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Moral Virtue As A Requisite For Illumination In The Platonic Tradition, Kristian Sheeley

Philosophy Graduate Research

This paper traces the development of the idea that we must cultivate moral virtue in order to attain some degree of illumination regarding the nature of reality. I use the term “illumination” to cover a range of meanings intended by the philosophers I discuss, such as the “acquisition of wisdom” (Phaedo, 65a), the “sight” of divine beauty (Symposium, 210d–212b), or a mystical experience involving God or divine reality. Although this theme appears in many texts from the Platonic tradition, I focus on three major stages of its development. First, I show how Plato provides the basic …

Plotinus On The Soul, Damian Caluori

Damian Caluori

Plotinus on the Soul is a study of Plotinus' psychology, which is arguably the most sophisticated Platonist theory of the soul in antiquity. Plotinus offers a Platonist response to Aristotelian and Stoic conceptions of the soul that is at the same time an innovative interpretation of Plato's Timaeus. He considers the notion of the soul to be crucial for explaining the rational order of the world. To this end, he discusses not only different types of individual soul (such as the souls of the stars, and human and animal souls) but also an entity that he was the first to …

The Essential Functions Of A Plotinian Soul, Damian Caluori

Damian Caluori

In reading Plotinus one might get the impression that the essential functions of a Plotinian soul are very similar to those of an Aristotelian soul. Plotinus talks of such vegetative functions as growth, nurture and reproduction. He discusses such animal functions as sense perception, imagination and memory. And he attributes such functions as reasoning, judging and having opinions to the soul. In Plotinus' Psychology, Blumenthal bases his whole discussion of the soul on an analysis of these functions. He concludes that Plotinus 'saw the soul's activities as the functions of a series of faculties which were basically those of Aristotle' …

Divine Practical Thought In Plotinus, Damian Caluori

Damian Caluori

Plotinus follows the Timaeus and the Platonist tradition before him in postulating the existence of a World Soul whose function it is to care for the sensible world as a whole. It is argued that, since the sensible world is providentially arranged, the World Soul’s care presupposes a sort of practical thinking that is as timeless as intellectual contemplation. To explain why this thinking is practical, the paper discusses Plotinus’ view on Aristotle’s distinction between praxis and poiêsis. To explain why it is timeless, it studies Plotinus’ view on Aristotle’s distinction between complete and incomplete actuality. The focus is on …

Reason And Necessity: The Descent Of The Philosopher Kings, Damian Caluori

Damian Caluori

One of the reasons why one might find it worthwhile to study philosophers of late antiquity is the fact that they often have illuminating things to say about Plato and Aristotle. Plotinus, in particular, was a diligent and insightful reader of those great masters. Michael Frede was certainly of that view, and when he wrote that '[o]ne can learn much more from Plotinus about Aristotle than from most modern accounts of the Stagirite', he would not have objected, I presume, to the claim that Plotinus is also extremely helpful for the study of Plato. In this spirit I wish to …

Divine Practical Thought In Plotinus, Damian Caluori

Philosophy Faculty Research

Plotinus follows the Timaeus and the Platonist tradition before him in postulating the existence of a World Soul whose function it is to care for the sensible world as a whole. It is argued that, since the sensible world is providentially arranged, the World Soul’s care presupposes a sort of practical thinking that is as timeless as intellectual contemplation. To explain why this thinking is practical, the paper discusses Plotinus’ view on Aristotle’s distinction between praxis and poiêsis. To explain why it is timeless, it studies Plotinus’ view on Aristotle’s distinction between complete and incomplete actuality. The …

The Motion Of Intellect On The Neoplatonic Reading Of Sophist 248e-249d, Eric D. Perl

Philosophy Faculty Works

This paper defends Plotinus’ reading of Sophist 248e-249d as an expression of the togetherness or unity-in-duality of intellect and intelligible being. Throughout the dialogues Plato consistently presents knowledge as a togetherness of knower and known, expressing this through the myth of recollection and through metaphors of grasping, eating, and sexual union. He indicates that an intelligible paradigm is in the thought that apprehends it, and regularly regards the forms not as extrinsic “objects” but as the contents of living intelligence. A meticulous reading of Sophist 248e-249d shows that the “motion” attributed to intelligible being is not temporal change but the …

Everything Is Flat: The Transcendence Of The One In Neoplatonic Ontology, Joshua Packwood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation research addresses the relationship between the One and everything else in Neoplatonic metaphysics. Plato is vague in describing this distinction and thus much of late antiquity attempts to fill in the gaps, as it were. The potential difficulty, however, is that the hierarchy of existence in late antiquity is susceptible to being understood as postulating a being that is "beyond being." To avoid this difficulty, I propose an interpretation of Dionysius the Areopagite to show that being is, by definition, intelligible and thus finite and limited. Since the first principle is that which is infinite it therefore cannot …

On Eros In Plotinus: Attempt At A Systematic Reconstruction (With A Preliminary Chapter On Plato), Alberto Bertozzi

Dissertations

This study is an attempt at a systematic reconstruction of Plotinus’ understanding of eros or love in two basic steps, corresponding to Chapters One−Two and Three−Four respectively.

The first step highlights Plotinus’ connection to Plato. In Chapter One, first I argue that Plotinus’ way of reading the dialogues is faithful to Plato’s intention insofar as it is an active engagement in the practice of philosophy advocated in the dialogues; I then try to show that some important elements of Plotinus’ understanding of eros, most notably the differentiation of levels of reality in the soul’s ascent to Beauty and the view …

Reason And Necessity: The Descent Of The Philosopher Kings, Damian Caluori

Philosophy Faculty Research

One of the reasons why one might find it worthwhile to study philosophers of late antiquity is the fact that they often have illuminating things to say about Plato and Aristotle. Plotinus, in particular, was a diligent and insightful reader of those great masters. Michael Frede was certainly of that view, and when he wrote that '[o]ne can learn much more from Plotinus about Aristotle than from most modern accounts of the Stagirite', he would not have objected, I presume, to the claim that Plotinus is also extremely helpful for the study of Plato. In this spirit I wish to …

Neoplatonism In The Risala (De Intellectu) Of Alfarabi, John Shannon Hendrix

Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation Faculty Publications

The Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus played an important role in the development of the Aristotelian concepts of intellect and perception in the Arabic commentators on Aristotle. Plotinus was not known to Arab scholars by name, but books Four to Six of the Enneads from the third century, as compiled by Porphyry, were paraphrased in the text called the Theology of Aristotle, which was translated between 833 and 842 by the circle of al-Kindi in Baghdad. The translation combined Aristole, Plotinus, and Christian and Islamic doctrines, and had a significant effect on early Islamic philosophy. The al-Kindi circle also …

Plotinus On Primary Being, Damian Caluori

Philosophy Faculty Research

Late antique philosophers took a great interest in metaphysics. Indeed, the discipline's very name, "metaphysics", goes back to late antiquity.¹ One of the main reasons for this great interest can be found in the view - widespread in this period - that an understanding of reality is crucial for our lives and for the destiny and salvation of our souls.² Only by contemplating and by possessing knowledge of reality - a reality that was thought to be beyond the world of our ordinary experience - is the soul in an uncorrupted state of well being. Metaphysics is precisely …

Between Being And Nothingness: The Metaphysical Foundations Underlying Augustine's Solution To The Problem Of Evil, Brian Keith Kooy

Philosophy Theses

Several commentators make the claim that Augustine is not a systematic thinker. The purpose of this thesis is to refute that claim in one specific area of Augustine's thought, the metaphysical foundations underlying his solutions to the problem of evil. Through an exegetical examination of various works in which Augustine writes on evil, I show that his solutions for both natural and moral evil rely on a coherent metaphysical system, conceived of and expounded upon within a Platonically influenced Christian context.

The Essential Functions Of A Plotinian Soul, Damian Caluori

Philosophy Faculty Research

In reading Plotinus one might get the impression that the essential functions of a Plotinian soul are very similar to those of an Aristotelian soul. Plotinus talks of such vegetative functions as growth, nurture and reproduction. He discusses such animal functions as sense perception, imagination and memory. And he attributes such functions as reasoning, judging and having opinions to the soul. In Plotinus' Psychology, Blumenthal bases his whole discussion of the soul on an analysis of these functions. He concludes that Plotinus 'saw the soul's activities as the functions of a series of faculties which were basically those of …

Emerson, Virtue, And Evil: Thoughts For A Rescue Operation, Lois M. Eveleth

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

Interpretations of Emerson's theme of self-reliance which generate charges that he understood neither evil nor virtue are inappropriate. A fairer reading should keep in mind the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus, which gave to Transcendentalism a dynamic emanation/return schema and to mankind a place of privilege in knowing and valuing Nature.

Alexander On Form-In-Matter And The Breakdown Of Aristotle's Categories, John O. Ellis

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

My discussion is divided into six sections. In the first I provide some background to the form-in-matter problem in Aristotle; the second focusses on Alexander's solution to the problem; in the third, we consider Plotinus' contribution; in the fourth, there's brief treatment of the problem by the commentators on the Categories; and finally in the fifth section I look at what I call the 'Lucius problem' - this pertains directly to the substantial qualities doctrine, and it reveals, I suggest, how Alexander's way of solving the form-in-matter problem contributes to the breakdown of Aristotelian categories. In the sixth section …

Were The Neoplatonists Itealists Or Realists?, John Bussanich

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Although it is relatively uncontroversial to characterize all Platonists as metaphysical idealists or immaterialists, the ascription to some of them of explicit arguments for epistemological idealism is controversial and problematic. It will be necessary to consider Neoplatonic attitudes toward perception of an external material world, but also the direct intellectual "perception" of the Forms.

Robert A. Heinlein: A Philosophical Novelist, Marie Guthrie

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Robert A. Heinlein is a key figure in the development of American science fiction. What makes his contribution unique is his emphasis on philosophical speculation. Heinlein's program is based on rationality as a vital element to salvation. Although the importance of rationality is an aspect of many schools of philosophy particular value may be gained by comparing Heinlein's system with the philosophy of Plotinus. An examination of Heinlein's key works (Stranger in a Strange Land. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough For Love, The Number of the Beast--. And various short stories I provides ample evidence to support …

Some Remarks On Some Neoplatonic Discussions Of Some Mathematical Concepts, Ian Mueller

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

Despite their reverence for Plato, the Neoplatonists tended to associate mathematics very closely with the sensible. I here discuss two issues frequently raised in Neoplatonic discussions of the category of quantity. Both concern disputes about the relation of priority between two concepts, in one case quantity and quality, in the other the discrete and continuous.

Iamblichus' Criticism Of His Immediate Predecessors, John M. Dillon

The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy Newsletter

This paper deals with the criticisms that Iamblichus levels against his predecessors. His differences with his predecessors are not as great as he tries to make them. His criticisms consist largely of reformulations and more exact specifications. He takes his stand as a conservative, preserving the purity of Platonism against Porphyry or Amelius.

A Study Of The Mysticism Of Plotinus And Augustine, R. Baine Harris

Master's Theses

Three major subjects are the concern of this study: Mysticism, Plotinus, and St. Augustine, any one of which would allow elaborate investigation. Here, we have made no attempt to deal with any one of these comprehensively, but have been concerned only to make a comparative analysis of the mysticisms of Plotinus and Augustine.

The writer's interest in Plotinus stems from the fact that Plotinus is both a first-rate philosopher and a mystic, being generally regarded as "the father of Western mysticism." The significance of Augustine in the history of Western Civilization and the fact that he is both a convert …