1.
Platonism
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Platonism, rendered as a proper noun, is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. Lower case platonists need not accept any of the doctrines of Plato, in a narrower sense, the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism. The forms are described in dialogues such as the Phaedo, Symposium. In the Republic the highest form is identified as the Form of the Good, the source of all other forms, in the Sophist, a later work, the forms being, sameness and difference are listed among the primordial Great Kinds. The primary concept is the Theory of Forms, the only true being is founded upon the forms, the eternal, unchangeable, perfect types, of which particular objects of moral and responsible sense are imperfect copies. The multitude of objects of sense, being involved in perpetual change, are deprived of all genuine existence. The number of the forms is defined by the number of concepts which can be derived from the particular objects of sense. The following excerpt may be representative of Platos middle period metaphysics and epistemology, Since the beautiful is opposite of the ugly, and since they are two, each is one. And the same account is true of the just and unjust, the good and the bad, each of them is itself one, but because they manifest themselves everywhere in association with actions, bodies, and one another, each of them appears to be many. The lovers of sights and sounds like beautiful sounds, colors, shapes, and everything fashioned out of them, in fact, there are very few people who would be able to reach the beautiful itself and see it by itself. What about someone who believes in things, but doesnt believe in the beautiful itself. Dont you think he is living in a rather than a wakened state. Isnt this dreaming, whether asleep or awake, to think that a likeness is not a likeness, I certainly think that someone who does that is dreaming. Book VI of the Republic identifies the highest form as the Form of the Good, the cause of all other Ideas, conceptions derived from the impressions of sense can never give us the knowledge of true being, i. e. of the forms. It can only be obtained by the activity within itself, apart from the troubles and disturbances of sense. Dialectic, as the instrument in this process, leading us to knowledge of the forms, later Neoplatonism, beginning with Plotinus, identified the Good of the Republic with the so-called transcendent, absolute One of the first hypothesis of the Parmenides. Platonist ethics is based on the Form of the Good, virtue is knowledge, the recognition of the supreme form of the good. And, since in this cognition, the three parts of the soul, which are reason, spirit, and appetite, all have their share, we get the three virtues, Wisdom, Courage, and Moderation
2.
Plotinus
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Plotinus was a major Greek-speaking philosopher of the ancient world. In his philosophy there are three principles, the One, the Intellect, and the Soul and his teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition. Historians of the 19th century invented the term Neoplatonism and applied it to him, much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from Porphyrys preface to his edition of Plotinus Enneads. His metaphysical writings have inspired centuries of Pagan, Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics. Porphyry reported that Plotinus was 66 years old when he died in 270, eunapius reported that Plotinus was born in the Deltaic Lycopolis in Egypt, which has led to speculations that he may have been a native Egyptian of Roman, Greek, or Hellenized Egyptian descent. Plotinus had an inherent distrust of materiality, holding to the view that phenomena were an image or mimicry of something higher. 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, 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-seven, 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 the ideas of Ammonius Saccas, upon hearing Ammonius lecture, he declared to his friend, this was the man I was looking for, and began to study intently under his new instructor. Besides Ammonius, Plotinus was also influenced by the works of Alexander of Aphrodisias, Numenius, after spending the next eleven years in Alexandria, he then decided, at the age of around 38, to investigate the philosophical teachings of the Persian philosophers and the Indian philosophers. In the pursuit of this endeavor he left Alexandria and joined the army of Gordian III as it marched on Persia. However, the campaign was a failure, and on Gordians 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 Philip the Arab, he came to Rome, there he attracted a number of students. He had students amongst the Roman Senate beside Castricius, such as Marcellus Orontius, Sabinillus, finally, Plotinus was a correspondent of the philosopher Cassius Longinus. While in Rome Plotinus also gained the respect of the Emperor Gallienus, an Imperial subsidy was never granted, for reasons unknown to Porphyry, who reports the incident. Porphyry subsequently went to live in Sicily, where word reached him that his teacher had died. The philosopher spent his 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, Eustochius records that 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
3.
Theory of forms
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Platos theory of Forms or theory of Ideas argues that non-physical forms represent the most accurate reality. When used in this sense, the form or idea is often capitalized. However, the theory is considered a classical solution to the problem of universals, the early Greek concept of form precedes attested philosophical usage and is represented by a number of words mainly having to do with vision, sight, and appearance. The words, εἶδος and ἰδέα come from the Indo-European root *weid-, eidos is already attested in texts of the Homeric era, the earliest Greek literature. This transliteration and the tradition of German and Latin lead to the expression theory of Ideas. The word is not the English idea, which is a mental concept only. The pre-Socratic philosophers, starting with Thales, noted that appearances change, the answer was substance, which stands under the changes and is the actually existing thing being seen. The status of appearances now came into question, what is the form really and how is that related to substance. Thus, the theory of matter and form was born, starting with at least Plato and possibly germinal in some of the presocratics the forms were considered as being in something else, which Plato called nature. The latter seemed as carved wood, ὕλη in Greek, corresponding to materia in Latin, from which the English word matter is derived, shaped by receiving forms. The Forms are expounded upon in Platos dialogues and general speech, in every object or quality in reality has a form, dogs, human beings, mountains, colors, courage, love. Form answers the question, What is that, Plato was going a step further and asking what Form itself is. He supposed that the object was essentially or really the Form and that the phenomena were mere shadows mimicking the Form, that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances. For example, Parmenides states, Nor, again, if a person were to show that all is one by partaking of one, but if he were to show me that the absolute one was many, or the absolute many one, I should be truly amazed. Matter is considered particular in itself, for Plato, forms, such as beauty, are more real than any object that imitate them. Though the forms are timeless and unchanging, physical things are in a constant change of existence, where forms are unqualified perfection, physical things are qualified and conditioned. These Forms are the essences of various objects, they are that without which a thing would not be the kind of thing it is. For example, there are tables in the world but the Form of tableness is at the core
4.
Demiurge
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In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge is an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was adopted by the Gnostics, depending on the system, they may be considered to be either uncreated and eternal, or considered to be the product of some other entity. The philosophical usage and the proper noun derive from Platos Timaeus, written c.360 BC and this is accordingly the definition of the demiurge in the Platonic and Middle Platonic philosophical traditions. In the various branches of the Neoplatonic school, the demiurge is the fashioner of the real, perceptible world after the model of the Ideas, Plato, as the speaker Timaeus, refers to the Demiurge frequently in the Socratic dialogue Timaeus, c.360 BC. The main character refers to the Demiurge as the entity who fashioned and shaped the material world, Timaeus describes the Demiurge as unreservedly benevolent, and hence desirous of a world as good as possible. The world remains imperfect, however, because the Demiurge created the world out of a chaotic, Platos work Timaeus is a philosophical reconciliation of Hesiods cosmology in his Theogony, syncretically reconciling Hesiod to Homer. In Numeniuss Neo-Pythagorean and Middle Platonist cosmogony, the Demiurge is second God as the nous or thought of intelligibles and sensibles, Plotinus and the later Platonists worked to clarify the Demiurge. To Plotinus, the second emanation represents a second cause. In order to reconcile Aristotelian with Platonian philosophy, Plotinus metaphorically identified the demiurge within the pantheon of the Greek Gods as Zeus, the first and highest aspect of God is described by Plato as the One, the source, or the Monad. This is the God above the Demiurge, and manifests through the work of the Demiurge, the Monad emanated the demiurge or Nous from its indeterminate vitality due to the monad being so abundant that it overflowed back onto itself, causing self-reflection. This self-reflection of the indeterminate vitality was referred to by Plotinus as the Demiurge or creator, the second principle is organization in its reflection of the nonsentient force or dynamis, also called the one or the Monad. Plotinus form of Platonic idealism is to treat the Demiurge, nous as the contemplative faculty within man which orders the force into conscious reality. In this he claimed to reveal Platos true meaning, a doctrine he learned from Platonic tradition that did not appear outside the academy or in Platos text. This tradition of creator God as nous, can be validated in the works of philosophers such as Numenius. Before Numenius of Apamea and Plotinus Enneads, no Platonic works ontologically clarified the Demiurge from the allegory in Platos Timaeus. The idea of Demiurge was, however, addressed before Plotinus in the works of Christian writer Justin Martyr who built his understanding of the Demiurge on the works of Numenius. The figure of the Demiurge emerges in the theoretic of Iamblichus, here, at the summit of this system, the Source and Demiurge coexist via the process of henosis. The One is further separated into spheres of intelligence, the first and superior sphere is objects of thought, then within this intellectual triad Iamblichus assigns the third rank to the Demiurge, identifying it with the perfect or Divine nous with the intellectual triad being promoted to a hebdomad
5.
Henosis
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Henosis is the classical Greek word for mystical oneness, union, or unity. In Platonism, and especially Neoplatonism, the goal of henosis is union with what is fundamental in reality, the One, the Neoplatonic concept has precedents in the Greek mystery religions as well as parallels in Eastern philosophy. It is further developed in the Corpus Hermeticum, in Christian theology, soteriology, the term is relatively common in classical texts, and has the meaning of union or unity. Henosis, orprimordial unity, is rational and deterministic, emanating from indeterminism an uncaused cause, each individual as a microcosm reflects the gradual ordering of the universe referred to as the macrocosm. In mimicking the demiurge, one unites with The One or Monad, thus the process of unification, of The Being, and The One, is called Henosis. The culmination of Henosis is deification, Henosis for Plotinus was defined in his works as a reversing of the ontological process of consciousness via meditation toward no thought and no division within the individual. As is specified in the writings of Plotinus on Henology, one can reach a tabula rasa and this absolute simplicity means that the nous or the person is then dissolved, completely absorbed back into the Monad. Within the Enneads of Plotinus the Monad can be referred to as the Good above the demiurge, the Monad or dunamis is of one singular expression all is contained in the Monad and the Monad is all. All division is reconciled in the one, the stage before reaching singularity, called duality, is completely reconciled in the Monad. As 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 and it is the demiurge or nous that perceives and therefore causes the force to manifest as energy, or the dyad called the material world. Nous as being, being and perception manifest what is called soul, 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 a character in that they reject matter as an illusion. Matter was strictly treated as immanent, with matter as essential to its being, having no true or transcendential character or essence, substance or ousia and this approach is called philosophical Idealism. Within the works of Iamblichus of Chalcis, The One and reconciliation of division can be obtained through the process of theurgy, by mimicking the demiurge, the individual is returned to the cosmos to implement the will of the divine mind. One goes through a series of theurgy or rituals that unites the initiate to the Monad and these rituals mimic the ordering of the chaos of the Universe into the material world or cosmos. Thus one without conflict internal or external is united and is The One, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but also in western mysticism, henosis can be acquired by theoria, hesychasm and contemplative prayer. Yet, the concept of theosis, or deification, differs from henosis, since created beings cannot become God in His transcendent essence, nondualism Absolute Apotheosis Fana Form of the Good Moksha Monolatrism The All Theosis http, //www. goddess-athena. org/Encyclopedia/Friends/Iamblichus/index. htm
6.
Macrocosm and microcosm
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Macrocosm and microcosm refers to a vision of cosmos where the part reflects the whole and vice versa. It is a present in all esoteric schools of thinking, according to scholar Pierre A. Riffard. It is closely associated with Hermeticism and underlies practices such as astrology, alchemy, §435, pg 151 Theories of Macrocosms and Microcosms in the History of Philosophy, G. P. Conger, NY,1922, which includes a survey of critical discussions up to 1922. Cosmos - an Illustrated Dimensional Journey from microcosmos to macrocosmos - from Digital Nature Agency
7.
Nous
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The three commonly used philosophical terms are from Greek, νοῦς or νόος, and Latin intellectus and intelligentia respectively. This activity is understood in a way, at least in some contexts. In philosophy, common English translations include understanding and mind, or sometimes thought or reason and it is also often described as something equivalent to perception except that it works within the mind. It has been suggested that the meaning is something like awareness. In colloquial British English, nous also denotes good sense, which is close to one everyday meaning it had in Ancient Greece, in Aristotles influential works, the term was carefully distinguished from sense perception, imagination, and reason, although these terms are closely inter-related. The term was already singled out by earlier philosophers such as Parmenides. In the Aristotelian scheme, nous is the understanding or awareness which allows human beings to think rationally. For Aristotle, this was distinct from the processing of sensory perception, including the use of imagination and memory, deriving from this it was also sometimes argued, especially in classical and medieval philosophy, that the individual nous must require help of a spiritual and divine type. By this type of account, it came to be argued that the human understanding somehow stems from this cosmic nous, which is not just a recipient of order. In early Greek uses, Homer used nous to signify mental activities of both mortals and immortals, for example what they really have on their mind as opposed to what they say aloud. It was one of words related to thought, thinking. In pre-Socratic philosophy, it became distinguished as a source of knowledge and reasoning and opposed to mere sense perception. For example, Heraclitus complained that much learning does not teach nous, among some Greek authors a faculty of intelligence, a higher mind, came to be considered to be a property of the cosmos as a whole. The work of Parmenides set the scene for Greek philosophy to come and he claimed that reality as the senses perceive it is not a world of truth at all, because sense perception is so unreliable, and what is perceived is so uncertain and changeable. Amongst the pre-Socratic philosophers before Anaxagoras, other philosophers had proposed a similar ordering human-like principle causing life and the rotation of the heavens. For example, Empedocles, like Hesiod much earlier, described cosmic order and living things as caused by a version of love. Anaxagoras wrote, All other things partake in a portion of everything, while nous is infinite and self-ruled, and is mixed with nothing, but is alone, itself by itself. For it is the thinnest of all things and the purest, and it has all knowledge about everything and the greatest strength, and nous has power over all things, both greater and smaller, that have soul
8.
Logos
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Logos is the logic behind an argument. Logos tries to persuade an audience using logical arguments and supportive evidence, Logos is a persuasive technique often used in writing and rhetoric. Ancient Greek philosophers used the term in different ways, the sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to refer to reasoned discourse or the argument in the field of rhetoric. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the animating principle pervading the Universe. Under Hellenistic Judaism, Philo adopted the term into Jewish philosophy, the Gospel of John identifies the Logos, through which all things are made, as divine, and further identifies Jesus Christ as the incarnate Logos. Despite the conventional translation as word, it is not used for a word in the sense, instead. However, both logos and lexis derive from the same verb legō, meaning count, tell, say, jeanne Fahnestock describes logos as a premise. She states that, to find the reason behind a rhetors backing of a position or stance. The rhetors success, she argues, will come down to objects of agreement. between arguer and audience. Logos is logical appeal, and the logic is derived from it. It is normally used to describe facts and figures that support the speakers topic, furthermore, logos is credited with appealing to the audiences sense of logic, with the definition of “logic” being concerned with the thing as it is known. Philo distinguished between logos prophorikos and the logos endiathetos, the Stoics also spoke of the logos spermatikos, which is not important in the Biblical tradition but is relevant in Neoplatonism. Early translators from Greek, such as Jerome in the 4th century, were frustrated by the inadequacy of any single Latin word to convey the Logos expressed in the Gospel of John. The Vulgate Bible usage of in principio erat verbum was thus constrained to use the noun verbum for word, but later romance language translations had the advantage of nouns such as le mot in French. Martin Luther rejected Zeitwort in favor of Wort, for instance, although later commentators repeatedly turned to a dynamic use involving the living word as felt by Jerome. For Heraclitus, logos provided the link between rational discourse and the rational structure. This logos holds always but humans always prove unable to understand it, but other people fail to notice what they do when awake, just as they forget what they do while asleep. For this reason it is necessary to follow what is common, but although the logos is common, most people live as if they had their own private understanding
9.
Enneads
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The Enneads, fully The Six Enneads, is the collection of writings of Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry. Plotinus was a student of Ammonius Saccas and they were founders of Neoplatonism, then, he proceeded to set the fifty-four treatises in groups of nine or Enneads. He also collected The Enneads into three volumes, the first volume contained the first three Enneads, the second volume has the Fourth and the Fifth Enneads, and the last volume was devoted to the remaining Enneads. After correcting and naming each treatise, Porphyry wrote a biography of his master, Life of Plotinus, since the publishing of a modern critical edition of the Greek text by P. Henry and H. -R. These numbers are divided by dots, by commas or blank spaces, for Fourth Ennead, treatise number seven, chapter two, lines one to five, we write, IV.7.2. 1-5 E. g. In addition to this, the order of the treatises is numbered between brackets or parentheses, and given below. For the previously given, IV.7.2. 1-5 since treatise IV.7 was the written by Plotinus. III,5,9,8 since III.5 was the written by Plotinus. The names of treatises may differ according to translation, the numbers in square brackets before the individual works refer to the chronological order they were written according to Porphyrys Life of Plotinus. I.1 - What is the Living Being and What is Man, I.2 - On Virtue I.3 - On Dialectic. I.4 - On True Happiness I.5 - On Whether Happiness Increases with Time, II.6 - On Quality or on Substance II.7 - On Complete Transfusion II.8 - On Sight or on how Distant Objects Appear Small. II.9 - Against Those That Affirm The Creator of the Kosmos, III.1 - On Fate III.2 - On Providence. Many passages of Enneads IV-VI, now known as Plotiniana Arabica, the writings had a significant effect on Islamic philosophy, due to Islamic interest in Aristotle. A Latin version of the so-called Theology appeared in Europe in 1519, contemporary scholars refer to the Plotinus critical editions made by HENRY, P. and SCHWYZER, H. -R. Bruxelles and Paris, Museum Lessianum, 1951-1973, useful tools for the study of the Enneads are SLEEMAN, J. -H and POLLET, G. Lexikon Plotinianum. R. and BOMBACIGNO, R. Lexicon II, Plotinus, ATKINSON, M. Plotinus Ennead V.1, On the Three Principal Hypostases Oxford, OUP,1983. The One and its Relation to Intellect, allegorical interpretations of Plato Works related to The Enneads at Wikisource The Six Enneads in PDF, HTML, Microsoft Word, Plain Text, Theological Markup Language, and Palm Doc versions. The Six Enneads – Mackenna and Page translation divided into six sections in HTML, the Enneads, Greek text page scans of Kirchhoffs edition
10.
Liber de Causis
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The Liber de Causis was a philosophical work once attributed to Aristotle that became popular in the Middle Ages, first in Arabic and Islamic countries and later in the Latin West. The real authorship remains a mystery, but most of the content is taken from Proclus Elements of Theology and this was first noticed by Thomas Aquinas, following William of Moerbekes translation of the works of Proclus into Latin. As such it is now attributed to a Pseudo-Aristotle, the original title in Arabic was Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ li-Arisṭūṭālis fī l-khayr al-maḥd, The book of Aristotles explanation of the pure good. The title Liber de Causis came into use following the translation into Latin by Gerard of Cremona,2005 Meiner Felix Verlag Gmbh ISBN 978-3-7873-1705-9, Latin text, German translation Adriaan Pattin, Le Liber de Causis. Edition établie a laide de 90 manuscrits avec introduction et notes, in Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 28 pp. 90–203, Latin text Dennis J. Brand, tr. 1, S. 172–243 Albertus Magnus, Liber de causis et processu universitatis a prima causa Cristina D’Ancona Costa, Tommaso dAquino, Commento al Libro delle cause. Rusconi, Milano 1986, commentary by Thomas Aquinas Sancti Thomae de Aquino super librum De Causis expositio Manuel Alonso Alonso, al-Andalus, revista de las escuelas de estudios árabes de Madrid y Granada,1945, pp. 345–382. Dragos Calma, The Exegetical Tradition of Medieval Neoplatonism, considerations on a Recently Discovered Corpus of Texts, in Dragos Calma, Neoplatonism in the Middle Ages. New Commentaries on Liber de Causis and Elementatio Theologica,2 vols, Turnhout, Brepols,2016, see Paloma Llorente Megías, Liber de Causis, Indice y Concordancia, Florence, Olschki 2004. Cristina D’Ancona Costa, Recherches sur le Liber de causis, vrin, Paris 1995, ISBN 2-7116-1225-2 Cristina D’Ancona, Richard C. University press, Freiburg 1995, ISBN 3-7278-0994-9 Richard C
11.
The Consolation of Philosophy
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The Consolation of Philosophy is a work by the sixth-century philosopher Boethius covering a wide range of topics, lauded as a great work of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Boethius was at the heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. It has been described as by far the most interesting example of literature the world has ever seen. God is however represented not only as an eternal and all-knowing being, Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy. She consoles Boethius by discussing the nature of fame and wealth, and the ultimate superiority of things of the mind. She contends that happiness comes from within, and that virtue is all that one truly has, Boethius engages questions such as the nature of predestination and free will, why evil men often prosper and good men fall into ruin, human nature, virtue, and justice. He speaks about the nature of free will and determinism when he asks if God knows and sees all, on human nature, Boethius says that humans are essentially good and only when they give in to “wickedness” do they “sink to the level of being an animal. In the Consolation, Boethius answered religious questions without reference to Christianity, relying solely on natural philosophy and he believed in the correspondence between faith and reason. The truths found in Christianity would be no different from the found in philosophy. In the words of Henry Chadwick, If the Consolation contains nothing distinctively Christian, is a work written by a Platonist who is also a Christian, but is not a Christian work. To acquire a taste for it is almost to become naturalised in the Middle Ages — C. S and it is through Boethius that much of the thought of the Classical period was made available to the Western Medieval world. It has often been said Boethius was the “last of the Romans, the philosophical message of the book fits well with the religious piety of the Middle Ages. Readers were encouraged not to seek worldly goods such as money and power, evil had a purpose, to provide a lesson to help change for good, while suffering from evil was seen as virtuous. Because God ruled the universe through Love, prayer to God, the Middle Ages, with their vivid sense of an overruling fate, found in Boethius an interpretation of life closely akin to the spirit of Christianity. The book is influenced by Plato and his dialogues. Translations into the vernacular were done by famous notables, including King Alfred, Jean de Meun, Geoffrey Chaucer, Queen Elizabeth I, citations from it occur frequently in Dantes Divina Commedia. Of Boethius, Dante remarked “The blessed soul who exposes the deceptive world to anyone who gives ear to him. ”Boethian influence can be found everywhere in Geoffrey Chaucers poetry. The Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola used some of the text in his choral work Canti di prigionia, tom Shippey in The Road to Middle-earth says how “Boethian” much of the treatment of evil is in Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings
12.
De divisione naturae
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De divisione naturae is the title given by Thomas Gale to his edition of the work originally titled by Eriugena Periphyseon. This work was the magnum opus of ninth century theologian Johannes Scotus Eriugena, the work is arranged in five books. The form of exposition is that of dialogue, the method of reasoning is the syllogism, natura is the name for the universal, the totality of all things, containing in itself being and non-being. It is the unity of all special phenomena are manifestations. The first is God as the ground or origin of all things, the last is God as the end or goal of all things. Thus we distinguish in the system beginning, middle and end. We are compelled to envisage this eternal process under the form of time, the work was probably carried out beginning in the early 860s and completed around 866–67. This is based on a dedication in the book identifying as frater Wulfad, the work was not widely circulated in the authors lifetime. Eriugena was assisted by one, possibly two other persons in writing the book, based on the presence of margin notes indicating the penmanship of two separate persons. One of these is believed to have been Eriugena himself, while the other was the script indicates that the writer was a fellow Irishman. De divisione naturae was condemned by a council at Sens by Honorius III, who described it as swarming with worms of heretical perversity, and by Pope Gregory XIII in 1585. In 1681, the long-lost work was found at Oxford University, and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. The Division of Nature has been called the achievement of ancient philosophy. It is presented, like Alcuins book, as a dialogue between Master and Pupil, Eriugena anticipates Thomas Aquinas, who said that one cannot know and believe a thing at the same time. Eriugena explains that reason is necessary to understand and interpret revelation, authority is the source of knowledge, but the reason of mankind is the norm by which all authority is judged. Digitized Latin version on Google Books Moran, Dermot
13.
Plato
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Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries, Platos entire work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years. Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Alfred North Whitehead once noted, the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. In addition to being a figure for Western science, philosophy. Friedrich Nietzsche, amongst other scholars, called Christianity, Platonism for the people, Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy, which originate with him. He was not the first thinker or writer to whom the word “philosopher” should be applied, few other authors in the history of Western philosophy approximate him in depth and range, perhaps only Aristotle, Aquinas and Kant would be generally agreed to be of the same rank. Due to a lack of surviving accounts, little is known about Platos early life, the philosopher came from one of the wealthiest and most politically active families in Athens. Ancient sources describe him as a bright though modest boy who excelled in his studies, the exact time and place of Platos birth are unknown, but it is certain that he belonged to an aristocratic and influential family. Based on ancient sources, most modern scholars believe that he was born in Athens or Aegina between 429 and 423 BCE. According to a tradition, reported by Diogenes Laertius, Ariston traced his descent from the king of Athens, Codrus. Platos mother was Perictione, whose family boasted of a relationship with the famous Athenian lawmaker, besides Plato himself, Ariston and Perictione had three other children, these were two sons, Adeimantus and Glaucon, and a daughter Potone, the mother of Speusippus. The brothers Adeimantus and Glaucon are mentioned in the Republic as sons of Ariston, and presumably brothers of Plato, but in a scenario in the Memorabilia, Xenophon confused the issue by presenting a Glaucon much younger than Plato. Then, at twenty-eight, Hermodorus says, went to Euclides in Megara, as Debra Nails argues, The text itself gives no reason to infer that Plato left immediately for Megara and implies the very opposite. Thus, Nails dates Platos birth to 424/423, another legend related that, when Plato was an infant, bees settled on his lips while he was sleeping, an augury of the sweetness of style in which he would discourse about philosophy. Ariston appears to have died in Platos childhood, although the dating of his death is difficult. Perictione then married Pyrilampes, her mothers brother, who had served many times as an ambassador to the Persian court and was a friend of Pericles, Pyrilampes had a son from a previous marriage, Demus, who was famous for his beauty. Perictione gave birth to Pyrilampes second son, Antiphon, the half-brother of Plato and these and other references suggest a considerable amount of family pride and enable us to reconstruct Platos family tree
14.
Origen
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Origen, or Origen Adamantius, was a Greek scholar, ascetic, and early Christian theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a writer in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, philosophical theology, preaching. He was anathematised at the Second Council of Constantinople and he was one of the most influential figures in early Christian asceticism. Origens Greek name Ōrigénēs probably means child of Horus and his nickname or cognomen Adamantios derives from Greek adámas, which means adamant, unalterable, unbreakable, unconquerable, diamond. He acquired it because of his ascetical practices. Origen was born in Alexandria to Christian parents and he was educated by his father, Leonides of Alexandria, who gave him a standard Hellenistic education, but also had him study the Christian scriptures. The name of his mother is unknown, in 202, Origens father was martyred in the outbreak of the persecution during the reign of Septimius Severus. A story reported by Eusebius has it that Origen wished to follow him in martyrdom, the death of Leonides left the family of nine impoverished when their property was confiscated. Many modern scholars, however, doubt that Clements school had been an ecclesiastical institution as Origens was. His fame and the number of his pupils increased rapidly, so that Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria, Origen, to be entirely independent, sold his library for a sum which netted him a daily income of 4 obols, on which he lived by exercising the utmost frugality. Teaching throughout the day, he devoted the greater part of the night to the study of the Bible, Eusebius reported that Origen, following Matthew 19,12 literally, castrated himself. The later church historian Philostorgius of Apamea, on the other hand, Eusebius story was accepted during the Middle Ages and was cited by Peter Abelard in his letters to Heloise. Edward Gibbon, in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, during the past century, scholars have often questioned this, surmising that this may have been a rumor circulated by his detractors. Henry Chadwick points out that, while the story may be true, it seems unlikely, however, many noted historians, such as Peter Brown and William Placher, continue to find no reason to deny the truth of Eusebius claims. But the school had far outgrown the strength of a man, the catechumens pressed eagerly for elementary instruction. Under these circumstances, Origen entrusted the teaching of the catechumens to Heraclas and his own interests became more and more centered in exegesis, and he accordingly studied Hebrew, though there is no certain knowledge concerning his instructor in that language. From about this period dates Origens acquaintance with Ambrose of Alexandria, later Ambrose, a man of wealth, made a formal agreement with Origen to promulgate his writings, and all the subsequent works of Origen were dedicated to Ambrose. In the following year, an uprising at Alexandria caused Caracalla to let his soldiers plunder the city, shut the schools
15.
Porphyry (philosopher)
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Porphyry of Tyre was a Neoplatonic philosopher who was born in Tyre, in the Roman Empire. He edited and published the Enneads, the collection of the work of his teacher Plotinus. His commentary on Euclids Elements was used as a source by Pappus of Alexandria and he also wrote many works himself on a wide variety of topics. His Isagoge, or Introduction, is an introduction to logic and philosophy, under Longinus he studied grammar and rhetoric. In 262 he went to Rome, attracted by the reputation of Plotinus, at one point he became suicidal. On the advice of Plotinus he went to live in Sicily for five years to recover his mental health, on returning to Rome, he lectured on philosophy and completed an edition of the writings of Plotinus together with a biography of his teacher. Iamblichus is mentioned in ancient Neoplatonic writings as his pupil, the two men differed publicly on the issue of theurgy. In his later years, he married Marcella, a widow with seven children, little more is known of his life, and the date of his death is uncertain. Porphyry is best known for his contributions to philosophy, in medieval textbooks, the all-important Arbor porphyriana illustrates his logical classification of substance. To this day, taxonomy benefits from concepts in Porphyrys Tree, the Introduction was translated into Arabic by Abd-Allāh Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ from a Syriac version. With the Arabicized name Isāghūjī it long remained the standard introductory text in the Muslim world and influenced the study of theology, philosophy, grammar. Besides the adaptations and epitomes of this work, many independent works on logic by Muslim philosophers have been entitled Isāghūjī, Porphyrys discussion of accident sparked a long-running debate on the application of accident and essence. There is debate as to whether it was written in his youth or closer in time to the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian, whether or not Porphyry was the pagan philosopher opponent in Lactantius Divine Institutes, written at the time of the persecutions, has long been discussed. The fragments of the Philosophy from Oracles are only quoted by Christians, especially Eusebius, Theodoret, Augustine, the fragments contain oracles identifying proper sacrificial procedure, the nature of astrological fate, and other topics relevant for Greek and Roman religion in the third century. Whether this work contradicts his treatise defending vegetarianism, which warned the philosopher to avoid animal sacrifice, is disputed among scholars. During his retirement in Sicily, Porphyry wrote Against the Christians which consisted of fifteen books, Porphyry acknowledged Jesus Christ only as an outstanding philosopher. Some thirty Christian apologists, such as Methodius, Eusebius, Apollinaris, Augustine, Jerome, in fact, everything known about Porphyry’s arguments is found in these refutations, largely because Theodosius II ordered every copy burned in A. D.435 and again in 448. Porphyry became one of the most able pagan adversaries of Christianity of his day and his aim was not to disprove the substance of Christianity’s teachings but rather the records within which the teachings are communicated
16.
Iamblichus
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Iamblichus, also known as Iamblichus Chalcidensis, or Iamblichus of Apamea, was a Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher who determined the direction taken by later Neoplatonic philosophy. Iamblichus was the representative of Syrian Neoplatonism, though his influence spread over much of the ancient world. The events of his life and his religious beliefs are not entirely known, according to the Suda, and his biographer Eunapius, he was born at Chalcis in Syria. He was the son of a rich and illustrious family, and he initially studied under Anatolius of Laodicea, and later went on to study under Porphyry, a pupil of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism. He disagreed with Porphyry over the practice of theurgy, Iamblichus responds to Porphyrys criticisms of theurgy in a book attributed to him, around 304, he returned to Syria to found his own school at Apameia, a city famous for its Neoplatonic philosophers. Here he designed a curriculum for studying Plato and Aristotle, still, for Iamblichus, Pythagoras was the supreme authority. He is known to have written the Collection of Pythagorean Doctrines, only the first four books, and fragments of the fifth, survive. Scholars noted that the Exhortation to Philosophy of Iamblichus was composed in Apamea in the early 4th c, Iamblichus was said to have been a man of great culture and learning. He was also renowned for his charity and self-denial, many students gathered around him, and he lived with them in genial friendship. According to Fabricius, he died during the reign of Constantine, only a fraction of Iamblichus books have survived. For our knowledge of his system, we are indebted partly to the fragments of writings preserved by Stobaeus and others. The notes of his successors, especially Proclus, as well as his five extant books, besides these, Proclus seems to have ascribed to him the authorship of the celebrated treatise Theurgia, or On the Egyptian Mysteries. However, the differences between this book and Iamblichus other works in style and in points of doctrine have led some to question whether Iamblichus was the actual author. As a speculative theory, Neoplatonism had received its highest development from Plotinus, unlike Plotinus who broke from Platonic tradition and asserted an undescended soul, Iamblichus re-affirmed the souls embodiment in matter believing matter to be as divine as the rest of the cosmos. It is most likely on account that lamblichus was venerated. Iamblichus was highly praised by those who followed his thought, by his contemporaries, Iamblichus was accredited with miraculous powers. During the revival of interest in his philosophy in the 15th and 16th centuries, at the head of his system, Iamblichus placed the transcendent incommunicable One, the monad, whose first principle is intellect, nous. Immediately after the absolute One, lamblichus introduced a second superexistent One to stand between it and the many as the producer of intellect, or soul, psyche and these three entities, the psyche, and the nous split into the intelligible and the intellective, form a triad
17.
Julian (emperor)
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Julian, also known as Julian the Apostate, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. A member of the Constantinian dynasty, Julian became Caesar over the provinces by order of Constantius II in 355 and in this role campaigned successfully against the Alamanni. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 357 at the Battle of Argentoratum. In 360 in Lutetia he was proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, before the two could face each other in battle, however, Constantius died, after naming Julian as his rightful successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Though initially successful, Julian was mortally wounded in battle and died shortly thereafter, Julian was a man of unusually complex character, he was the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters. He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to, as he saw it, save it from dissolution. He purged the state bureaucracy and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity. His anti-Christian sentiment and promotion of Neoplatonic paganism caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate by the church and he was the last emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, the empires first Christian dynasty. Both of his parents were Christians and his paternal grandparents were Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. His maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus, praetorian prefect of the East under emperor Licinius from 315 to 324, the name of Julians maternal grandmother is unknown. Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II were proclaimed joint emperors, Julian and Gallus were excluded from public life, were strictly guarded in their youth, and given a Christian education. They were likely saved by their youth and at the urging of the Empress Eusebia, if Julians later writings are to be believed, Constantius would later be tormented with guilt at the massacre of 337. After Eusebius died in 342, both Julian and Gallus were exiled to the estate of Macellum in Cappadocia. Here Julian met the Christian bishop George of Cappadocia, who lent him books from the classical tradition, at the age of 18, the exile was lifted and he dwelt briefly in Constantinople and Nicomedia. He became a lector, an office in the Christian church. Julian studied Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under Aedesius, the philosopher and he was summoned to Constantius court in Mediolanum in 354 and kept there for a year, in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study in Athens. While there, Julian became acquainted with two men who became both bishops and saints, Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great
18.
Hypatia
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Hypatia, often called Hypatia of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher in Egypt, then a part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was the head of the Neoplatonic school at Alexandria, where she taught philosophy, the mathematician and philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria was the only daughter of the mathematician Theon of Alexandria. Around 400, she became head of the Neoplatonist School in Alexandria, where she imparted the knowledge of Plato and Aristotle to students, including pagans, Christians, however, not all Christians were as hostile towards her, some Christians even used Hypatia as symbolic of Virtue. Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, neither did she feel abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her dignity and virtue admired her the more. Hypatia corresponded with former pupil Synesius, who was tutored by her in the school of Platonism and later became bishop of Ptolemais in 410. Together with the references by the pagan philosopher Damascius, these are the extant records left by Hypatias pupils at the Platonist school of Alexandria. Hypatia was murdered during an episode of city-wide anger stemming from a feud between Orestes, the prefect of Alexandria, and Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria and her death is symbolic for some historians. On the other hand, Christian Wildberg notes that Hellenistic philosophy continued to flourish in the 5th and 6th centuries, of the many accounts of Hypatias death, the most complete is the one written around 415 by Socrates Scholasticus and included in the Historia Ecclesiastica. According to this account, in 415 a feud began over Jewish dancing exhibitions in Alexandria, Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria, and Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, engaged in a bitter feud in which Hypatia eventually became a main point of contention. Orestes published an edict that outlined new regulations for such gatherings, the edict angered Christians as well as Jews. At one such gathering, Hierax, a devout Christian follower of Cyril, read the edict, many people felt that Hierax was attempting to incite the crowd into sedition. Orestes reacted swiftly and violently out of what Scholasticus suspected was jealousy the growing power of the bishops… encroached on the jurisdiction of the authorities and he ordered Hierax to be seized and tortured publicly in the theater. Hearing of Hieraxs severe and public punishment, Cyril threatened to retaliate against the Jews of Alexandria with the utmost severities if the harassment of Christians did not cease immediately. In response to Cyrils threat, the Jews of Alexandria grew even more furious, Socrates of Constantinoples account says that the Jews had plotted to flush out the Christians at night by running through the streets claiming that the Church of Alexander was on fire. The feud between Cyril and Orestes intensified because of things, and both men wrote to the emperor regarding the situation. Eventually, Cyril attempted to out to Orestes through several peace overtures
19.
Macrobius
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Only in later manuscripts were his names reversed as Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, which James Willis then adopted for his edition of the Commentary. Little is known for certain about Macrobius, but there are many theories and he states at the beginning of his Saturnalia that he was born under a foreign sky, and both of his major works are dedicated to his son, Eustachius. His major works have led experts to assume that he was a pagan, which foreign sky Macrobius was born under has been the subject of much speculation. Terrot Glover considers Macrobius either an ethnic Greek, or born in one of the Greek-speaking parts of the Roman Empire, such as Egypt, J. E. Sandys went further and argued that Macrobius was born in one of the Greek provinces. Scholars have attempted to identify him with a Macrobius who is mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus as a prefect of Spain. The Codex Theodosianus also records a praepositus named Macrobius in 422, a number of older authorities go so far as to identify Macrobius the author with the first, and date his floruit to 399–410. Further, Cameron points out that during his lifetime Macrobius was referred to as Theodosius and it is significant that the only surviving law addressed to this Theodosius sanctions a privilege for Africa Proconsularis on the basis of information received concerning Byzacena, Cameron notes. Macrobiuss most influential one of the most widely cited books of the Middle Ages—was a commentary in two books on the Dream of Scipio narrated by Cicero at the end of his Republic. In astronomy, this work is noted for giving the diameter of the Sun as twice the diameter of the Earth. Of a third work On the Differences and Similarities of the Greek and Latin Verb, we possess an abstract by a certain Johannes. See editions by Ludwig von Jan, Franz Eyssenhardt, James Willis, the grammatical treatise will be found in Jans edition and Heinrich Keils Grammatici latini, see also Georg Friedrich Schömann, Commentatio macrobiana. Macrobiuss Saturnalia consists of an account of the held at the house of Vettius Agorius Praetextatus during the holiday of the Saturnalia. It contains a variety of curious historical, mythological, critical, antiquarian. The work takes the form of a series of dialogues among learned men at a fictional banquet. The latter part of the book is taken up with a dissertation upon luxury and the sumptuary laws intended to check it. The seventh book consists largely of the discussion of various physiological questions, the primary value of the work lies in the facts and opinions quoted from earlier writers. Cambridge, MA/ London, Harvard University Press,2011, percival Vaughan Davies, Macrobius, The Saturnalia. New York, Columbia University Press,1969, william Harris Stahl, Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio
20.
Augustine of Hippo
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Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia, Augustine is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, according to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine established anew the ancient Faith. In his early years, he was influenced by Manichaeism. After his baptism and conversion to Christianity in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin, when the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview, the segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustines On the Trinity. Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Christian Church, and he is also the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death, Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists and Lutherans, consider him to be one of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation. Lutherans, and Martin Luther in particular, have held Augustine in preeminence, Luther himself was a member of the Order of the Augustinian Eremites. In the East, some of his teachings are disputed and have in the 20th century in particular come under attack by such theologians as John Romanides, but other theologians and figures of the Eastern Orthodox Church have shown significant appropriation of his writings, chiefly Georges Florovsky. The most controversial doctrine surrounding his name is the filioque, which has been rejected by the Orthodox Church, other disputed teachings include his views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, and predestination. Nevertheless, though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is considered a saint. In the Orthodox Church his feast day is celebrated on 28 August and he was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, Augustine was born in the year 354 AD in the municipium of Thagaste in Roman Africa. His mother, Monica or Monnica, was a devout Christian, in his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to the consciousness of his African heritage
21.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
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The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as Dionysios, portraying himself as the figure of Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian convert of Paul of Tarsus mentioned in Acts 17,34. This false attribution to the earliest decades of Christianity resulted in the work being given authority in subsequent theological writing in both East and West. Its influence decreased in the West with the 15th century demonstration of its later dating, in attempts to identify a date after which the corpus must have been composed, a number of features have been identified in Dionysius writing, though the latter two are subject to scholarly debate. In the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy Dionysius twice seems to allude to the recitation of the Creed in the course of the liturgy. It is often asserted that Peter the Fuller first mandated the inclusion of the Nicene Creed in the liturgy in 476, thus providing an earliest date for the composition of the Corpus. It is often suggested that because Dionysius seems to eschew divisive Christological language, he was writing after the Henoticon of Zeno was in effect. Also, given that the Henoticon was rescinded in 518, if Dionysius was writing after this date and it is possible that pseudo-Dionysius was himself a member of this group, though debate continues over whether his writings do in fact reveal a monophysite understanding of Christ. The author pseudonymously identifies himself in the corpus as Dionysios, portraying himself as the figure of Dionysius the Areopagite, various legends existed in the early surrounding the figure of Dionysius, who became emblematic of the spread of the gospel to the Greek world. It is therefore not surprising that that author of works would have chosen to adopt the name of this otherwise briefly mentioned figure. }}The authorship of the Dionysian Corpus was initially disputed, Severus and his party affirmed its apostolic dating. During the 19th century modernist Catholics too came generally to accept that the author must have lived after the time of Proclus, both showed that Dionysius had used, in his treatise on evil in Chapter 4 of The Divine Names, the De malorum subsistentia of Proclus. Corrigan and Harrington find Pseudo-Dionysius to be most probably a pupil of Proclus, perhaps of Syrian origin, who knew enough of Platonism and the Christian tradition to transform them both. Since Proclus died in 485, and since the first clear citation of Dionysius works is by Severus of Antioch between 518 and 528, then we can place Dionysius authorship between 485 and 518-28. Ronald Hathaway provides a table listing most of the identifications of Dionysius. A more recent identification is with Damascius, the last scholarch of the School of Athens, there is therefore no current scholarly consensus on the question of Pseudo-Dionysius identification. There was no concept of property in the ancient world. The Stanford Encyclopedia claims It must also be recognized that forgery is a modern notion, like Plotinus and the Cappadocian Fathers before him, Dionysius does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition. His works are mystical, and show strong Neoplatonic influence, for example he uses Plotinus well-known analogy of a sculptor cutting away that which does not enhance the desired image, and shows familiarity with Proclus. He also shows influence from Clement of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers, Origen of Alexandria, Parmenides, according to pseudo-Dionysius, God is better characterized and approached by negations than by affirmations
22.
Simplicius of Cilicia
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Simplicius of Cilicia was a disciple of Ammonius Hermiae and Damascius, and was one of the last of the Neoplatonists. He was among the pagan philosophers persecuted by Justinian in the early 6th century and he wrote extensively on the works of Aristotle. His works have preserved much information about earlier philosophers which would have otherwise been lost, Simplicius was a disciple of Ammonius Hermiae, and Damascius, and was consequently one of the last members of the Neoplatonist school. The school had its headquarters in Athens and it became the centre of the last efforts to maintain Hellenistic religion against the encroachments of Christianity. Imperial edicts enacted in the 5th century against paganism gave legal protection to pagans against personal maltreatment, in the year 528 the emperor Justinian ordered that pagans should be removed from government posts. Some were robbed of their property, some put to death, the order specified that if they did not within three months convert to Christianity, they were to be banished from the Empire. In addition, it was any longer to teach philosophy. But they were disappointed in their hopes, chosroes, in a peace treaty concluded with Justinian c.533 stipulated that the philosophers should be allowed to return without risk and to practise their rites, after which they returned. Of the subsequent fortunes of the seven philosophers we learn nothing and we know little about where Simplicius lived and taught. That he not only wrote, but taught, is proved by the address to his hearers in the commentary on the Physica Auscultatio of Aristotle, as to his personal history, especially his migration to Persia, no definite allusions are to be found in the writings of Simplicius. The works which have survived are his commentaries upon Aristotles de Caelo, Physica Auscultatio, there is also a commentary on Aristotles de Anima under his name, but it is stylistically inferior and lacks the breadth of historical information usually used by Simplicius. It has been suggested that it was written by Priscian of Lydia, Simplicius wrote his commentary on the Physica Auscultatio after the death of Damascius, and therefore after his return from Persia. When it was that he wrote his explanations of the Categories, whether before or after those on the above-mentioned Aristotelian treatises, it is impossible to ascertain. Besides these commentaries of Simplicius which have preserved, the de Anima commentary mentions explanations on the metaphysical books. Simplicius, as a Neoplatonist, endeavoured to show that Aristotle agrees with Plato even on those points which he controverts, so that he may lead the way to their deeper, hidden meaning. In his view not only Plotinus, but also Syrianus, Proclus, and Ammonius, are great philosophers, many of the more ancient Greek philosophers he also brings into a connection with Platonism. His commentaries can, therefore, be regarded as the richest in their contents of any that have come down to us concerning Aristotle and it is true he himself complains that in his time both the school and the writings of the followers of Zeno had perished. But where he cannot draw immediately from the sources, he looks round for guides whom he can depend upon
23.
Boethius
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Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius, was a Roman senator, consul, magister officiorum, and philosopher of the early 6th century. Boethius was born in Rome to a family around 480 AD. His family, the Anicii, included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and his father, Manlius Boethius, who was appointed consul in 487, died while Boethius was young. Another patrician, Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, adopted and raised Boethius, instilling in him a love for literature and philosophy. Both Memmius Symmachus and Boethius were fluent in Greek, a rare skill at the time in the Western Empire, for this reason. The French scholar Pierre Courcelle has argued that Boethius studied at Alexandria with the Neo-Platonist philosopher Ammonius Hermiae, on account of his erudition, Boethius entered the service of Theodoric the Great at a young age and was already a senator by the age of 25. Boethius married his foster-fathers daughter, Rusticiana, their children included two boys, Symmachus and Boethius. In 522, the year his two sons were appointed joint consuls, Boethius accepted the appointment to the position of magister officiorum. This may have set in place a course of events that would lead to loss of royal favour, five hundred years later, this continuing disagreement led to the East-West Schism in 1054, in which communion between the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church was broken. In 523 Boethius fell from power, after a period of imprisonment in Pavia for what was deemed a treasonable offence, he was executed in 524. The primary sources are in agreement over the facts of what happened. At a meeting of the Royal Council in Verona, the referandarius Cyprianus accused the ex-consul Caecina Decius Faustus Albinus of treasonous correspondence with Justin I. Boethius leapt to his defense, crying, The charge of Cyprianus is false, but if Albinus did that, so also have I, Cyprianus then also accused Boethius of the same crime, and produced three men who claimed they had witnessed the crime. First the pair were detained in the baptistery of a church, then Boethius was exiled to the Ager Calventianus, a distant country estate, the basic facts in the case are not in dispute, writes Jeffrey Richards. What is disputed about this sequence of events is the interpretation that should be put on them, Boethius claims his crime was seeking the safety of the Senate. He describes the three witnesses against him as dishonorable, Basilius had been dismissed from Royal service for his debts, while Venantius Opilio, however, other sources depict these men in a far more positive light. For example, Cassiodorus describes Cyprianus and Opilio as utterly scrupulous, just and loyal and mentions they are brothers, Theodoric was feeling threatened by international events. The Acacian Schism had been resolved, and the Nicene Christian aristocrats of his kingdom were seeking to renew their ties with Constantinople, the Catholic Hilderic had become king of the Vandals and had put Theodorics sister Amalafrida to death, and Arians in the East were being persecuted
24.
Maximus the Confessor
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Maximus the Confessor, also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople, was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, Maximus was a servant. However, he gave up this life in the sphere to enter into the monastic life. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity and he was eventually persecuted for his Christological positions, following a trial, his tongue and right hand were mutilated. He was then exiled and died on August 13,662 in Tsageri, however, his theology was upheld by the Third Council of Constantinople and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. It is highly uncommon among the saints that he has two feast days, the 13th of August and the 21st of January and his title of Confessor means that he suffered for the Christian faith, but was not directly martyred. Very little is known about the details of Maximus life prior to his involvement in the theological and political conflicts of the Monothelite controversy. Numerous Maximian scholars call substantial portions of the Maronite biography into question, including Maximus birth in Palestine and it is more likely that Maximus was born of an aristocratic family and received an unparalleled education in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, etc. It is true, however, that Maximus did not study rhetoric as he notes in the prologue to his Earlier Ambigua to John. Maximus was elevated to the position of abbot of the monastery, theology without practice is the theology of demons. When the Persians conquered Anatolia, Maximus was forced to flee to a monastery near Carthage and it was there that he came under the tutelage of Saint Sophronius, and began studying in detail with him the Christological writings of Gregory of Nazianzus and Dionysius the Areopagite. Maximus continued his career as a theological and spiritual writer while his stay in Carthage. While Maximus was in Carthage, a controversy broke out regarding how to understand the interaction between the human and divine natures within the person of Jesus. This Christological debate was the latest development in disagreements that began following the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the Monothelite position was developed as a compromise between the dyophysitists and the miaphysists, who believed dyophysitism is conceptually indistinguishable from Nestorianism. The Monothelites adhered to the Chalcedonian definition of the hypostatic union, however, they went on to say that Christ had only a divine will and no human will, which led some to charge them with Apollinarian monophysitism. The Monothelite position was promulgated by Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople and by Maximus friend and successor as the Abbot of Chrysopolis, following the death of Sergius in 638, Pyrrhus succeeded him as Patriarch, but was shortly deposed due to political circumstances. During Pyrrhus exile from Constantinople, Maximus and the deposed Patriarch held a debate on the issue of Monothelitism. In the debate, which was held in the presence of many North African bishops, the result of the debate was that Pyrrhus admitted the error of the Monothelite position, and Maximus accompanied him to Rome in 645
25.
John Scotus Eriugena
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John Scotus Eriugena, or Johannes Scotus Erigena was an Irish theologian, neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. Erigena argued on behalf of something like a pantheistic definition of nature and he translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius, and was one of the few European philosophers of his day that knew Greek, having studied in Athens. Famously, he is said to have been stabbed to death by his students at Malmesbury with their pens, the form Eriugena of his byname is used by John Scotus to describe himself in one manuscript. Scottus in the Middle Ages was the Latin term for Irish or Gaelic, so his name translates as John, scotti was the name that the Romans called the Irish. The spelling Scottus has the authority of the early manuscripts until perhaps the 11th century, occasionally he is also named Scottigena in the manuscripts. He is not to be confused with the later philosopher John Duns Scotus, Johannes Scotus Eriugena was an Irishman, educated in Ireland. He moved to France and took over the Palatine Academy at the invitation of Carolingian King Charles the Bald and he succeeded Alcuin of York as head of the Palace School. The reputation of this school, part of the Carolingian Renaissance, seems to have increased greatly under Eriugenas leadership, and he remained in France for at least thirty years, and it was almost certainly during this period that he wrote his various works. The latter part of his life is unclear, there is a story that in 882 he was invited to Oxford by Alfred the Great, laboured there for many years, became abbot at Malmesbury, and was stabbed to death by his pupils with their styli. Whether this is to be literally or figuratively is not clear. He probably never left France, and the date of his death is given as 877. From the evidence available, it is impossible to determine whether he was a cleric or a layman and his work is largely based upon Saint Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Maximus the Confessor, and the Cappadocian Fathers, and is clearly Neoplatonist. He revived the transcendentalist standpoint of Neoplatonism with its graded hierarchy approach, by going back to Plato, he revived the nominalist-realist debate. The first of the known to have been written by Eriugena during this period was a treatise on the Eucharist. In it he seems to have advanced the doctrine that the Eucharist was merely symbolical or commemorative, as a part of his penance, Berengarius is said to have been compelled to burn publicly Eriugenas treatise. Many in the Church opposed Gottschalks position because it denied the inherent value of good works, the treatise De divina praedestinatione composed for this occasion has been preserved, and it was probably from its content that Eriugenas orthodoxy became suspect. Eriugena argues the question of predestination entirely on speculative grounds, and starts with the affirmation that philosophy and religion are fundamentally one. Even more significant is his handling of authority and reason, Eriugena offered a skilled proof that there can be predestination only to the good, for all folk are summoned to be saints
26.
Al-Farabi
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He also lived and taught for some time in Aleppo. Al-Masudi, writing five years after the fact, says that Farabi died in Damascus in Rajab 339. Henry Corbin writes that the evidence supports the common in Iran that al-Farabi was Shiite. Corbin argues that there are similarities between what he calls Farabis prophetic philosophy and the teachings of Shiite Imams. Najjar Fauzi also refers to the point that Al-Farabi may be Shiite because his political philosophy seems to be influenced by Shiite sects, Farabi made contributions to the fields of logic, mathematics, music, philosophy, psychology, and education. Al-Farabi wrote, The Necessity of the Art of the Elixir Though he was mainly an Aristotelian logician and he discussed the topics of future contingents, the number and relation of the categories, the relation between logic and grammar, and non-Aristotelian forms of inference. He is also credited with categorizing logic into two groups, the first being idea and the second being proof. Al-Farabi also considered the theories of conditional syllogisms and analogical inference, another addition al-Farabi made to the Aristotelian tradition was his introduction of the concept of poetic syllogism in a commentary on Aristotles Poetics. Al-Farabi wrote a book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqa, in it, he presents philosophical principles about music, its cosmic qualities, and its influences. He also wrote a treatise on the Meanings of the Intellect, as a philosopher, Al-Farabi was a founder of his own school of early Islamic philosophy known as Farabism or Alfarabism, though it was later overshadowed by Avicennism. His Neoplatonic theology is more than just metaphysics as rhetoric. In his attempt to think through the nature of a First Cause, Al-Farabi had great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries, and was widely considered second only to Aristotle in knowledge in his time. His work, aimed at synthesis of philosophy and Sufism, paved the way for the work of Ibn Sina, Al-Farabi also wrote a commentary on Aristotles work, and one of his most notable works is Al-Madina al-Fadila where he theorized an ideal state as in Platos The Republic. Al-Farabi represented religion as a rendering of truth, and, like Plato. Al-Farabi wrote a short treatise On Vacuum, where he thought about the nature of the existence of void and he may have carried out the first experiments concerning the existence of vacuum, in which he investigated handheld plungers in water. He concluded that airs volume can expand to fill available space, wrote Social Psychology and Principles of the Opinions of the Citizens of the Virtuous City, which were the first treatises to deal with social psychology. He concluded that to achieve what he can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others, the main influence on al-Farabis philosophy was the neo-Aristotelian tradition of Alexandria. A prolific writer, he is credited with one hundred works
27.
Solomon ibn Gabirol
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Solomon ibn Gabirol was an 11th-century Andalusian poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neo-Platonic bent. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of exegesis, philosophy. One source credits Ibn Gabirol with creating a golem, possibly female, for household chores. As such, Ibn Gabirol is well known in the history of philosophy for the doctrine that all things, including soul and intellect, are composed of matter and form, little is known of Gabirols life, and some sources give contradictory information. Sources agree that he was born in Málaga, but are unclear whether in late 1021 or early 1022 CE, the year of his death is a matter of dispute, with conflicting accounts having him dying either before age 30 or by age 48. From his teenage years, he suffered from disease, possibly lupus vulgaris. He indicates in his poems that he considered himself short and ugly, of his personality, Moses ibn Ezra wrote, his irascible temperament dominated his intellect, nor could he rein the demon that was within himself. Gabirols parents died while he was a child, leaving him an orphan with no siblings or close relatives, however, when Gabirol was seventeen years old, his benefactor was assassinated as the result of a political conspiracy, and by 1045 Gabirol found himself compelled to leave Saragossa. He was then sponsored by no less than the grand vizier and top general to the kings of Granada, Gabirol made Shmuel HaNaggid an object of praise in his poetry until an estrangement arose between them and he became the butt of Gabirols bitterest irony. It seems Gabirol never married, and that he spent the remainder of his life wandering. Gabirol had become a poet and philosopher at an early age, By age 17, he had composed five of his known poems. At age 17, he composed a 200-verse elegy for his friend Yekutiel. by age 19, he had composed a 400-verse alphabetical and acrostic poem teaching the rules of Hebrew grammar. At around age 28, or not, he composed his philosophical work Fons Vitæ, as mentioned above, the conflicting accounts of Gabirols death have him dying either before age 30 or by age 48. The opinion of earliest death, that he died before age 30, is believed to be based upon a misreading of medieval sources, the remaining two opinions are that he died either in 1069 or 1070, or around 1058 in Valencia. As to the circumstances of his death, one claims that he was trampled to death by an Arab horseman. A second legend relates that he was murdered by a Muslim poet who was jealous of Gabirols poetic gifts, the tree bore fruit in abundant quantity and of extraordinary sweetness. Its uniqueness excited attention and provoked an investigation, the resulting inspection of the tree uncovered Gabirols remains, and led to the identification and execution of the murderer. Though Gabirols legacy was esteemed throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, Gabirol seems to have often been called the Málagan, after his place of birth, and would occasionally so refer to himself when encrypting his signature in his poems
28.
Isaac the Blind
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Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor, also known as Isaac the Blind, has the Aramaic epithet Saggi Nehor meaning of Much Light in the sense of having excellent eyesight, an ironic euphemism for being blind. He was a writer on Kabbalah. Some historians suspect him to be the author of the Book of the Bahir, others characterize this view as an erroneous and totally unfounded hypothesis. He was the son of a famous talmudist Abraham ben David of Posquières, the Bahir first appeared in the Middle Ages, around 1200 CE in France. The most influential of these was Isaac the Blind and he considered the sefirot as having their origins in a hidden and infinite level deep within the Ayn Sof, or Divine Being. He believed that from the Ayn Sof emanated Makhshava, which was the first supernatural quality, the rest of the sefirot emanated from the Divine Thought. Individual beings in the world are material manifestation of the sefirot, mystic experience aids in reascending the levels of emanations to unite with Divine Thought. The most famous student of Isaac the Blind was Azriel
29.
Thierry of Chartres
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Thierry of Chartres or Theodoric the Breton was a twelfth-century philosopher working at Chartres and Paris, France. The cathedral school at Chartres promoted scholarship before the first university was founded in France, some modern scholars believed Thierry to have been a brother of Bernard of Chartres who had founded the school of Chartres, but later research has shown that this is unlikely. Thierry became chancellor of Chartres after his predecessor, Gilbert of Poitiers, john of Salisbury, Herman of Carinthia, and Clarembald of Arras were among Thierrys students. The Hexaemeron interprets the Genesis with reference to Platos Timaeus, the text serves as a reasoned defense of Gods existence, by relying on Platonic natural philosophy and Aristotelian logic to explain the creation of the world. Thierry establishes that the moment of creation was the very beginning of time. According to Thierry, God created the four elements in the first moment, fire, which is constantly moving, rotated and lit up the air, causing the first night and day. On the second day, fire warmed the water, causing it to rise into the heavens, because of the reduction of water, land emerged on the third day. The continued heating of the waters above the firmament caused the water to create the heavenly bodies on the fourth day, the continued warming of land caused the plant, animal, and human life to arise on the fifth and sixth days. The Heptateuch is an encyclopedia of information relating to the liberal arts. It particularly examines the ways in different types of knowledge can be distinguished, while still supporting a single purpose. The trivium address the veracity, consistency, and beauty of the language of expression, the quadrivium provide the intellectual content in need of expression. Thierry also wrote commentaries on Boethius De Trinitate. Commentaries on Boethius by Thierry of Chartres and His School, ed. N. M. Häring, the Latin Rhetorical Commentaries by Thierry of Chartres, ed. K. M. Fredborg, Toronto 1988. The Commentary on the De arithmetica of Boethius, ed. I, renaissance of the 12th century Peter Dronke, Thierry of Chartres, in P. Dronke, A History of Twelfth Century Western Philosophy, Cambridge 1988. Peter Ellard, The Sacred Cosmos, Theological, Philosophical, and Scientific Conversations in the Twelfth Century School of Chartres, University of Scranton Press,2007
30.
Gemistus Pletho
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Georgius Gemistus, later called Plethon or Pletho, was a Greek scholar of Neoplatonic philosophy. He was one of the pioneers of the revival of Greek learning in Western Europe. In the dying years of the Byzantine Empire, he advocated a return to the Olympian gods of the ancient world and he re-introduced Platos thoughts to Western Europe during the 1438–1439 Council of Florence, a failed attempt to reconcile the East-West schism. George Gemistos was born some time after 1355, probably in Constantinople, as a young man he went to study at Adrianopolis, by now the Ottoman capital following its capture by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I in 1365. Adrianopolis was now a centre of learning modelled by Murat on the caliphates of Cairo and he admired Plato so much that late in life he took the similar-meaning name Plethon. In c1407 Gemistos left Adrianopolis and travelled through Cyprus, Palestine and other places, finally settling in Mistra, in Mistra he taught and wrote philosophy, astronomy, history and geography, and compiled digests of many classical writers. His pupils included Basilios Bessarion and George Scholarius and he was made chief magistrate by Theodore II. Plethon was the author of De Differentiis, a comparison between Plato and Aristotles conceptions of God. Scholarios later defended Aristotle and convinced the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos that Plethons support for Plato amounted to heresy, Manuel had Plethon confined in Mistra, though he remained something of a celebrity. He also wrote a Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato and these works did not help to clear him of the charge of heresy. He also wrote about the condition of the Peloponnesus, compiled several volumes of excerpts from ancient authors, and wrote a number of works on geography, music, and other subjects. In 1428 Gemistos was consulted by Emperor John VIII on the issue of unifying the Greek and Latin churches, despite being a secular philosopher, Plethon was chosen to accompany John VIII on the basis of his renowned wisdom and morality. Other delegates included Plethons former students Bessarion, Mark Eugenikos and Scholarios, as a secular scholar, Plethon was often not needed at the council. Instead, at the invitation of some Florentine humanists he set up a school to lecture on the difference between Plato and Aristotle. Cosimo de Medici attended these lectures and was inspired to found the Accademia Platonica in Florence, because of this, Plethon is considered one of the most important influences on the Italian Renaissance. Plethon may also have been the source for Ficinos Orphic system of natural magic, while still in Florence, Plethon summarised his lectures in a volume titled On the Differences of Aristotle from Plato, commonly called De Differentiis. George Scholarius responded with a Defence of Aristotle, which elicited Plethons subsequent Reply, expatriate Byzantine scholars and later Italian humanists continued the argument. After his return to the Peloponnese, Gemistos founded a school and he taught polytheism as opposed to monotheism, and some of his students prayed to statues of the pagan deities
31.
Marsilio Ficino
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Marsilio Ficino was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism in touch with every major academic thinker and writer of his day and his Florentine Academy, an attempt to revive Platos Academy, influenced the direction and tenor of the Italian Renaissance and the development of European philosophy. Ficino was born at Figline Valdarno, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the Italian humanist philosopher and scholar was another of his students. In 1459 John Argyropoulos was lecturing on Greek language and literature at Florence, when Cosimo decided to refound Platos Academy at Florence he chose Ficino as its head. In 1462, Cosimo supplied Ficino with Greek manuscripts of Platos work, among his many students was Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, who was considered by Ficino to be his successor as the head of the Florentine Platonic Academy. Diaccetos student, Giovanni di Bardo Corsi, produced a biography of Ficino in 1506. A physician and a vegetarian, Ficino became a priest in 1473, in 1474 Ficino completed his treatise on the immortality of the soul, Theologia Platonica de immortalitate animae. In the rush of enthusiasm for every rediscovery from Antiquity, he exhibited a great interest in the arts of astrology, in 1489 he was accused of magic before Pope Innocent VIII and needed strong defense to preserve him from the condemnation of heresy. This century appears to have perfected astrology, Ficinos letters, extending over the years 1474–1494, survive and have been published. Now if those little men grant life to the smallest particles of the world, neither to know that the Whole, in which we live and move and have our being, is itself alive, nor to wish this to be so. One metaphor for this integrated aliveness is Ficinos astrology, in the Book of Life, he details the interlinks between behavior and consequence. It talks about a list of things that hold sway over a mans destiny and those works, which were very popular at the time, dealt with astrological and alchemical concepts. Thus Ficino came under the suspicion of heresy, especially after the publication of the book in 1489. Ficino introduced the term and concept of love in the West. It first appeared in a letter to Alamanno Donati in 1476, after his death his biographers had a difficult task trying to refute those who spoke of his homosexual tendencies. But his sincere and deep faith, and membership of the clergy, put him beyond the reach of gossip, Ficino died on 1 October 1499 at Careggi. In 1521 his memory was honored with a bust sculpted by Andrea Ferrucci, harvard University Press, Latin with English translation. ISBN 0-674-01986-5 The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, English translation with extensive notes, the Language Department of the School of Economic Science
32.
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
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Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. Giovanni was born at Mirandola, near Modena, the youngest son of Gianfrancesco I Pico, Lord of Mirandola and Count of Concordia, by his wife Giulia, daughter of Feltrino Boiardo, Count of Scandiano. The family had long dwelt in the Castle of Mirandola, which had become independent in the century and had received in 1414 from the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund the fief of Concordia. Mirandola was an autonomous county in Emilia, near Ferrara. The Pico della Mirandola were closely related to the Sforza, Gonzaga and Este dynasties, and Giovannis siblings wed the descendants of the rulers of Corsica, Ferrara, Bologna. Giovannis maternal family was distinguished in the arts and scholarship of the Italian Renaissance. His cousin and contemporary was the poet Matteo Maria Boiardo, who grew up under the influence of his own uncle, a precocious child with an exceptional memory, Giovanni was schooled in Latin and possibly Greek at a very early age. Intended for the Church by his mother, he was named a papal protonotary at the age of ten, at the sudden death of his mother three years later, Pico renounced canon law and began to study philosophy at the University of Ferrara. During a brief trip to Florence, he met Angelo Poliziano, the courtly poet Girolamo Benivieni, for the rest of his life he remained very close friends with all three, including the ascetic and anti-humanist Savonarola. From 1480 to 1482, he continued his studies at the University of Padua, already proficient in Latin and Greek, he studied Hebrew and Arabic in Padua with Elia del Medigo, a Jewish Averroist, and read Aramaic manuscripts with him as well. Del Medigo also translated Judaic manuscripts from Hebrew into Latin for Pico, Pico also wrote sonnets in Latin and Italian which, because of the influence of Savonarola, he destroyed at the end of his life. He spent the four years either at home, or visiting humanist centres elsewhere in Italy. In 1485, he travelled to the University of Paris, the most important centre in Europe for Scholastic philosophy and theology, and it was probably in Paris that Giovanni began his 900 Theses and conceived the idea of defending them in public debate. During this time two life-changing events occurred, the first was when he returned to settle for a time in Florence in November 1484 and met Lorenzo de Medici and Marsilio Ficino. It was an auspicious day that Ficino had chosen to publish his translations of the works of Plato from Greek into Latin. Pico appears to have charmed both men, and despite Ficinos philosophical differences, he was convinced of their Saturnine affinity, Lorenzo would support and protect Pico until his death in 1492. Without Lorenzos support it is doubtful that Pico would have survived the Inquisition coming after him. Soon after this stay in Florence, Pico was travelling on his way to Rome where he intended to publish his 900 Theses, stopping in Arezzo he became embroiled in a love affair with the wife of one of Lorenzo de Medicis cousins
33.
Giordano Bruno
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Giordano Bruno, born Filippo Bruno, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, mathematician, poet, and cosmological theorist. He is remembered for his theories, which conceptually extended the then novel Copernican model. He proposed that the stars were just distant suns surrounded by their own exoplanets and he also insisted that the universe is in fact infinite and could have no celestial body at its center. Brunos pantheism was also a matter of grave concern, the Inquisition found him guilty, and he was burned at the stake in Romes Campo de Fiori in 1600. Brunos case is considered a landmark in the history of free thought. In addition to cosmology, Bruno also wrote extensively on the art of memory, historian Frances Yates argues that Bruno was deeply influenced by Arab astrology, Neoplatonism, Renaissance Hermeticism, and legends surrounding the Egyptian god Thoth. Other studies of Bruno have focused on his approach to mathematics. Born Filippo Bruno in Nola in 1548, he was the son of Giovanni Bruno, a soldier and his date of birth was given as January 1548, the exact date remains unknown. In his youth he was sent to Naples to be educated and he was tutored privately at the Augustinian monastery there, and attended public lectures at the Studium Generale. At the age of 17, he entered the Dominican Order at the monastery of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, taking the name Giordano, after Giordano Crispo and he continued his studies there, completing his novitiate, and became an ordained priest in 1572 at age 24. During his time in Naples he became known for his skill with the art of memory and on one occasion traveled to Rome to demonstrate his system before Pope Pius V. In his later years Bruno claimed that the Pope accepted his dedication to him of the lost work On The Ark of Noah at this time, while Bruno was distinguished for outstanding ability, his taste for free thinking and forbidden books soon caused him difficulties. Given the controversy he caused in life it is surprising that he was able to remain within the monastic system for eleven years. When he learned that an indictment was being prepared against him in Naples he fled, shedding his religious habit, from Venice he went to Padua, where he met fellow Dominicans who convinced him to wear his religious habit again. From Padua he went to Bergamo and then across the Alps to Chambéry and his movements after this time are obscure. In 1579 he arrived in Geneva, I desired to stay there only that I might live at liberty and in security. Things apparently went well for Bruno for a time, as he entered his name in the Rectors Book of the University of Geneva in May 1579, but in keeping with his personality he could not long remain silent. In August he published an attack on the work of Antoine de la Faye and he and the printer were promptly arrested
34.
Cambridge Platonists
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The Cambridge Platonists were a group of theologians and philosophers at the University of Cambridge in the middle of the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More, mark Goldie, writing in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, notes that the term Cambridge Platonists was given in the 19th century and can be misleading. There is no distinction between the group and latitudinarians in general. Further, the women philosophers Mary Astell, Anne Conway and Damaris Masham were all related to this circle. The Cambridge Platonists used the framework of the philosophia perennis of Agostino Steuco and they believed that reason is the proper judge of disagreements, and so they advocated dialogue between the Puritan and Laudian traditions. The orthodox English Calvinists of the found in their views an insidious attack, by-passing as it did the basic theological issues of atonement. Given the circles Cambridge background in Puritan colleges, the undermining was intellectually all the more effective, john Bunyan complained in those terms about Edward Fowler, a close latitudinarian follower. Their understanding of reason was as the candle of the Lord, an echo of the divine within the human soul and they believed that reason could judge the private revelations of Puritan narrative, and investigate contested rituals and liturgy of the Church of England. For this approach they were called latitudinarian, the dogmatism of the Puritan divines, with their anti-rationalist demands, was, they felt, incorrect. They also felt that the Calvinist insistence on individual revelation left God uninvolved with the majority of mankind, at the same time, they were reacting against the reductive materialist writings of Thomas Hobbes. They felt that the latter, while rationalist, were denying the idealistic part of the universe, universal, ideal forms inform matter, and the physical senses are unreliable guides to their reality. In response to the philosophy, More proposed a Hylarchic Principle. Benjamin Whichcote was one of the leaders of the movement, but he was also an active pastor and his sermons were notable and caused controversies, and Whichcote wrote a great deal without publishing. In 1685, Some Select Notions of B, Whichcote was published due to demand. After that was Select Sermons and Several Discourses, finally, a collection of his sayings appeared as Moral and Religious Aphorisms in 1703. Peter Sterry is remembered for his A Discourse of the Freedom of the Will among other works, as a Platonist, his important works were Manual of Ethics, the Divine Dialogues, and the Manual of Metaphysics. While all of Mores works enjoyed popularity, the Divine Dialogues were perhaps most influential, cudworths chief philosophical work was The True Intellectual System of the Universe and the Treatise concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality, which appeared posthumously in 1731. John Smith, a student of Benjamin Whichcote, is best remembered for the elegance of his style, culverwels chief work was Light of Nature
35.
Platonic Academy
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The Academy was founded by Plato in ca.387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic period as a skeptical school, until coming to an end after the death of Philo of Larissa in 83 BC. Among the religious observances that took place at the Akademeia was a night race from altars within the city to Prometheus altar in the Akademeia. Funeral games also took place in the area as well as a Dionysiac procession from Athens to the Hekademeia, the road to Akademeia was lined with the gravestones of Athenians. The site of the Academy is located near Colonus, approximately,1.5 km north of Athens Dipylon gates, the site was rediscovered in the 20th century, in modern Akadimia Platonos neighbourhood, considerable excavation has been accomplished and visiting the site is free. Visitors today can visit the site of the Academy located on either side of the Cratylus street in the area of Colonos and Platos Academy. According to Debra Nails, Speusippus joined the group in about 390 BC and she claims, It is not until Eudoxus of Cnidos arrives in the mid-380s BC that Eudemus recognizes a formal Academy. Originally, the location of the meetings was on Platos property as often as it was the nearby Academy gymnasium, though the Academic club was exclusive, not open to the public, it did not, during at least Platos time, charge fees for membership. Therefore, there was not at that time a school in the sense of a clear distinction between teachers and students, or even a formal curriculum. There was, however, a distinction between senior and junior members, Two women are known to have studied with Plato at the Academy, Axiothea of Phlius and Lasthenia of Mantinea. In at least Platos time, the school did not have any doctrine to teach, rather. There is evidence of lectures given, most notably Platos lecture On the Good, according to an unverifiable story, dated of some 700 years after the founding of the school, above the entrance to the Academy was inscribed the phrase Let None But Geometers Enter Here. Many have imagined that the Academic curriculum would have resembled the one canvassed in Platos Republic. Others, however, have argued such a picture ignores the obvious peculiar arrangements of the ideal society envisioned in that dialogue. The subjects of study almost certainly included mathematics as well as the topics with which the Platonic dialogues deal. Platos Academy is often said to have been a school for politicians in the ancient world. Diogenes Laërtius divided the history of the Academy into three, the Old, the Middle, and the New, at the head of the Old he put Plato, at the head of the Middle Academy, Arcesilaus, and of the New, Lacydes. Sextus Empiricus enumerated five divisions of the followers of Plato and he made Plato founder of the first Academy, Arcesilaus of the second, Carneades of the third, Philo and Charmadas of the fourth, Antiochus of the fifth
36.
Kabbalah
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Kabbalah is an esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought that originated in Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist in Judaism is called a Mekubbal, Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof and the mortal and finite universe. While it is used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. It forms the foundations of religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence and it also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realisation. Kabbalah originally developed within the realm of Jewish tradition, and kabbalists often use classical Jewish sources to explain, traditional practitioners believe its earliest origins pre-date world religions, forming the primordial blueprint for Creations philosophies, religions, sciences, arts, and political systems. Safed Rabbi Isaac Luria is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah and it was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards. According to the Zohar, a text for kabbalistic thought. These four levels are called pardes from their initial letters, peshat, the direct interpretations of meaning. Derash, midrashic meanings, often with imaginative comparisons with similar words or verses, sod, the inner, esoteric meanings, expressed in kabbalah. Kabbalah is considered by its followers as a part of the study of Torah – the study of Torah being an inherent duty of observant Jews. A third tradition, related but more shunned, involves the magical aims of Practical Kabbalah and they can be readily distinguished by their basic intent with respect to God, The Theosophical tradition of Theoretical Kabbalah seeks to understand and describe the divine realm. Consequently, it formed a minor tradition shunned from Kabbalah. According to traditional belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BC, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel. Foreign conquests drove the Jewish spiritual leadership of the time to hide the knowledge and make it secret and it is hard to clarify with any degree of certainty the exact concepts within kabbalah. There are several different schools of thought with different outlooks, however. From the Renaissance onwards Jewish Kabbalah texts entered non-Jewish culture, where they were studied and translated by Christian Hebraists, syncretic traditions of Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah developed independently of Jewish Kabbalah, reading the Jewish texts as universal ancient wisdom. Both adapted the Jewish concepts freely from their Judaic understanding, to merge with other theologies, religious traditions, with the decline of Christian Cabala in the Age of Reason, Hermetic Qabalah continued as a central underground tradition in Western esotericism
37.
Spirituality
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Modern spirituality typically includes a belief in a supernatural realm, personal growth, a quest for an ultimate/sacred meaning, religious experience, or an encounter with ones own inner dimension. The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, the term spirituality originally developed within early Christianity, referring to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit. The term spirit means animating or vital principle in man and animals and it is derived from the Old French espirit which comes from the Latin word spiritus and is related to spirare. In the Vulgate the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the Greek pneuma, the term spiritual, matters concerning the spirit, is derived from Old French spirituel, which is derived from Latin spiritualis, which comes from spiritus or spirit. The term spirituality is derived from Middle French spiritualité, from Late Latin spiritualitatem, there is no single, widely agreed definition of spirituality. A survey of reviews by McCarroll e. a. dealing with the topic of spirituality gave twenty-seven explicit definitions and this causes some difficulty in trying to study spirituality systematically, i. e. it impedes both understanding and the capacity to communicate findings in a meaningful fashion. To accomplish this, the re-formation is oriented at a mold, which represents the shape, in Judaism the Torah, in Christianity there is Christ, for Buddhism, Buddha. Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality is a blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions, Spirituality is sometimes associated with philosophical, social, or political movements such as liberalism, feminist theology, and green politics. Some argue spirituality is intimately linked to resolving mental health issues, managing substance abuse, marital functioning, parenting, words translatable as spirituality first began to arise in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end of the Middle Ages. In a Biblical context the term means being animated by God, to be driven by the Holy Spirit, in the 11th century this meaning changed. Spirituality began to denote the mental aspect of life, as opposed to the material and sensual aspects of life, in the 13th century spirituality acquired a social and psychological meaning. In the 17th and 18th century a distinction was made higher and lower forms of spirituality, A spiritual man is one who is Christian more abundantly. The word was associated with mysticism and quietism, and acquired a negative meaning. Modern notions of spirituality developed throughout the 19th and 20th century, mixing Christian ideas with westen esoteric traditions and elements of Asian, especially Indian, Spirituality became increasingly disconnected from traditional religious organisations and institutions. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field, the Transcendentalists emphasised an intuitive, experiential approach of religion. Following Schleiermacher, an individuals intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for truth, in the late 18th and early 19th century, the first translations of Hindu texts appeared, which were also read by the Transcendentalists, and influenced their thinking. A major influence on modern spirituality was the Theosophical Society, which searched for secret teachings in Asian religions and it aims to present Hinduism as a homogenized ideal of Hinduism with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine. Due to the colonisation of Asia by the world, since the 19th century an exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia, which also influenced western religiosity
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Adolf Harnack; John Malcolm Mitchell (1911). "Neoplatonism". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
