torture, for example), he concludes this only strengthens his claim of true happiness being metaphysical, as
4247-520: Is thought not to be the work of a ' pseudo-Aristotle ' though this remains debatable. Hypatia ( c. 360 – 415) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who served as head of the Platonist school in Alexandria, Egypt, where she taught philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. She was murdered in a Church by a fanatical mob of Coptic Parabalani monks because she had been advising
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4384-481: Is thus peopled by a crowd of superhuman beings influencing natural events and possessing and communicating knowledge of the future, and who are all accessible to prayers and offerings. Iamblichus had salvation as his final goal (see henosis ). The embodied soul was to return to divinity by performing certain rites, or theurgy , literally, 'divine-working'. After Plotinus' (around 205–270) and his student Porphyry (around 232–309) Aristotle's (non-biological) works entered
4521-438: Is widely considered the father of Neoplatonism. Much of our biographical information about him comes from Porphyry's preface to his edition of Plotinus' Enneads . While he was himself influenced by the teachings of classical Greek , Persian , and Indian philosophy and Egyptian theology , his metaphysical writings later inspired numerous Pagan , Jewish , Christian , Gnostic , and Islamic metaphysicians and mystics over
4658-558: The Republic , when, in the course of his famous analogy of the Sun , Plato says that the Good is beyond being (ἐπέκεινα τῆς οὐσίας) in power and dignity. In Plotinus' model of reality, the One is the cause of the rest of reality, which takes the form of two subsequent " hypostases " or substances: Nous and Soul ( psyché ). Although neoplatonists after Plotinus adhered to his cosmological scheme in its most general outline, later developments in
4795-568: The Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo on his journey from dualistic Manichaeism to Christianity. As a Manichaen, Augustine had held that evil has substantial being and that God is made of matter; when he became a neoplatonist, he changed his views on these things. As a neoplatonist, and later a Christian, Augustine believed that evil is a privation of good and that God is not material. When writing his treatise 'On True Religion' several years after his 387 baptism, Augustine's Christianity
4932-638: The Demiurge in Plato's Timaeus . It is the first Will toward Good. From Nous proceeds the World Soul , which Plotinus subdivides into upper and lower, identifying the lower aspect of Soul with nature . From the world soul proceeds individual human souls, and finally, matter, at the lowest level of being and thus the least perfected level of the cosmos. Plotinus asserted the ultimately divine nature of material creation since it ultimately derives from
5069-709: The Eastern Christian Church as an independent tradition and was reintroduced to the West by Pletho ( c. 1355 – 1452/1454), an avowed pagan and opponent of the Byzantine Church, inasmuch as the latter, under Western scholastic influence, relied heavily upon Aristotelian methodology. Pletho's Platonic revival, following the Council of Florence (1438–1439), largely accounts for the renewed interest in Platonic philosophy which accompanied
5206-487: The Enneads of Plotinus the Monad can be referred to as the Good above the demiurge. The Monad or dunamis (force) is of one singular expression (the will or the one which is the good); all is contained in the Monad and the Monad is all ( pantheism ). All division is reconciled in the one; the final stage before reaching singularity, called duality (dyad), is completely reconciled in the Monad, Source or One (see monism ). As
5343-470: The Enneads , but to clarify aspects of the works of Plato that he considered misrepresented or misunderstood. Plotinus does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition. Plotinus referred to tradition as a way to interpret Plato's intentions. Because the teachings of Plato were for members of the academy rather than the general public, it was easy for outsiders to misunderstand Plato's meaning. However, Plotinus attempted to clarify how
5480-525: The Middle Platonist philosophers Alexander of Aphrodisias and Numenius of Apamea , along with various Stoics and Neopythagoreans . After having spent eleven years in Alexandria, he then decided, at the age of around thirty-eight, to investigate the philosophical teachings of the Persian and Indian philosophers . In the pursuit of this endeavor he left Alexandria and joined the army of
5617-729: The Mutazilite Abbasids fused Greek concepts into sponsored state texts, and found great influence amongst the Ismaili Shia and Persian philosophers as well, such as Muhammad al-Nasafi and Abu Yaqub Sijistani . By the 11th century, neoplatonism was adopted by the Fatimid state of Egypt, and taught by their da'i . Neoplatonism was brought to the Fatimid court by Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani , although his teachings differed from Nasafi and Sijistani, who were more aligned with
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5754-625: The Renaissance . "Of all the students of Greek in Renaissance Italy, the best-known are the neoplatonists who studied in and around Florence" (Hole). Neoplatonism was not just a revival of Plato's ideas, it is all based on Plotinus' created synthesis, which incorporated the works and teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and other Greek philosophers. The Renaissance in Italy was the revival of classic antiquity, and this started at
5891-514: The curriculum of Platonic thought. Porphyry's introduction ( Isagoge ) to Aristotle's Categoria was important as an introduction to logic , and the study of Aristotle became an introduction to the study of Plato in the late Platonism of Athens and Alexandria . The commentaries of this group seek to harmonise Plato, Aristotle, and, often, the Stoics . Some works of neoplatonism were attributed to Plato or Aristotle. De Mundo , for instance,
6028-455: The soul was immaterial. Little is known about Ammonius's role in the development of Neoplatonism . Porphyry seems to suggest that Ammonius was instrumental in helping Plotinus think about philosophy in new ways: But he [Plotinus] did not just speak straight out of these books but took a distinctive personal line in his consideration, and brought the mind of Ammonius' to bear on the investigation in hand. Two of Ammonius's students – Origen
6165-429: The "Sun", and lastly the Soul (Ψυχή, Psyche ) to the "Moon" whose light is merely a "derivative conglomeration of light from the 'Sun'". The first light could exist without any celestial body. The One, being beyond all attributes including being and non-being, is the source of the world—but not through any act of creation, since activity cannot be ascribed to the unchangeable, immutable One. Plotinus argues instead that
6302-669: The Christian Gnostics of Alexandria , especially Valentinus and the followers of Basilides , also mirrored elements of Neoplatonism, Ammonius Saccas (died c. 240–245 AD ) was a teacher of Plotinus. Through Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus may have been influenced by Indian thought. The similarities between Neoplatonism and Indian philosophy , particularly Samkhya , have led several authors to suggest an Indian influence in its founding, particularly on Ammonius Saccas. Both Christians (see Eusebius , Jerome , and Origen ) and Pagans (see Porphyry and Plotinus) claimed him
6439-606: The Christian Church , that Ammonius Saccas had not rejected his Christian roots would be easier for Christians to accept than the assertion of Porphyry, who was a Pagan, that Ammonius had chosen Paganism over Christianity. To add to the confusion, it seems that Ammonius had two pupils called Origen: Origen the Christian , and Origen the Pagan . It is quite possible that Ammonius Saccas taught both Origens. And since there were two Origens who were accepted as contemporaries it
6576-576: The Christian, the Other World was the Kingdom of Heaven, to be enjoyed after death; to the Platonist, it was the eternal world of ideas, the real world as opposed to that of illusory appearance. Christian theologians combined these points of view, and embodied much of the philosophy of Plotinus. [...] Plotinus, accordingly, is historically important as an influence in moulding the Christianity of
6713-523: The Enneads , p. vii Authentic human happiness for Plotinus consists of the true human identifying with that which is the best in the universe. Because happiness is beyond anything physical, Plotinus stresses the point that worldly fortune does not control true human happiness, and thus “… there exists no single human being that does not either potentially or effectively possess this thing we hold to constitute happiness.” (Enneads I.4.4) The issue of happiness
6850-544: The German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher as an early thinker who took Plato's philosophy to be separate from that of his neoplatonic interpreters. However, others have argued that the differentiation of Plato from neoplatonism was the result of a protracted historical development that preceded Schleiermacher's scholarly work on Plato. Neoplatonism started with Plotinus in the 3rd century AD. Three distinct phases in classical neoplatonism after Plotinus can be distinguished:
6987-586: The Gnostics and to whom he was addressing it, in order to separate and clarify the events and persons involved in the origin of the term "Gnostic". From the dialogue, it appears that the word had an origin in the Platonic and Hellenistic tradition long before the group calling themselves "Gnostics"—or the group covered under the modern term "Gnosticism"—ever appeared. It would seem that this shift from Platonic to Gnostic usage has led many people to confusion. The strategy of sectarians taking Greek terms from philosophical contexts and re-applying them to religious contexts
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#17327647851847124-427: The Gnostics despising the material world and its maker. For decades, Armstrong's was the only translation available of Plotinus. For this reason, his claims were authoritative. However, a modern translation by Lloyd P. Gerson doesn't necessarily support all of Armstrong's views. Unlike Armstrong, Gerson didn't find Plotinus to be so vitriolic against the Gnostics. According to Gerson: As Plotinus himself tells us, at
7261-455: The Greeks’, these views – as well as the views that contradict them – should be forthrightly set out on their own in a considerate and philosophical manner. The neoplatonic movement (though Plotinus would have simply referred to himself as a philosopher of Plato) seems to be motivated by the desire of Plotinus to revive the pagan philosophical tradition. Plotinus was not claiming to innovate with
7398-780: The Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta ( advaita meaning "not two" or "non-dual"). M. Vasudevacharya says, "Though Plotinus never managed to reach India, his method shows an affinity to the 'method of negation' as taught in some of the Upanishads, such as the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, and also to the practice of yoga." Advaita Vedanta and neoplatonism have been compared by J. F. Staal , Frederick Copleston , Aldo Magris and Mario Piantelli, Radhakrishnan, Gwen Griffith-Dickson, and John Y. Fenton. The joint influence of Advaitin and neoplatonic ideas on Ralph Waldo Emerson
7535-516: The Logos interior to God from the Logos related to the world by creation and salvation. For Augustine, the Logos " took on flesh " in Christ, in whom the Logos was present as in no other man. He strongly influenced early medieval Christian philosophy . Some early Christians, influenced by neoplatonism, identified the neoplatonic One, or God, with Yahweh . The most influential of these would be Origen ,
7672-706: The Middle Ages and of theology. The Eastern Orthodox position on energy, for example, is often contrasted with the position of the Roman Catholic Church , and in part this is attributed to varying interpretations of Aristotle and Plotinus, either through Thomas Aquinas for the Roman Catholics or Gregory Palamas for the Orthodox Christians. Neoplatonism and the ideas of Plotinus influenced medieval Islam as well, since
7809-401: The Middle Ages most Plotinus' insights will be presented as authored by Proclus. The Enneads of Plotinus are the primary and classical document of neoplatonism. As a form of mysticism , it contains theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical parts deal with the high origin of the human soul , showing how it has departed from its first estate. The practical parts show the way by which
7946-512: The One (τὸ Ἕν, to hen ; V.6.6). Rather, if we insist on describing it further, we must call the One a sheer potentiality ( dynamis ) without which nothing could exist. (III.8.10) As Plotinus explains in both places and elsewhere (e.g. V.6.3), it is impossible for the One to be Being or a self-aware Creator God. At (V.6.4), Plotinus compared the One to "light", the Divine Intellect/ Nous (Νοῦς, Nous ; first will towards Good) to
8083-530: The One , the Intellect , and the Soul . His works have inspired centuries of pagan , Jewish , Christian , Gnostic , and early Islamic metaphysicians and mystics , including developing precepts that influence mainstream theological concepts within religions, such as his work on duality of the One in two metaphysical states. Porphyry reported that Plotinus was sixty-six years old when he died in 270 CE ,
8220-451: The One after death. After bodily death, the soul takes up a level in the afterlife corresponding with the level at which it lived during its earthly life. The neoplatonists believed in the principle of reincarnation . Although the most pure and holy souls would dwell in the highest regions, the impure soul would undergo a purification, before descending again, to be reincarnated into a new body, perhaps into animal form. Plotinus believed that
8357-418: The One, from which they emanated. The neoplatonists believed in the pre-existence, and immortality of the soul. The human soul consists of a lower irrational soul and a higher rational soul ( mind ), both of which can be regarded as different powers of the one soul. It was widely held that the soul possesses a "vehicle" ( okhêma ), accounting for the human soul's immortality and allowing for its return to
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#17327647851848494-463: The One, through the mediums of Nous and the world soul. It is by the Good or through beauty that we recognize the One, in material things and then in the Forms . (I.6.6 and I.6.9) The essentially devotional nature of Plotinus' philosophy may be further illustrated by his concept of attaining ecstatic union with the One ( henosis ). Porphyry relates that Plotinus attained such a union four times during
8631-564: The Pagan , and Longinus – seem to have held philosophical positions which were closer to Middle Platonism than Neoplatonism, which perhaps suggests that Ammonius's doctrines were also closer to those of Middle Platonism than the Neoplatonism developed by Plotinus (see the Enneads ), but Plotinus does not seem to have thought that he was departing in any significant way from that of his master. Like Porphyry ( The Life of Plotinus , 3, 24–29), also Nemesius refers of Ammonius Saccas as
8768-543: The Renaissance" (Hole). In 1462, Cosimo I de' Medici, patron of arts, who had an interest in humanism and Platonism, provided Ficino with all 36 of Plato's dialogues in Greek for him to translate. Between 1462 and 1469, Ficino translated these works into Latin, making them widely accessible, as only a minority of people could read Greek. And, between 1484 and 1492, he translated the works of Plotinus, making them available for
8905-586: The Roman emperor Gordian III as it marched on Persia (242–243). However, the campaign was a failure, and on Gordian's eventual death Plotinus found himself abandoned in a hostile land, and only with difficulty found his way back to safety in Antioch . At the age of forty, during the reign of Emperor Philip the Arab , he came to Rome , where he stayed for most of the remainder of his life. There he attracted
9042-602: The Universe, having an "other" necessity, as a harmonizing factor. Later neoplatonic philosophers, especially Iamblichus, added hundreds of intermediate beings such as gods , angels , demons , and other beings as mediators between the One and humanity. The neoplatonist gods are omni-perfect beings and do not display the usual amoral behaviour associated with their representations in the myths. Neoplatonists did not believe in an independent existence of evil . They compared it to darkness, which does not exist in itself but only as
9179-418: The ability of someone to be happy (presupposing happiness is contemplation) if they are mentally incapacitated or even asleep. Plotinus disregards this claim, as the soul and true human do not sleep or even exist in time, nor will a living human who has achieved eudaimonia suddenly stop using its greatest, most authentic capacity just because of the body’s discomfort in the physical realm. “… The Proficient’s will
9316-441: The absence of light. So, too, evil is simply the absence of good. Things are good insofar as they exist; they are evil only insofar as they are imperfect, lacking some good which they should have. Neoplatonists believed human perfection and happiness were attainable in this world, without awaiting an afterlife . Perfection and happiness—seen as synonymous—could be achieved through philosophical contemplation . All people return to
9453-540: The availability of the Greek copies, in part, because Muslims conquered some of the more important centres of the Byzantine Christian civilization in Egypt and Syria. Various Persian and Arabic scholars, including Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Arabi , al-Kindi , al-Farabi , and al-Himsi , adapted neoplatonism to conform to the monotheistic constraints of Islam. The translations of the works which extrapolate
9590-404: The centuries. Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent "One", containing no division, multiplicity, nor distinction; likewise, it is beyond all categories of being and non-being. The concept of "being" is derived by us from the objects of human experience and is an attribute of such objects, but the infinite, transcendent One is beyond all such objects and, therefore, is beyond
9727-524: The cognomen with the " Śākyas ", an ancient ruling clan of India, claiming that Ammonius Saccas was of Indian origin. This view has both been subsequently contested and supported by more recent scholarship. Some scholars supporting Ammonius' Indian origin have also contended that this ancestry is consistent with the passion of his foremost student Plotinus for India, and helps to explain the philosophical similarities between Vedanta and Neoplatonism, which many scholars attribute to Indian influence. On
9864-435: The concept of 'Good' and the principle of 'Beauty'. (I.6.9) His "One" concept encompassed thinker and object. Even the self-contemplating intelligence (the noesis of the nous ) must contain duality . "Once you have uttered 'The Good,' add no further thought: by any addition, and in proportion to that addition, you introduce a deficiency." (III.8.11) Plotinus denies sentience , self-awareness or any other action ( ergon ) to
10001-462: The concepts which we can derive from them. The One "cannot be any existing thing" and cannot be merely the sum of all such things (compare the Stoic doctrine of disbelief in non-material existence) but "is prior to all existents". Porphyry (c. 233 – c. 309) wrote widely on astrology, religion, philosophy, and musical theory. He produced a biography of his teacher, Plotinus. He is important in
10138-518: The desire of his heart, sent him to Ammonius, whom he had not so far tried. He went and heard him, and said to his friend, "This is the man I was looking for." From that day he stayed continually with Ammonius and acquired so complete a training in philosophy that he became eager to make acquaintance with the Persian philosophical discipline and that prevailing among the Indians. According to Porphyry,
10275-440: The dialogues of Plato. The particular characteristic of Proclus' system is his insertion of a level of individual ones, called henads , between the One itself and the divine Intellect, which is the second principle. The henads are beyond being, like the One itself, but they stand at the head of chains of causation ( seirai or taxeis ) and in some manner give to these chains their particular character. They are also identified with
10412-554: The editorial process, and turned the task to Porphyry, who polished and edited them into their modern form. Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent " One ", containing no division, multiplicity, or distinction; beyond all categories of being and non-being. His "One" "cannot be any existing thing", nor is it merely the sum of all things (compare the Stoic doctrine of disbelief in non-material existence), but "is prior to all existents". Plotinus identified his "One" with
10549-410: The enormous collection of notes and essays which Plotinus used in his lectures and debates, rather than a formal book. Plotinus was unable to revise his own work due to his poor eyesight, yet his writings required extensive editing, according to Porphyry: his master's handwriting was atrocious, he did not properly separate his words, and he cared little for niceties of spelling. Plotinus intensely disliked
10686-549: The fall of the Byzantine empire, who were considered the "librarians of the world", because of their great collection of classical manuscripts and the number of humanist scholars that resided in Constantinople (Hole). Neoplatonism in the Renaissance combined the ideas of Christianity and a new awareness of the writings of Plato. Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was "chiefly responsible for packaging and presenting Plato to
10823-510: The first time to the West. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) was another neoplatonist during the Italian Renaissance. He could speak and write Latin and Greek, and had knowledge on Hebrew and Arabic. The pope banned his works because they were viewed as heretical – unlike Ficino, who managed to stay on the right side of the church. The efforts of Ficino and Pico to introduce neoplatonic and Hermetic doctrines into
10960-445: The flowering of western medieval mysticism , most notably the German mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1328). Neoplatonism also influenced Latin scholasticism , for example through the reception and translation of Neoplatonic conception by Eriugena . Aquinas, for example, have some Neoplatonic elements in his philosophical conceptions that he adapts within an Aristotelian vocabulary. Neoplatonism ostensibly survived in
11097-501: The followers of Gnosticism had corrupted the original teachings of Plato and often argued against likes of Valentinus who, according to Plotinus, had given rise to doctrines of dogmatic theology with ideas such as that the Spirit of Christ was brought forth by a conscious god after the fall from Pleroma . According to Plotinus, The One is not a conscious god with intent, nor a godhead , nor a conditioned existing entity of any kind, rather
11234-558: The fragments left from Porphyry 's writings. The most famous pupil of Ammonius Saccas was Plotinus , who studied under Ammonius for eleven years. According to Porphyry, in 232, at the age of 28, Plotinus went to Alexandria to study philosophy: In his twenty-eighth year he [Plotinus] felt the impulse to study philosophy and was recommended to the teachers in Alexandria who then had the highest reputation; but he came away from their lectures so depressed and full of sadness that he told his trouble to one of his friends. The friend, understanding
11371-565: The framework of Islamic mysticism in their interpretation of Neoplatonic writings and concepts. In the Middle Ages, neoplatonist ideas influenced Jewish thinkers, such as the Kabbalists Isaac the Blind , Azriel of Gerona and Nachmanides and the earlier Jewish neoplatonic philosopher Solomon ibn Gabirol ( Avicebron ), who modified it in the light of their own monotheism. The works of Pseudo-Dionysius were primarily instrumental in
11508-461: The goal of henosis is union with what is fundamental in reality: the One ( τὸ Ἕν ), the Source, or Monad . As is specified in the writings of Plotinus on henology , one can reach a state of tabula rasa , blank state where the individual may grasp or merge with The One. This absolute simplicity means that the nous or the person is then dissolved, completely absorbed back into the Monad. Here within
11645-505: The historical Plato . On the other, the term makes an assumption about the novelty of Plotinus's interpretation of Plato. In the nearly six centuries from Plato's time to Plotinus', there had been an uninterrupted tradition of interpreting Plato which had begun with Aristotle and with the immediate successors of Plato's Academy and continued on through a period of Platonism which is now referred to as middle Platonism . The term neoplatonism implies that Plotinus' interpretation of Plato
11782-470: The history of mathematics because of his commentary on Euclid's Elements , which Pappus used when he wrote his own commentary. Porphyry is also known as an opponent of Christianity and as a defender of paganism ; of his Adversus Christianos ( Against the Christians ) in 15 books, only fragments remain. He famously said, "The gods have proclaimed Christ to have been most pious, but the Christians are
11919-439: The ideas of the self-taught Platonist philosopher Ammonius Saccas . Upon hearing Ammonius' lecture, Plotinus declared to his friend: "this is the man I was looking for", began to study intently under his new instructor, and remained with him as his student for eleven years. Besides Ammonius, Plotinus was also influenced by the philosophical works of Aristotle , the pre-Socratic philosophers Empedocles and Heraclitus ,
12056-456: The intelligible world; but it also embraces innumerable individual souls; and these can either allow themselves to be informed by the nous , or turn aside from the nous and choose the phenomenal world and lose themselves in the realm of the senses and the finite. The soul, as a moving essence, generates the corporeal or phenomenal world. This world ought to be so pervaded by the soul that its various parts should remain in perfect harmony. Plotinus
12193-462: The knowledge of his teacher and predecessors in order to inspire the next generation. Whether neoplatonism is a meaningful or useful historical category is itself a central question concerning the history of the interpretation of Plato. For much of the history of Platonism, it was commonly accepted that the doctrines of the neoplatonists were essentially the same as those of Plato. The Renaissance Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino , for instance, thought that
12330-490: The latter's decision to found a new Platonic Academy there. Cosimo subsequently appointed as head Marsilio Ficino, who proceeded to translate all Plato's works, the Enneads of Plotinus, and various other neoplatonist works into Latin. The major reason for the prominence of neoplatonic influences in the historical Muslim world was availability of neoplatonic texts: Arabic translations and paraphrases of neoplatonic works were readily available to Islamic scholars greatly due to
12467-482: The metaphysical and authentic human being found in this highest capacity of Reason. “For man, and especially the Proficient, is not the Couplement of Soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods.” (Enneads I.4.14) The human who has achieved happiness will not be bothered by sickness, discomfort, etc., as his focus is on the greatest things. Authentic human happiness
12604-593: The multiple cannot exist without the simple. The "less perfect" must, of necessity, "emanate", or issue forth, from the "perfect" or "more perfect". Thus, all of "creation" emanates from the One in succeeding stages of lesser and lesser perfection. These stages are not temporally isolated, but occur throughout time as a constant process. The One is not just an intellectual concept but something that can be experienced, an experience where one goes beyond all multiplicity. Plotinus writes, "We ought not even to say that he will see , but he will be that which he sees, if indeed it
12741-402: The neoplatonic interpretation of Plato was an authentic and accurate representation of Plato's philosophy. Although it is unclear precisely when scholars began to disassociate the philosophy of the historical Plato from the philosophy of his neoplatonic interpreters, they had clearly begun to do so at least as early as the first decade of the nineteenth century. Contemporary scholars often identify
12878-497: The neopythagoreans, to Plotinus and the neoplatonists. Thus Plotinus' philosophy was, he argued, 'not the starting-point of neoplatonism but its intellectual culmination.' Further research reinforced this view and by 1954 Merlan could say 'The present tendency is toward bridging rather than widening the gap separating Platonism from neoplatonism.' Since the 1950s, the Tübingen School of Plato interpretation has argued that
13015-515: The one source or substance of all things, the Monad is all encompassing. As infinite and indeterminate all is reconciled in the dunamis or one. It is the demiurge or second emanation that is the nous in Plotinus. It is the demiurge (creator, action, energy) or nous that "perceives" and therefore causes the force (potential or One) to manifest as energy, or the dyad called the material world. Nous as being; being and perception (intellect) manifest what
13152-438: The original teachings of Plotinus. The teachings of Kirmani in turn influenced philosophers such as Nasir Khusraw of Persia. As with Islam and Christianity, neoplatonism in general and Plotinus in particular influenced speculative thought. Notable thinkers expressing neoplatonist themes are Solomon ibn Gabirol (Latin: Avicebron) and Moses ben Maimon (Latin: Maimonides ). As with Islam and Christianity, apophatic theology and
13289-530: The other hand, scholars contesting his Indian origins point out that Ammonius was from the Brucheion quarter of Alexandria, which was the royal quarter of the city inhabited mostly by Greeks , and that the name "Ammonius" was common to many Greeks, with a number of scholars and historians supporting a Greek origin for Ammonius. However, his name is theophoric to the deity Amun , indicating possible Egyptian origin. Most details of Ammonius' life come from
13426-415: The parents of Ammonius were Christians , but upon learning Greek philosophy , Ammonius rejected his parents' religion for paganism . This conversion is contested by the Christian writers Jerome and Eusebius , who state that Ammonius remained a Christian throughout his lifetime: [Porphyry] plainly utters a falsehood (for what will not an opposer of Christians do?) when he says that ... Ammonius fell from
13563-432: The phenomenal world, and it is permeated and illuminated by the former, but it is also in contact with the latter. The nous/spirit is indivisible; the world-soul may preserve its unity and remain in the nous , but, at the same time, it has the power of uniting with the corporeal world and thus being disintegrated. It therefore occupies an intermediate position. As a single world-soul, it belongs in essence and destination to
13700-495: The philosophers of the academy had not arrived at the same conclusions (such as misotheism or dystheism of the creator God as an answer to the problem of evil ) as the targets of his criticism. Plotinus seems to be one of the first to have argued against the then popular notion of causal astrology . In the late tractate 2.3, "Are the stars causes?", Plotinus makes the argument that specific stars influencing one's fortune (a common Hellenistic theme) attributes irrationality to
13837-481: The prefect of Egypt Orestes during his feud with Cyril , Alexandria's dynastic archbishop. The extent of Cyril's personal involvement in her murder remains a matter of scholarly debate. Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 – April 17, 485) was a Greek neoplatonist philosopher, one of the last major Greek philosophers (see Damascius ). He set forth one of the most elaborate, complex, and fully developed neoplatonic systems, providing also an allegorical way of reading
13974-471: The privative nature of evil are two prominent themes that such thinkers picked up from either Plotinus or his successors. In the Renaissance the philosopher Marsilio Ficino set up an Academy under the patronage of Cosimo de Medici in Florence , mirroring that of Plato. His work was of great importance in reconciling the philosophy of Plato directly with Christianity. One of his most distinguished pupils
14111-497: The pupil of Ammonius Saccas; and the sixth-century author known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite , whose works were translated by John Scotus in the ninth century for the West. Both authors had a lasting influence on Eastern Orthodox and Western Christianity , and the development of contemplative and mystical practices and theology. Neoplatonism also had links with Gnosticism, which Plotinus rebuked in his ninth tractate of
14248-408: The result is a conflict, a becoming and vanishing, an illusive existence. And the reason for this state of things is that bodies rest on a substratum of matter. Matter is the indeterminate: that with no qualities. If destitute of form and idea, it is evil; as capable of form, it is neutral. Evil here is understood as a parasite, having no-existence of its own (parahypostasis), an unavoidable outcome of
14385-462: The same reasons of dislike. Likewise, Plotinus never discussed his ancestry, childhood, or his place or date of birth. From all accounts his personal and social life exhibited the highest moral and spiritual standards. Plotinus took up the study of philosophy at the age of twenty-eight, around the year 232 and travelled to Alexandria to study. There he was dissatisfied with every teacher he encountered, until an acquaintance suggested he listen to
14522-667: The second Enneads : "Against Those That Affirm The Creator of The Cosmos and The Cosmos Itself to Be Evil" (generally known as "Against The Gnostics"). Because their belief was grounded in Platonic thought, the neoplatonists rejected Gnosticism's vilification of Plato's demiurge , the creator of the material world or cosmos discussed in the Timaeus . Neoplatonism has been referred to as orthodox Platonic philosophy by scholars like John D. Turner ; this reference may be due, in part, to Plotinus' attempt to refute certain interpretations of Platonic philosophy, through his Enneads. Plotinus believed
14659-684: The second year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius II , thus giving us the year of his birth as around 204. Eunapius reported that Plotinus was born in Lyco, which could either refer to the modern Asyut in Upper Egypt or Deltaic Lycopolis , in Lower Egypt . This has led to speculations that his family was either ( Hellenized ) Egyptian , Greek , or Roman . Historian Lloyd P. Gerson states that Plotinus
14796-401: The sensible universe and its contents, and as a Platonist, Plotinus must share this critical attitude to some extent. But here he makes his case that the proper understanding of the highest principles and emanation forces us to respect the sensible world as the best possible imitation of the intelligible world. Plotinus seems to direct his attacks at a very specific sect of Gnostics, most notably
14933-607: The so-called 'unwritten doctrines' of Plato debated by Aristotle and the Old Academy strongly resemble Plotinus's metaphysics. In this case, the neoplatonic reading of Plato would be, at least in this central area, historically justified. This implies that neoplatonism is less of an innovation than it appears without the recognition of Plato's unwritten doctrines. Advocates of the Tübingen School emphasize this advantage of their interpretation. They see Plotinus as advancing
15070-513: The soul may again return to the Eternal and Supreme. The system can be divided between the invisible world and the phenomenal world, the former containing the transcendent , absolute One from which emanates an eternal, perfect, essence ( nous , or intellect), which, in turn, produces the world-soul . For Plotinus, the first principle of reality is "the One", an utterly simple, ineffable, beyond being and non-being, unknowable subsistence which
15207-715: The subsequent history of Western philosophy and religion. In the Middle Ages , Neoplatonic ideas were studied and discussed by Christian , Jewish , and Muslim thinkers. In the Islamic cultural sphere, Neoplatonic texts were available in Arabic and Persian translations, and notable philosophers such as al-Farabi , Solomon ibn Gabirol ( Avicebron ), Avicenna ( Ibn Sina ), and Maimonides incorporated Neoplatonic elements into their own thinking. Christian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) had direct access to
15344-463: The teacher or the master of Plotinus (Nemesius, Nature of Man , 2.103). Plotinus Plotinus ( / p l ɒ ˈ t aɪ n ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Πλωτῖνος , Plōtînos ; c. 204/5 – 270 CE ) was a Greek Platonist philosopher , born and raised in Roman Egypt . Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism . His teacher
15481-975: The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church has recently been evaluated in terms of an attempted "Hermetic Reformation". In the seventeenth century in England, neoplatonism was fundamental to the school of the Cambridge Platonists , whose luminaries included Henry More , Ralph Cudworth , Benjamin Whichcote and John Smith , all graduates of the University of Cambridge . Coleridge claimed that they were not really Platonists, but "more truly Plotinists": "divine Plotinus", as More called him. Ammonius Saccas Ammonius Saccas ( / ə ˈ m oʊ n i ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἀμμώνιος Σακκᾶς ; 175 AD – 243 AD)
15618-530: The tenets of God in neoplatonism present no major modification from their original Greek sources, showing the doctrinal shift towards monotheism . Islamic neoplatonism adapted the concepts of the One and the First Principle to Islamic theology, attributing the First Principle to God. God is a transcendent being, omnipresent and inalterable to the effects of creation. Islamic philosophers used
15755-439: The time of this treatise’s composition some of his friends were ‘attached’ to Gnostic doctrine, and he believed that this attachment was harmful. So he sets out here a number of objections and corrections. Some of these are directed at very specific tenets of Gnosticism, e.g. the introduction of a ‘new earth’ or a principle of ‘Wisdom’, but the general thrust of this treatise has a much broader scope. The Gnostics are very critical of
15892-408: The tradition also departed substantively from Plotinus' teachings in regards to significant philosophical issues, such as the nature of evil. From the One emanated different levels of lesser realities known as "Hypostases." At the highest level of reality exists "the One" from which emanates the Nous or the mind. It is the first principle after the One and contains all knowledge in a unified form. It
16029-408: The traditional Greek gods, so one henad might be Apollo and be the cause of all things apollonian, while another might be Helios and be the cause of all sunny things. The henads serve both to protect the One itself from any hint of multiplicity and to draw up the rest of the universe towards the One, by being a connecting, intermediate stage between absolute unity and determinate multiplicity. In
16166-468: The truly happy human being would understand that which is being tortured is merely a body, not the conscious self, and happiness could persist. Plotinus offers a comprehensive description of his conception of a person who has achieved eudaimonia . “The perfect life” involves a man who commands reason and contemplation. (Enneads I.4.4) A happy person will not sway between happy and sad, as many of Plotinus' contemporaries believed. Stoics, for example, question
16303-447: The views of the majority, which were a disgrace to philosophy. He apprehended well the views of each of the two philosophers [Plato and Aristotle] and brought them under one and the same nous and transmitted philosophy without conflicts to all of his disciples, and especially to the best of those acquainted with him, Plotinus, Origen, and their successors. According to Nemesius , a bishop and Neoplatonist c. 400, Ammonius held that
16440-690: The work of his student Porphyry ; that of Iamblichus and his school in Syria; and the period in the 5th and 6th centuries, when the Academies in Alexandria and Athens flourished. Neoplatonism synthesized ideas from various philosophical and religious cultural spheres. The most important forerunners from Greek philosophy were the Middle Platonists , such as Plutarch , and the Neopythagoreans , especially Numenius of Apamea . Philo ,
16577-474: The works of Proclus , Simplicius of Cilicia , and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite , and he knew about other Neoplatonists, such as Plotinus and Porphyry, through second-hand sources. The German mystic Meister Eckhart ( c. 1260 – c. 1328 ) was also influenced by Neoplatonism, propagating a contemplative way of life which points to the Godhead beyond the nameable God. Neoplatonism also had
16714-430: The years he knew him. This may be related to enlightenment , liberation , and other concepts of mysticism common to many Eastern traditions. The philosophy of Plotinus has always exerted a peculiar fascination upon those whose discontent with things as they are has led them to seek the realities behind what they took to be merely the appearances of the sense. The philosophy of Plotinus: representative books from
16851-434: Was Greek . Plotinus had an inherent distrust of materiality (an attitude common to Platonism ), holding to the view that phenomena were a poor image or mimicry ( mimesis ) of something "higher and intelligible" (VI.I) which was the "truer part of genuine Being". This distrust extended to the body , including his own; it is reported by Porphyry that at one point he refused to have his portrait painted, presumably for much
16988-517: Was Hypatia of Alexandria . Neoplatonism influenced many Christians as well, including Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite . St. Augustine , though often referred to as a "Platonist", acquired his Platonist philosophy through the mediation of the Neoplatonist teachings of Plotinus. Plotinus' philosophy had an influence on the development of Christian theology . In A History of Western Philosophy , philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote that: To
17125-605: Was Pico della Mirandola , author of An Oration on the Dignity of Man . In Great Britain, Plotinus was the cardinal influence on the 17th-century school of the Cambridge Platonists , and on numerous writers from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to W. B. Yeats and Kathleen Raine . Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Ananda Coomaraswamy used the writing of Plotinus in their own texts as a superlative elaboration upon Indian monism , specifically Upanishadic and Advaita Vedantic thought. Coomaraswamy has compared Plotinus' teachings to
17262-410: Was "almost certainly" a Greek. A.H. Armstrong , one of the foremost authorities on the philosophical teachings of Plotinus, writes that: "All that can be said with reasonable certainty is that Greek was his normal language and that he had a Greek education ". Plotinus himself was said to have had little interest in his ancestry, birthplace, or that of anyone else for that matter. His native language
17399-446: Was a Hellenistic Platonist self-taught philosopher from Alexandria , generally regarded as the precursor of Neoplatonism or one of its founders. He is mainly known as the teacher of Plotinus , whom he taught from 232 to 243. He was undoubtedly the most significant influence on Plotinus in his development of Neoplatonism, although little is known about his own philosophical views. Later Christian writers stated that Ammonius
17536-458: Was a Christian, but it is now generally assumed that there was a different Ammonius of Alexandria who wrote biblical texts. The origins and meaning of Ammonius' cognomen , "Sakkas", are disputed. Many scholars have interpreted it as indicating he was a porter in his youth, a view supported in antiquity by Byzantine bishop Theodoret . Others have asserted that this is a misreading of "Sakkas" for "sakkophoros" (porter). Some others have connected
17673-583: Was a correspondent of the philosopher Cassius Longinus . While in Rome, Plotinus also gained the respect of the Emperor Gallienus and his wife Salonina . At one point Plotinus attempted to interest Gallienus in rebuilding an abandoned settlement in Campania , known as the 'City of Philosophers', where the inhabitants would live under the constitution set out in Plato 's Laws . An Imperial subsidy
17810-435: Was easy for later Christians to accept that there were two individuals named Ammonius, one a Christian and one a Pagan. Among Ammonius' other pupils there were Herennius and Cassius Longinus . Hierocles , writing in the 5th century, states that Ammonius' fundamental doctrine was that Plato and Aristotle were in full agreement with each other: He was the first who had a godly zeal for the truth in philosophy and despised
17947-602: Was finally closed by Justinian I because of active paganism of its professors. Other schools continued in Constantinople , Antioch , Alexandria and Gaza which were the centers of Justinian's empire. After the closure of the neoplatonic academy, neoplatonic and/or secular philosophical studies continued in publicly funded schools in Alexandria and Gaza. In the early seventh century, the neoplatonist Stephanus of Alexandria brought this Alexandrian tradition to Constantinople, where it would remain influential, albeit as
18084-529: Was never granted, for reasons unknown to Porphyry, who reports the incident. Plotinus subsequently went to live in Sicily . He spent his final days in seclusion on an estate in Campania which his friend Zethos had bequeathed him. According to the account of Eustochius, who attended him at the end, Plotinus' final words were: "Try to raise the divine in yourselves to the divine in the all." Eustochius records that
18221-962: Was popular in Christianity , the Cult of Isis and other ancient religious contexts including Hermetic ones (see Alexander of Abonutichus for an example). According to A. H. Armstrong, Plotinus and the neoplatonists viewed Gnosticism as a form of heresy or sectarianism to the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Also according to Armstrong, Plotinus accused them of using senseless jargon and being overly dramatic and insolent in their distortion of Plato's ontology." Armstrong argues that Plotinus attacks his opponents as untraditional, irrational and immoral and arrogant. Armstrong believed that Plotinus also attacks them as elitist and blasphemous to Plato for
18358-441: Was so distinct from those of his predecessors that it should be thought to introduce a new period in the history of Platonism. Some contemporary scholars, however, have taken issue with this assumption and have doubted that neoplatonism constitutes a useful label. They claim that merely marginal differences separate Plotinus' teachings from those of his immediate predecessors. As a pupil of philosopher Ammonius Saccas , Plotinus used
18495-483: Was still tempered by neoplatonism. The term logos was interpreted variously in neoplatonism. Plotinus refers to Thales in interpreting logos as the principle of meditation, the interrelationship between the hypostases (Soul, Spirit (nous) and the 'One'). St. John introduces a relation between Logos and the Son, Christ , whereas Paul calls it 'Son', 'Image', and 'Form'. Victorinus subsequently differentiated
18632-614: Was strictly treated as immanent , with matter as essential to its being, having no true or transcendential character or essence, substance or ousia (οὐσία). This approach is called philosophical Idealism . For several centuries after the Protestant Reformation , neoplatonism was condemned as a decadent and 'oriental' distortion of Platonism. In a 1929 essay, E. R. Dodds showed that key conceptions of neoplatonism could be traced from their origin in Plato's dialogues, through his immediate followers (e.g., Speusippus ) and
18769-609: Was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius Saccas , who belonged to the Platonic tradition . Historians of the 19th century invented the term "neoplatonism" and applied it to refer to Plotinus and his philosophy, which was vastly influential during late antiquity , the Middle Ages , and the Renaissance . Much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from Porphyry 's preface to his edition of Plotinus' most notable literary work, The Enneads . In his metaphysical writings, Plotinus described three fundamental principles:
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