Some reflections on Wouter Hanegraaff's Esotericism and the Academy

Abstract

The article presents some critical remarks on the recent book by Wouter Hanegraaff. There are three criticisms: his concept of ‘Platonic Orientalism’ because it doesn't correspond to the way in which we tend to read the theme of the Orient in late Antiquity today; the fact that the attention of the author is concentrated mainly on the perspective of the history of modern (German) philosophy and neglects other areas; and some problems posed by its radical historicist perspective.