Cosmopolitismo entre paganos y cristianos: la escuela neoplatónica de Alejandría

Abstract

Res_eng:In Alexandria, a place of concentration of knowledge, where a large Christian community lived, preserving the Jewish heritage, Hermias introduced the Neoplatonism derived from the Athenian school, during the first half of the fifth century A.D. In this work, we will analyse whether the Alexandrian Neoplatonism reflects Christian influence or if instead it opposes it, and if it returns to issues raised by pre-Plotinian Platonism, i.e., if there are fundamental doctrinal differences between Alexandria and Athens. The philosopher is not a citizen of the visible, but of the intelligible cosmos. From a utopian perspective, Alexandria is not in Egypt, but “near Egypt”, thus forging the mirage of a cosmopolitan and multicultural city where the expressions of Christian and pagan communities are found in harmony. This marginality in the Empire allows the Alexandrian school to survive the year 529, the date when Justinian’s edict prohibits the teaching of pagan philosophy in Athens, and to approach topics opposed to Christianity, such as the eternity of the world or the transmigration of souls.