Neoplatonic Research Articles

The Motif of Death in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Short Poems

In the early 19th century poetic tradition, there was a great emphasis on the poet as the creative genius, and subjectivity was cherished more than ever. As a poet of the Romantic Era, Percy Bysshe Shelley conveyed his emotions, philosophical beliefs, and religious convictions, as well as his fears and motivations, through his literary works. Death was an omnipresent theme in Shelley’s life, and he used poetry as a means to express his thoughts and feelings about it. The passing of those close to him, such as his wife Harriet and children Clara and William, confronted him with his own mortality. He responded to the death of his beloved ones by composing poems. In addition to expressing his grief over these losses, he also voiced the decrease of his life instincts and his death wish. This paper will examine Shelley’s short poems (“Death”, “On Death”, “To William Shelley”, “Stanzas Written in Dejection, near Naples” “Ode to the West Wind,” “To Night,” and “O world! O life! O time!”) through the lens of Sigmund Freud’s concepts of mourning and melancholy, as well as death wish. The chosen autobiographical poems reveal Shelley’s mourning process and his journey towards accepting death, showcasing his death drive, and reflecting his genuine emotions as well as his Neoplatonic philosophy.

Functions of Exact and Homonymous Internal Rhymes in Georgian Medieval Panegyric Poetry

The text of the medieval Georgian panegyric poem “Tamariani” has come to us in the form of manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries. “Tamariani” mainly uses a poetic form, which is known in Georgian versification as “Chakhrukhauli”. “Chakhrukhauli” is a quatrain with twenty-syllable lines, the pre-caesural parts of which consist of two rhymed (often homonymous) syntagms. The lines also have an end rhyme. In Georgian literary criticism, until now, only evaluative points of view have been expressed regarding this work, and the functional nature of the formal techniques has been ignored. This article is an attempt to substantiate the hypothesis that the use of specific formal techniques – in particular, frequently repeated precaesural (including homonymous) rhymes in “Tamariani” – was due to the influence of Neoplatonic philosophy on the author. This hypothesis is also supported by the fact that Georgian researchers also noted the influence of Neoplatonic philosophy on “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”, the author of which was Chakhrukhadze’s contemporary, the greatest Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli, although, unlike “Tamariani”, the influence of Neoplatonic philosophy was reflected on Rustaveli work’s content and philosophical concept, while in Chakhrukhadze’s poem the influence of Neoplatonism becomes clear upon a careful “reading” of the form of the work.

Maßnahmen der Isolation. Neuplatonische Einflüsse in der medizinischen Metaphorik spätantiker Religionsgesetze

Abstract This study investigates the medical rhetoric employed in religious legislation of Late Antiquity, arguing that imperial policies against dissidents often resembled infectious disease control measures, such as social distancing and banning gatherings, and were aimed at protecting the vulnerable. The Christian clergy was concerned not just about maintaining their monopoly of sacraments, but also about demonic contagion. This kind of infection rhetoric has its roots in Christian polemical language which is itself based on far older ideas known from Plato and the Neo-Platonists, and the more general view shared by other philosophical schools, on the sympathy of the universe and the concomitant harmony of souls. The Neoplatonic school in particular had developed the view that ‘bad’ souls chose their demons and that these demons were responsible for natural catastrophes and diseases, and infecting the air with their presence. Christian authors endorsed this view. Religious dissidents of Late Antiquity were exiled and deprived of their freedoms of speech, of assembly, and of movement, and this is for several reasons, such as the avoidance of martyrs, forced conversion, and the deterrence of others. The concept of contagion is also among the reasons but has so far been underappreciated.

The Friend, the Eccentric, and the Grouch

Abstract Historians of philosophy are often challenged to discern the relative impacts of the ideas and the actions of ancient philosophers. The ideas of these thinkers often stand alone in an almost disembodied fashion, set apart from the physicality of a philosopher, his or her personality, and even their intellectual development over time. This article considers the tension between the people, the ideas, and the social context in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria and investigates the way in which genial and difficult personalities influence the fate of Neoplatonic schools in the two cities in the late fifth and early sixth centuries AD.

Christian Neoplatonism and Deep Incarnation: Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno as Inspirations for Contemporary Ecotheology

In response to the specter of looming anthropogenic ecological catastrophe, many Christian thinkers have begun to rethink the God/world relationship and reimagine the ontic cleavage between divinity and creation. The idea of “deep incarnation”, which expands the scope of divine incarnation in an attempt to draw God and creation into closer relation, is a prevalent framework for such reimagination. Two historic, underutilized thinkers that might help deep incarnation theologians expand their own theologies and make sense of the conceptual and ethical differences among them are Neo-Platonist philosopher–theologians Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno. Working within an ecofeminist framework, this article argues that while both Cusanus and Bruno provide significant philosophical grounds for contemporary ecotheologies of deep incarnation, a Brunist perspective is preferable because of its more expansive anthropology and its more inclusive understanding of divinity.

Creationism - a Pseudoscience or Pseudoreligion

The research is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of spiritual culture of Modern times - creationism. Authors analyze the causes of creationist teachings, as well as develop a classification of forms of creationism. As such, the following are distinguished and analyzed: biblical creationism, scientific creationism, theological evolutionism, teleological creationism, alterism, missionary creationism. Biblical creationism is a literal understanding of the texts of the Bible relating to the creation of the Earth and man. Scientific creationism is an attempt by individual scientists to combine scientific knowledge with religious beliefs. It gathers scientific evidence in favor of the biblical narrative, and, at the same time, rational arguments against the scientific theory of evolution. On the contrary, theological evolutionism, especially in the form of concordism, tries to reconcile the scientific and religious view of evolution. This is achieved through the interpretation of Biblical symbols through modern scientific concepts, or by the creation of a new pseudo-religion (for example, Teilhardism). Teleological creationism, in the modern form of Intelligent Design theory, popular in Western Protestantism, using the data of natural sciences, criticizes the foundations of the theory of biological evolution, thus demonstrating the gap of natural causality in order to justify the supernatural purposefulness of the Universe. Alterism asserts that the very nature of the world before original sin was different, therefore, the current knowledge of nature cannot correspond to the original plan of God reflected in the Bible. For the first time, highlighted and explored in this work, missionary creationism seeks to interpret the Bible from the point of view of concepts of modern science in order to bring a person with an already formed scientific picture of the world to faith. It is shown that most of the above forms demonstrate a pseudoscientific or pseudo-religious essence. The authors make an assumption about the origins of creationist teachings rooted in the introduction of elements of Neoplatonic philosophy into Christian teaching. The seeming contradiction between science and religion in understanding the evolution of nature finds its explanation through the disclosure of creationism's claim to understand the world as a "thing in itself".

Stephen MacKenna on Translation

This is a compilation of the occasional statements on translation made by a remarkable, and too little known, translator, Stephen MacKenna (1872–1935). MacKenna made it his life's work to translate into English the copious Annales of the Greek Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus. In its time his translation, published 1917–1930 and still in print today, received the highest praise.

Συνουσία in Late Antique Neoplatonic Schools: A Concept between Social History, History of Education and History of Philosophy

It is well studied that some Pythagorean principles lied at the foundations of the Late Antique Neoplatonic School. The main reason for that conclusion to be drawn is the two biographies of the Samian sage written by the Neoplatonic philosophers Porphyry of Tyre and Iamblichus of Chalcis. Accordingly, the archetypical image of Pythagoras became a major ideal for which every pagan philosopher aimed in Late Antiquity. Henceforth, masters and their disciple circles comprised a micro-society which can reasonably be analyzed as a whole. Suffice it to say that they were small and cohesive charismatic communities whose isolation from the outside world aroused a living harmony from which emerged long-standing emotional bonds. Consequently, the Pythagorically rooted κοινός βίος (Iambl. Vit. Pyth. 6.29: τὸ λεγόμενον κοινοβίους) can easily be ascertained in the biographical literature around the philosophical schools from Plotinus to Damascius (cf. Porph. Vit. Plot. 18.6-14; Procl. In Resp. passim). It is a way of life in common which was also known at the old Athenian Academy (according to Plato’s only explicit reference to Pythagoras (Resp. 600a-b: Πυθαγόρειον τρόπον τοῦ βίου) and has sometimes been defined even as “coenobitic”, in analogy with other contemporary phenomena. But from our point of view, it can be better understood through an analysis of the concept of συνουσία—that is, the meetings of philosophers with their companions (ἑταῖροι) in a specific place which turned into a sort of spiritual household. With this contribution, we aim at focusing on the redefinition of the Neoplatonic συνουσίαι as a legacy of the Platonic notion of συνουσία, stemming from Pythagorean κοινόβιοι. To sum up, we will revise this issue and the state of the art, with the redefinition of Late Antique συνουσία as a terminus technicus in the biographic literature around the Neoplatonic Schools, aiming at opening new paths for the understanding of the Pythagorean–Platonic heritage in Late Antiquity.

AL-SUHRAWARDĪ’S PHILOSOPHY CONTEXTUALIZED

When in 1868, Alfred von Kremer (1828–89) in his Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams (“History of the Ruling Ideas of Islam”) introduced al-Suhrawardī for the first time to a Western readership, he presented him as a freethinking Sufi devoted to “theosophy.” In a long chapter on Sufism, al-Suhrawardī appears under the heading “anti-Islamic tendencies.” Von Kremer characterized al-Suhrawardī's thought as a balanced mixture of three sources: Neoplatonic philosophy, a Zoroastrian theory of light, plus Islamic monotheism. “According to the Arab biographers, his teaching was aimed at the destruction of the existing religion, which, however, they say of anyone who dared to oppose the ruling orthodox party.” Expressing views that openly contradict the ruling religion, von Kremer wrote, meant putting one's life in danger. In accordance with that explanation, al-Suhrawardī died as “a martyr for his convictions” after the all too powerful group of orthodox scholars obtained his death sentence from Saladin.

Neoplatonic Nature of Love

Abstract This essay has two sections. The first explores the origin of the universe, the four elements, the knot of love, the third essence, and ‘Primordial Vessel’ by the Florentine Neoplatonic philosopher Marsilio Ficino. The second part interprets Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus of 1485–1486, now at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, drawing upon Ficino’s Neoplatonic texts. Particularly some of Ficino’s Commentaries on Plato’s Dialogues (published in 1484), Symposium (completed in 1469), Philebus (completed in 1469), and Compendium on Timaeus (1480–1491). To this is added Ficino’s Theologia Platonica (published in 1482), his Letters (published in 1495), his Commentary on Proclus’s Alcibiades I (completed in 1488), and his translation of the Neoplatonic text Corpus Hermeticum, entitled Liber Mercurii Trismegisti de potestate et sapientia Dei (published in 1471). Botticelli’s beautiful painting captures the depiction of the goddess Venus’s birth as described in Hesiod’s Theogony, which Ficino recounted in his Philebus Commentary

From Athens to Alexandria: What Damascius Learned from Ammonius

Abstract Damascius of Damascus, last ‘Platonic successor’ in Athens, is rarely compared to one of his masters, namely Ammonius, the philosopher of Alexandria. When scholars do compare the two Neoplatonist philosophers, they usually focus on the negative picture of Ammonius, which is drawn by Damascius in his Philosophical History. In this paper, I argue that Damascius admired Ammonius’ intellectual endeavours and espoused a basic feature of the philosophical exegesis of his master, namely his concordism regarding the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, as is evident in Damascius’ surviving work on Plato and his (fragmentarily preserved) treatise On Time. Damascius’ downgrading of Ammonius came about rather as a disappointment, which is however by no means fully justified.

«РИТОРИКА ЗНАЕТ БУДУЩЕЕ, КАК БОГ»: СООТНОШЕНИЕ ФИЛОСОФИИ И РИТОРИКИ ПО МЫСЛИ ВИЗАНТИЙСКОГО УЧЕНОГО XII В.

The problem of the correlation between philosophy and rhetoric, which was widely discussed in the late antiquity, regains relevance in Byzantium in the 11th – 12th centuries. The task of this article is to determine what position on this issue was held by Michael Italikos († before 1157), a Byzantine scholar, rhetorician and Neoplatonist philosopher. It has been already noted that in two of his works Italikos articulated two opposing views: in one he argued that philosophy is useless and far inferior to rhetoric, while in the other he exalted philosophy being capable not only of investigating abstract subjects but also of caring for the human good. The paper analyzes these and other texts in which Italikos argues about philosophy and rhetoric. It is demonstrated that Italikos awarded primacy to philosophy but also valued eloquence highly. It is concluded that the ideal of Michael Italikos, as well as other authors of that period, was a synthesis of philosophical thought and rhetorical elegance. Examples are given from his works, showing how this synthesis was realized in practice. This position is contradicted by only one small essay by Italikos, where he asserts the superiority of rhetoric over philosophy. This text, quite unusual in the context of the late antique and Byzantine tradition, is probably an example of rhetorical play that does not reflect the author’s views.

Sufi Perspectives on the Philosophical Insights of Abu Ali Ibn Sino, Also Known as Avicenna, with Emphasis on the Concept of Al-Wujud al-Mutlaq

Ibn Sino views on the development of nature as an unified interconnected process. Man acts as a connected microcosm of this evolution, from both spiritual and materialistic point of view. This article analyzes the irrational views of Avicenna in the context of Sufism, as well as the problem of the man’s origin, which is inextricably linked with the concept of the creator and the supreme intelligence. The issue under consideration, the greatest attention of researchers is attracted by his doctrine of emanation, presented in the style of Neoplatonic philosophy. It focuses not on the lower but on the higher stages of evolutional advancement associated with the transcendental, cosmic intellect and the higher principles inherent in man in the context. It should be noted that Avicenna considers the concept of emotion in the Sufi context as the idea of the soul’s desire for reunification with the Creator. Avicenna connects his theory of the creation of man with the thoughts of the Koran that ruled medieval Islamic culture and with the ideas set forward in his mystical doctrines.

Dynamic Divinity in Flux: Tracing Nikos Kazantzakis's Convergence of Greek Theology and Evolutionary Philosophy

This study embarks on an analytical journey through the theological perspectives of Nikos Kazantzakis, underpinned by the concept of God's mutability and its roots in ancient and Byzantine Greek theology. Focusing on Kazantzakis's pivotal works such as "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Report to Greco," the research employs a literary and historical approach to unravel the synthesis of Christian Orthodoxy, neo-Platonic philosophy, and modern evolutionary thought. The influence of Alfred North Whitehead's process theology and Henri Bergson's evolutionary vitalism on Kazantzakis's conception of a dynamic, evolving God is explored, challenging traditional doctrines of divine immutability. The study also delves into Platonic thought's impact on Kazantzakis, examining the dialectic of being and becoming, and the reinterpretation of classical concepts like stasis and kinesis in a Christian theological context. Additionally, it scrutinizes the compatibility of Kazantzakis’s views with Orthodox Christian theology, particularly in the light of contributions from figures such as Origen and the Cappadocian Fathers. The findings reveal a complex interplay between Greek philosophical heritage and Christian theology in Kazantzakis's work, offering a unique perspective on the nature of God and the compatibility of faith with evolving scientific understanding. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue between religion and philosophy, highlighting the relevance of ancient wisdom in contemporary theological discourse and underscoring the transformative potential of theological thought in the modern era.

APOPHATIC THEOLOGY: PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS AND THOMAS AQUINAS

Dionysius’s apophatic theology developed the basic tenets necessary for a deeper focus on God in Christian theology. The confusion it caused in Christian theology was powerfully presented through the investigations presented by the Neo-platonic philosophers. Furthermore, despite various interpretations of these teachings since the time of the Church Fathers, Pseudo Dionysius correctly presented the need to establish a correct foundation for it. His teachings were the foundation for later theological interpretations. This study examines the apophatic theology presented by Pseudo- Dionysius and Saint Thomas Aquinas. It is expected to investigate the facts presented using the analytical research method. Apophatic theology can be used to approach God by denying that any theological concept of God can be properly established by rejecting all the ideas and images of the theology laid by Dionysius and by entering into the divine darkness beyond understanding. A central theme of Aquinas’s apophatic philosophy is that we can know God more by what he is not than by what he is. Apophatic theology is also seen as an affirmation of the inadequacy of human understanding of divine matters. It is seen as affirming God’s essence through ignorance, even though man is aware through God’s energies.

“God” in Augustine’s Confessions

Abstract When reading through Augustine’s Confessions, one notices a striking variety of descriptions of God. The aim of this paper is to discern and – as far as possible – to interpret these various descriptions. Our main focus will be on pivotal texts from Books 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. They document how much Manichaean views played a part in Augustine’s quest, and how closely this quest was linked to his ideas about evil. Briefly stated, Augustine’s search went from anthropomorphic-spatial thinking about God to corporeal/material-spatial and even panentheistic ideas and then (mainly under the inspiration of Neoplatonic philosophy, i.e., in all likelihood Plotinus’s Enneads) to a strictly spiritual and non-spatial understanding. But in all this, Manichaean ways of thought and even concepts remained present until the end. A final conclusion draws out the significance of this study for conceptualising the formation of God/gods in the Christian tradition as well as in other religious formations.

PRIMORDIAL VERSTEHEN AND CONNOTATIVE SIGNIFICATION VIEWS OF PHILOSOPHICAL SUFISM TRADITION

The integration of modern Western philosophy with the study of Sufism tradition wasn’t quite familiar. So far, philosophical Sufism is often studied from the perspective of neo-platonic philosophy which is famous for its emanation doctrine. Through this research, the author proposes a new integration by using the philosophical concept of Heidegger’s hermeneutics and Roland Barthes’s semiotics as perspectives in studying the phenomena of the philosophical Sufism tradition. The hermeneutic theory of Martin Heidegger used in this research is existential primordial verstehen and the theory of facticity. Whereas Semiotic theory used in this research is Roland Barthes’s theory of order of signification which is used to analyze Sufi’s connotative interpretation of the Qur’an verse. The method used in this research is analysis descriptive by a combined table of hermeneutic and semiotic theories through library research on several primary sources concerning Sufi’s interpretation such as Miftahus Sufi, al-Luma‘, Shaṭaḥāt al-Sūfiyyah, etc. As a result, in the perspective of Sufism Primordial Verstehen, the doctrines of Sufism such as ittiḥād, ḥulūl, and waḥdah al-wujūd could be understood as existential primordial understanding in contemplating Sufi’s existence in the world and his arrival at the understanding of Allah as the only existing Being.

Jewish Sources in Picoʼs Concept of “Dignitas Hominis”: An Outline of the Problem

The paper deals with Pico’s conception of man, especially with regard to his use of Jewish sources. This is mostly apparent in Pico’s works Oratio (1486), Conclusiones (1486) and Heptaplus (1488/89). Firstly, we point out his collaboration with Flavius Mithridates, who was Pico’s Hebrew teacher and an intepreter of some Jewish mystical texts (Gersonides, Nahmanides, Recanati). Secondly, we emphasize that at the same time Pico was in contact with another Jewish scholar Yohanan Alemanno as well. For this reason, modern interpreters (Idel, Lelli) believe that one of the main sources not only for Pico’s Oratio but also for his late work Heptaplus were some of Alemanno’s writings (particularly his Heshek Shlomo and Hay ha-‘Olamin). Therefore, I examine Pico’s syncretic model of dignitas hominis, which was inspired on one hand by Neoplatonic philosophy and Aristotelianism, and on the other hand by Jewish and Christian mystical tradition.

Генезис термина «неоплатонизм» и порожденные им историографические штампы

The article traces the history of the division of Platonic tradition into Middle and New Platonism, as well as the origin and usage of the term "Neoplatonism". The division of Platonism into the periods of Ancient Academy, Middle Platonism and New Platonism, which had been useful in the past, nowadays hinders the formation of a reliable historical view, as it turns out to be not strict at all for such authors as Longinus, Chalcidius, Numenius, Amelius and Porphyry, and also creates an impression of the closed nature of the mentioned periods in both diachronic and synchronic dimensions. The term "Neoplatonism" was introduced in German historiography by J. Brucker and initially conveyed a sharply negative assessment. The distaste for a specific type of philosophizing led Brucker's followers to make a clear distinction between the original Platonism and the subsequent 'distortions'. An analysis of Brucker's use of the term shows its biased character, distorting the representation of late Platonism and creating a strain according to which the terminological break represents a valid break in late Antique Platonism. This approach has caused among scholars a marginalization of Neoplatonism, presented as a self-sufficient and closed school, impervious to the influence of other philosophical schools, including Christianity (an approach shared by H. Dörrie, L. Brisson, A. Segon, Ph. Offmann and C. de Vogel). The author has identified the reasons of the pejorative attitude to the late Platonists in the science of XVIIIth – first half of XXth centuries, which did not take into account the self-perception of Platonists and their method of treatment of philosophical material, and also analyses modern attempts to reassess the established classification (L. Katana, L. Gerson, T. Rodriguez). The examples of interschool interaction (Celsus, Numenius, St. Justin, Amelius and Porphyry) given in the article not only in diachronic, but also in synchronic aspect, have allowed us to question the necessity of retaining the term "Neoplatonism", as well as the cliché about the closedness of the Roman Neoplatonic school of the third century.

Filsafat Sejarah Dalam Perspektif Santo Agustinus

This research examines the philosophy of history from the perspective of Saint Augustine. Saint Augustine has contributed to the field of philosophy, and became one of the philosophers of speculative history. Meanwhile, the aim is to see historical thoughts and historical movements from Saint Augustine. This research can be classified in philosophical research. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with literature review as a research reference source. While data analysis techniques, the authors use Miles and Huberman which starts from data reduction, presentation, and conclusions. The results of this study indicate that Saint Augustine was an influential figure in the Middle Ages, Saint Augustine's thought was influenced by the teachings of Manichaenism and Neo Platonism. He argues that history is an event that is not determined by humans, but is determined by God. Meanwhile, according to him, the movement of history is regulated by God. He believes that the movement of history is linear, ending and ending in the kingdom of God.