Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism, also called late platonism, is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion.[1][note 1][note 2] The term does not encapsulate a set of distinct ideas based on a form of Platonism as much as a series of Platonic thinkers coming primarily from a certain ancient historical period. Among the common ideas it maintains is monism, the doctrine that all of reality can be derived from a single principle, "the One".[2]

Neoplatonism began with Ammonius Saccas and his student Plotinus (c. AD 205 – 271) and stretched to the sixth century.[3] After Plotinus there were three distinct periods in the history of Neoplatonism: the work of his student Porphyry (third to early fourth century); that of Iamblichus (third to fourth century); and the period in the fifth and sixth centuries, when the academies in Alexandria and Athens flourished.[4]

Neoplatonism had an enduring influence on the subsequent history of Western philosophy and religion. In the Middle Ages, Neoplatonic ideas were studied and discussed by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers.[5] In the Islamic cultural sphere, Neoplatonic texts were available in Arabic and Persian translations, and notable philosophers such as al-Farabi, Solomon ibn Gabirol (Avicebron), Avicenna (Ibn Sina), and Maimonides incorporated Neoplatonic elements into their own thinking.[6]

Christian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) had direct access to the works of Proclus, Simplicius of Cilicia, and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, and he knew about other Neoplatonists, such as Plotinus and Porphyry, through second-hand sources.[7] The German mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1328) was also influenced by Neoplatonism, propagating a contemplative way of life which points to the Godhead beyond the nameable God. Neoplatonism also had a strong influence on the perennial philosophy of the Italian Renaissance thinkers Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and continues through 19th-century Universalism and modern-day spirituality.

## Contents

* 1 Origins of the term
* 2 Origins and history of classical Neoplatonism
* 2.1 Hellenism
* 2.2 Ammonius Saccas
* 2.3 Plotinus
* 2.4 Porphyry
* 2.5 Iamblichus
* 2.6 Academies
* 2.7 Hypatia
* 2.8 Proclus
* 3 Ideas
* 3.1 The One
* 3.2 Emanations
* 3.2.1 Demiurge or nous
* 3.2.2 World-soul
* 3.2.3 Phenomenal world
* 3.3 Celestial hierarchy
* 3.4 Evil
* 3.5 Return to the One
* 4 Influence
* 4.1 Early Christianity
* 4.1.1 Augustine
* 4.1.2 Origen and Pseudo-Dionysius
* 4.1.3 Gnosticism
* 4.2 Byzantine education
* 4.3 Islamic Neoplatonism
* 4.4 Jewish thought
* 4.5 Medieval Christian Thought
* 4.6 Western Renaissance
* 4.7 Cambridge Platonists (17th century)
* 4.8 Modern Neoplatonism
* 5 See also
* 6 Notes
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
* 9 External links

## Origins of the term

Neoplatonism is a modern term.[note 1] The term Neoplatonism has a double function as a historical category. On the one hand, it differentiates the philosophical doctrines of Plotinus and his successors from those of the historical Plato. On the other, the term makes an assumption about the novelty of Plotinus's interpretation of Plato. In the nearly six centuries from Plato's time to Plotinus', there had been an uninterrupted tradition of interpreting Plato which had begun with Aristotle and with the immediate successors of Plato's Academy, and continued on through a period of Platonism that is now referred to as middle Platonism. The term Neoplatonism implies that Plotinus' interpretation of Plato was so distinct from those of his predecessors that it should be thought of as inaugurating a new period in Platonic history; some contemporary scholars, however, have doubted that Neoplatonism constitutes a useful label, claiming that only marginal differences separate Plotinus' teachings from those of his immediate predecessors. As a pupil of philosopher Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus used the knowledge of his teacher and predecessors in order to inspire the next generation.[10]

Whether Neoplatonism is a meaningful or useful historical category is itself a central question concerning the history of the interpretation of Plato. For much of the history of Platonism, it was commonly accepted that the doctrines of the Neoplatonists were essentially the same as those of Plato. The Renaissance Neoplatonist Marsilio Ficino, for instance, thought that the Neoplatonic interpretation of Plato was an authentic and accurate representation of Plato's philosophy.[11] Although it is unclear precisely when scholars began to differentiate the philosophy of the historical Plato from the philosophy of his Neoplatonic interpreters, they had clearly begun to do so at least as early as the first decade of the nineteenth century. Contemporary scholars often identify the German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher as an early thinker who took Plato's philosophy to be separate from that of his Neoplatonic interpreters. However, others have argued that the disassociation of Plato from Neoplatonism was the result of a protracted historical development that preceded Schleiermacher's scholarly work on Plato.[12]

## Origins and history of classical Neoplatonism

Part of a series on

Platonism

Plato from Raphael's The School of Athens (1509–1511)

* Early life
* Works
* Epistemology
* Idealism / realism
* Demiurge
* Theory of forms
* Theory of soul
* Transcendentals
* Form of the Good
* Third man argument
* Euthyphro dilemma
* Five regimes
* Philosopher king
* Plato's unwritten doctrines
* political philosophy

Allegories and metaphors

* Atlantis
* Ring of Gyges
* The Cave
* The Divided Line
* The Sun
* Ship of State
* Myth of Er
* The Chariot

Related articles

* Commentaries
* The Academy in Athens
* Socratic problem
* Academic Skepticism
* Middle Platonism
* Neoplatonism
* and Christianity
* Allegorical interpretations of Plato
* Socratic fallacy

Related categories

Category Plato not found

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See also: Philosophy:Plato's unwritten doctrines

Neoplatonism started with Plotinus in the 3rd century AD.[1][note 2] Three distinct phases in classical Neoplatonism after Plotinus can be distinguished: the work of his student Porphyry; that of Iamblichus and his school in Syria; and the period in the 5th and 6th centuries, when the Academies in Alexandria and Athens flourished.[4]

### Hellenism

Main article: Philosophy:Hellenistic philosophy

Neoplatonism synthesized ideas from various philosophical and religious cultural spheres. The most important forerunners from Greek philosophy were the Middle Platonists, such as Plutarch, and the Neopythagoreans, especially Numenius of Apamea. Philo, a Hellenized Jew, translated Judaism into terms of Stoic, Platonic, and Neopythagorean elements, and held that God is "supra-rational" and can be reached only through "ecstasy". Philo also held that the oracles of God supply the material of moral and religious knowledge. The earliest Christian philosophers, such as Justin Martyr and Athenagoras of Athens, who attempted to connect Christianity with Platonism, and the Christian Gnostics of Alexandria, especially Valentinus and the followers of Basilides, also mirrored elements of Neoplatonism.[14]

### Ammonius Saccas

Ammonius Saccas (died c. AD 240–245) was a teacher of Plotinus. Through Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus may have been influenced by Indian thought. The similarities between Neoplatonism and Indian philosophy, particularly Samkhya, have led several authors to suggest an Indian influence in its founding, particularly on Ammonius Saccas.[15][16][17] Porphyry, in On the One School of Plato and Aristotle, stated that Ammonius' view was that the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle were in harmony.

Both Christians (see Eusebius, Jerome, and Origen) and pagans (see Porphyry and Plotinus) claimed him as a teacher, and to be an adherent of their preferred faith:[18] Eusebius and Jerome wrote that Ammonius was a Christian until his death, whereas Porphyry asserted that he had renounced Christianity and embraced pagan philosophy.

### Plotinus

Presumed depiction of Plotinus and his disciples on a Roman sarcophagus in the Museo Gregoriano Profano, Vatican Museums, Rome

Plotinus (c. 205 – 270) is widely considered the father of Neoplatonism. Much of our biographical information about him comes from Porphyry's preface to his edition of Plotinus' Enneads. While he was himself influenced by the teachings of classical Greek, Persian, and Indian philosophy and Egyptian theology,[19] his metaphysical writings later inspired numerous Pagan, Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, and Islamic metaphysicians and mystics over the centuries.

Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent "One", containing no division, multiplicity, nor distinction; likewise, it is beyond all categories of being and non-being. The concept of "being" is derived by us from the objects of human experience and is an attribute of such objects, but the infinite, transcendent One is beyond all such objects and, therefore, is beyond the concepts which we can derive from them. The One "cannot be any existing thing" and cannot be merely the sum of all such things (compare the Stoic doctrine of disbelief in non-material existence) but "is prior to all existents".

### Porphyry

Porphyry (c. 233 – c. 309) wrote widely on astrology, religion, philosophy, and musical theory. He produced a biography of his teacher, Plotinus. He is important in the history of mathematics because of his commentary on Euclid's Elements, which Pappus used when he wrote his own commentary. Porphyry is also known as an opponent of Christianity and as a defender of paganism; of his Adversus Christianos (Against the Christians) in 15 books, only fragments remain. He famously said, "The gods have proclaimed Christ to have been most pious, but the Christians are a confused and vicious sect."[citation needed]

### Iamblichus

Iamblichus (c. 245 – c. 325) influenced the direction taken by later Neoplatonic philosophy. He is perhaps best known for the compendium The Life of Pythagoras, his commentary on Pythagorean philosophy, and his De Mysteriis. In Iamblichus' system, the realm of divinities stretched from the original One down to material nature itself, where soul, in fact, descended into matter and became "embodied" as human beings. The world is thus peopled by a crowd of superhuman beings influencing natural events and possessing and communicating knowledge of the future, and who are all accessible to prayers and offerings. Iamblichus had salvation as his final goal (see henosis). The embodied soul was to return to divinity by performing certain rites, or theurgy, literally, 'divine-working'.

### Academies

After Plotinus (c. 205 – c. 270) and his student Porphyry (c. 232 – c. 309), Aristotle's (non-biological) works entered the curriculum of Platonic thought. Porphyry's introduction (Isagoge) to Aristotle's Categoria was important as an introduction to logic, and the study of Aristotle became an introduction to the study of Plato in the late Platonism of Athens and Alexandria. The commentaries of this group seek to harmonise Plato, Aristotle, and—often—the Stoics.[20] Some Neoplatonic works were attributed directly to Plato or Aristotle. De Mundo, for instance, is thought to be the work of a 'pseudo-Aristotle' though this remains debatable.[21]

### Hypatia

Hypatia (c. 360 – 415) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who served as head of the Platonist school in Alexandria, Egypt, where she taught philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. She was murdered in a church by a fanatical mob of Coptic Parabalani monks because she had been advising the prefect of Egypt Orestes during his feud with Cyril, Alexandria's dynastic archbishop.[22] The extent of Cyril's personal involvement in her murder remains a matter of scholarly debate.

### Proclus

Proclus Lycaeus (February 8, 412 – April 17, 485) was a Greek Neoplatonist, and one of the last major Greek philosophers (see Damascius). He set forth one of the most elaborate, complex, and fully developed Neoplatonic systems, providing also an allegorical way of reading the dialogues of Plato.[23] The particular characteristic of Proclus' system is his insertion of a level of individual ones, called henads, between the One itself and the divine Intellect, which is the second principle. The henads are beyond being, like the One itself, but they stand at the head of chains of causation (seirai or taxeis) and in some manner give to these chains their particular character. They are also identified with the traditional Greek gods, so one henad might be Apollo and be the cause of all things Apollonian, while another might be Helios and be the cause of all sunny things. The henads serve both to protect the One itself from any hint of multiplicity and to draw up the rest of the universe towards the One, by being a connecting, intermediate stage between absolute unity and determinate multiplicity. In the Middle Ages most Plotinus' insights will be presented as authored by Proclus.

## Ideas

The Enneads of Plotinus are the primary and classical document of Neoplatonism. A mystical work, it contains both theoretical and practical sections; the theoretical parts deal with the high origin of the human soul, showing how it has departed from its first estate, while the practical parts show the way by which the soul may again return to the Eternal and Supreme.[14] The system can be divided between the invisible world and the phenomenal world, the former containing the transcendent, absolute One from which emanates an eternal, perfect, essence (nous, or intellect), which, in turn, produces the world-soul.

### The One

See also: Philosophy:Henology and Henosis

For Plotinus, the first principle of reality is "the One", an utterly simple, ineffable, beyond being and non-being, unknowable subsistence which is both the creative source of the Universe[24] and the teleological end of all existing things. Although properly speaking, there is no name appropriate for the first principle, the most adequate names are "the One" or "the Good". The One is so simple that it cannot even be said to exist or to be a being. Rather, the creative principle of all things is beyond being, a notion which is derived from Book VI of the Republic,[25] when, in the course of his famous analogy of the Sun, Plato says that the Good is beyond being (ἐπέκεινα τῆς οὐσίας) in power and dignity.[26] In Plotinus' model of reality, the One is the cause of the rest of reality, which takes the form of two subsequent "hypostases" or substances: Nous and Soul (psyché). Although Neoplatonists after Plotinus adhered to his cosmological scheme in its most general outline, later developments in the tradition also departed substantively from Plotinus' teachings regarding significant philosophical issues, such as the nature of evil.

### Emanations

Main article: Philosophy:Emanationism

From the One emanated different levels of lesser realities known as "hypostases". At the highest level of reality exists "the One", from which emanates the Nous or the mind. It is the first principle after the One and contains all knowledge in a unified form. It is both the knower, the known, and the act of knowing, embodying a complete unity. The Platonic realm of the Forms is contained within the Nous and acts as the archetype of the sensible world. From the Nous emanates a lesser reality known as the Soul, which receives information from the Nous and actualizes it. This act of "actualization" is the same as the creation of the sensible world, the realm of multiplicity, time, and space. This sensible realm is an imperfect copy of the Nous and the Platonic realm of the Forms. The process of Emanation is beyond temporality as time does not exist in the One, the Nous, or the Soul, but only in the sensible world. Despite their distinctions, these four realities are all part of the same unified reality unfolding within the One.

#### Demiurge or nous

The original Being initially emanates, or throws out, the nous (νοῦς), which is a perfect image of the One and the archetype of all existing things. It is simultaneously both being and thought, idea and ideal world. As image, the nous corresponds perfectly to the One, but as derivative, it is entirely different. What Plotinus understands by the nous is the highest sphere accessible to the human mind,[14] while also being pure intellect itself. Nous is the most critical component of idealism, Neoplatonism being a pure form of idealism.[note 3] The demiurge (the nous) is the energy, or ergon (does the work), which manifests or organises the material world into perceivability.

#### World-soul

The image and product of the motionless nous is the world-soul, which, according to Plotinus, is similarly immaterial. Its relation to the nous is the same as that of the nous to the One. It stands between the nous and the phenomenal world, and it is permeated and illuminated by the former, but it is also in contact with the latter. The nous/spirit is indivisible; the world-soul may preserve its unity and remain in the nous, but, at the same time, it has the power of uniting with the corporeal world and thus being disintegrated. It therefore occupies an intermediate position. As a single world-soul, it belongs in essence and destination to the intelligible world; but it also embraces innumerable individual souls; and these can either allow themselves to be informed by the nous, or turn aside from the nous and choose the phenomenal world, and lose themselves in the realm of the senses and the finite.[14]

#### Phenomenal world

The soul, as a moving essence, generates the corporeal or phenomenal world. This world ought to be so pervaded by the soul that its various parts should remain in perfect harmony. Plotinus is no dualist in the sense of certain sects, such as the Gnostics; in contrast, he admires the beauty and splendour of the world. So long as the idea governs matter, or the soul governs the body, the world is fair and good. It is an image – though a shadowy image – of the upper world, and the degrees of better and worse in it are essential to the harmony of the whole. But, in the actual phenomenal world, unity and harmony are replaced by strife or discord; the result is a conflict, a becoming and vanishing, an illusive existence. And the reason for this state of things is that bodies rest on a substratum of matter. Matter is the indeterminate: that with no qualities. If destitute of form and idea, it is evil; as capable of form, it is neutral.[14] Evil here is understood as a parasite, having no-existence of its own (parahypostasis), an unavoidable outcome of the Universe, having an "other" necessity, as a harmonizing factor.[29]

### Celestial hierarchy

Part of the Socrates Mosaic, 362-363 AD. Socrates is depicted raising his hand in an almost Christlike gesture. It has been suggested this conforms a strong Neoplatonic tradition in Apamea at the time.

Later Neoplatonic philosophers, especially Iamblichus, added hundreds of intermediate beings, such as gods, angels, demons, and others, serving as mediators between the One and humanity. The Neoplatonist gods are omni-perfect beings and do not display the usual amoral behavior associated with their representations in the myths.

* The One: God, The Good. Transcendent and ineffable.
* The Hypercosmic Gods: those that make Essence, Life, and Soul
* The Demiurge: the Creator

### Evil

Neoplatonists did not believe in an independent existence of evil. They compared it to darkness, which does not exist in itself but only as the absence of light. So, too, evil is simply the absence of good. Things are good insofar as they exist; they are evil only insofar as they are imperfect, lacking some good which they should have.

### Return to the One

Neoplatonists believed human perfection and happiness were attainable in this world, without awaiting an afterlife. Perfection and happiness—seen as synonymous—could be achieved through philosophical contemplation.

All people return to the One, from which they emanated.[30][31][32]

The Neoplatonists believed in the pre-existence and immortality of the soul.[33][34] The human soul consists of a lower irrational soul and a higher rational soul (mind), both of which can be regarded as different powers of the one soul. It was widely held that the soul possesses a "vehicle" (okhêma),[35] accounting for the human soul's immortality and allowing for its return to the One after death.[36] After bodily death, the soul takes up a level in the afterlife corresponding with the level at which it lived during its earthly life.[37][38] The Neoplatonists believed in the principle of reincarnation. Although the most pure and holy souls would dwell in the highest regions, the impure soul would undergo a purification,[34] before descending again,[39] to be reincarnated into a new body, perhaps into animal form.[40] Plotinus believed that a soul may be reincarnated into another human or even a different sort of animal. However, Porphyry maintained that human souls were reincarnated only into other humans.[41] A soul which has returned to the One achieves union with the cosmic universal soul[42] and does not descend again; at least, not in this world period.[39]

## Influence

### Early Christianity

Main article: Philosophy:Neoplatonism and Christianity

#### Augustine

Certain central tenets of Neoplatonism served as a philosophical interim for the Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo on his journey from dualistic Manichaeism to Christianity.[43] As a Manichaen, Augustine had held that evil has substantial being and that God is made of matter; when he became a Neoplatonist, he changed his views on these things. As a Neoplatonist, and later a Christian, Augustine believed that evil is a privation of good[44] and that God is not material.[45] When writing his treatise 'On True Religion', even several years after his baptism in AD 387, Augustine's Christianity was still tempered by Neoplatonism.

The term logos was interpreted variously in Neoplatonism. Plotinus refers to Thales[46] in interpreting logos as the principle of mediation, the interrelationship between the hypostases[47] of Soul, Spirit (nous), and the One. St. John introduces a relation between Logos and the Son, Christ,[48] whereas Paul calls it 'Son', 'Image', and 'Form'.[48][49][50] Victorinus subsequently differentiated the Logos interior to God from the Logos related to the world by creation and salvation.[48] For Augustine, the Logos "took on flesh" in Christ, in whom the Logos was present as in no other man.[51][52][53] He strongly influenced early medieval Christian philosophy.[54]

#### Origen and Pseudo-Dionysius

Some early Christians—influenced by Neoplatonism—identified the Neoplatonic One, or God, with the Christian god. The most influential of these would be Origen, the pupil of Ammonius Saccas; and the sixth-century author known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, whose works were translated (for the Latin-reading West) by John Scotus in the ninth century. Both authors had a lasting influence on Eastern Orthodox, and Western Christianity, and the development of contemplative and mystical practices and theology, although Origen was eventually declared a heretic at the Fifth Ecumenical Council (Second Council of Constantinople) (It is debated whether Origen was condemned or just Origenism by modern Western Thinkers).

#### Gnosticism

Main article: Philosophy:Neoplatonism and Gnosticism

Neoplatonism also had links with Gnosticism, which Plotinus rebuked in his ninth tractate of the second Enneads: "Against Those That Affirm The Creator of The Cosmos and The Cosmos Itself to Be Evil" (generally known as "Against The Gnostics").

Because their belief was grounded in Platonic thought, the Neoplatonists rejected Gnosticism's vilification of Plato's demiurge, the creator of the material world or cosmos, as discussed in the Timaeus. Neoplatonism has been referred to as "orthodox Platonic philosophy" by scholars like John D. Turner; this reference may be due, in part, to Plotinus' attempt to refute certain interpretations of Platonic philosophy, through his Enneads. Plotinus believed the followers of Gnosticism had corrupted the original teachings of Plato, and often argued against likes of Valentinus, who—according to Plotinus—had given rise to doctrines of dogmatic theology, with ideas such as that the Spirit of Christ was brought forth by a conscious god after the fall from Pleroma. According to Plotinus, the One is not a conscious god with intent, nor a godhead, nor a conditioned existing entity of any kind, but is rather a requisite principle of totality which is also the source of ultimate wisdom.[55]

### Byzantine education

After the Platonic Academy was destroyed in the first century BC, philosophers continued to teach Platonism, but it was not until the early 5th century (c. 410) that a revived academy (which had no connection with the original Academy) was established in Athens by some leading Neoplatonists.[56] It persisted until AD 529 when it was finally closed by Justinian I because of active paganism of its professors. Other schools continued in Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Gaza which were the centers of Justinian's empire.[57][58][59]

After the closure of the Neoplatonic academy, Neoplatonic and/or secular philosophical studies continued in publicly funded schools in Alexandria and Gaza. In the early seventh century, the Neoplatonist Stephanus of Alexandria brought this Alexandrian tradition to Constantinople, where it would remain influential, albeit as a form of secular education.[58] The university maintained an active philosophical tradition of Platonism and Aristotelianism, with the former being the longest unbroken Platonic school, running for close to two millennia until the fifteenth century[58]

Michael Psellos (1018–1078), a Byzantine monk, writer, philosopher, politician and historian, wrote many philosophical treatises, such as De omnifaria doctrina. He wrote most of his philosophy during his time as a court politician at Constantinople in the 1030s and 1040s.

Gemistos Plethon (c. 1355 – 1452; Greek: Πλήθων Γεμιστός) remained the preeminent scholar of Neoplatonic philosophy in the late Byzantine Empire. He introduced his understanding and insight into the works of Neoplatonism during the failed attempt to reconcile the East–West Schism at the Council of Florence. At Florence, Plethon met Cosimo de' Medici and influenced the latter's decision to found a new Platonic Academy there. Cosimo subsequently appointed as head Marsilio Ficino, who proceeded to translate all Plato's works, the Enneads of Plotinus, and various other Neoplatonic works into Latin.

### Islamic Neoplatonism

Main article: Philosophy:Platonism in Islamic philosophy

Various Turkish, Persian and Arabic scholars—such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Arabi, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, and al-Himsi—adapted Neoplatonism to conform to the monotheistic constraints of Islam.[60] The translations of the works which extrapolate the tenets of God in Neoplatonism present no major modification from their original Greek sources, showing the doctrinal shift towards monotheism.[61] Islamic Neoplatonism adapted the concepts of the One and the First Principle to Islamic theology, attributing the First Principle to God.[62] God is a transcendent being, omnipresent and inalterable to the effects of creation.[61] Islamic philosophers used the framework of Islamic mysticism in their interpretation of Neoplatonic writings and concepts.[note 4]

### Jewish thought

In the Middle Ages, Neoplatonic ideas influenced Jewish thinkers, such as the Kabbalists Isaac the Blind, Azriel of Gerona, Nachmanides, and the earlier Jewish Neoplatonic philosopher Solomon ibn Gabirol (Avicebron), who modified it in the light of their own monotheism.

### Medieval Christian Thought

The works of Pseudo-Dionysius were primarily instrumental in the flowering of western medieval mysticism, most notably the German mystic Meister Eckhart (c. 1260 – c. 1328).

Neoplatonism also influenced Latin scholasticism, for example through the reception and translation of Neoplatonic conception by Eriugena. Aquinas, for example, have some Neoplatonic elements in his philosophical conceptions that he adapts within an Aristotelian vocabulary.

### Western Renaissance

Neoplatonism ostensibly survived in the Eastern Christian Church as an independent tradition and was reintroduced to the West by Pletho (c. 1355 – 1452 or 1454), an avowed pagan and opponent of the Byzantine Church, inasmuch as the latter, under Western scholastic influence, relied heavily upon Aristotelian methodology. Pletho's Platonic revival, following the Council of Florence (1438–1439), largely accounts for the renewed interest in Platonic philosophy which accompanied the Renaissance.

"Of all the students of Greek in Renaissance Italy, the best-known are the Neoplatonists who studied in and around Florence" (Hole). Neoplatonism was not just a revival of Plato's ideas, it is all based on Plotinus' created synthesis, which incorporated the works and teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and other Greek philosophers.

The Renaissance in Italy was the revival of classic antiquity, and this started at the fall of the Byzantine empire, who were considered the "librarians of the world", because of their great collection of classical manuscripts and the number of humanist scholars that resided in Constantinople (Hole).

Neoplatonism in the Renaissance combined the ideas of Christianity and a new awareness of the writings of Plato.

Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was "chiefly responsible for packaging and presenting Plato to the Renaissance" (Hole). In 1462, Cosimo I de' Medici, patron of arts, who had an interest in humanism and Platonism, provided Ficino with all 36 of Plato's dialogues in Greek for him to translate. Between 1462 and 1469, Ficino translated these works into Latin, making them widely accessible, as only a minority of people could read Greek. And, between 1484 and 1492, he translated the works of Plotinus, making them available for the first time to the West.

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) was another Neoplatonist during the Italian Renaissance. He could speak and write Latin and Greek, and had knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic. The pope banned his works because they were viewed as heretical—unlike Ficino's, as the latter had managed to stay on the right side of the Church.

The efforts of Ficino and Pico to introduce Neoplatonic and Hermetic doctrines into the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church has recently been evaluated in terms of an attempted "Hermetic Reformation".[64]

### Cambridge Platonists (17th century)

In the seventeenth century in England, Neoplatonism was fundamental to the school of the Cambridge Platonists, whose luminaries included Henry More, Ralph Cudworth, Benjamin Whichcote and John Smith, all graduates of the University of Cambridge. Coleridge claimed that they were not really Platonists, but "more truly Plotinists": "divine Plotinus", as More called him.

Later, Thomas Taylor (not a Cambridge Platonist) was the first to translate Plotinus' works into English.[65][66]

### Modern Neoplatonism

Notable modern Neoplatonists include Thomas Taylor, "the English Platonist", who wrote extensively on Platonism and translated almost the entire Platonic and Plotinian corpora into English, and the Belgian writer Suzanne Lilar.

The science fiction writer Philip K. Dick identified as a Neoplatonist and explored related mystical experiences and religious concepts in his theoretical work, compiled in The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick.[67]

Julius Evola incorporated Neoplatonic metaphysics into his vision of Roman pagan revival, aligning with his Traditionalist critique of modernity. Arturo Reghini, an Italian esotericist and collaborator of Evola, also promoted Neoplatonic ideas in his efforts to revive ancient Roman religion.[68]

Iris Murdoch argued to revive many of Plato's ideas in her positive form of virtue ethics in her 1970 book The Sovereignty of Good.[69]

## See also

* Allegorical interpretations of Plato
* Antiochus of Ascalon
* Asclepigenia
* Atticus (philosopher)
* Bahá'í cosmology
* Baruch Spinoza
* Brethren of Purity
* Dehellenization of Christianity
* Henology
* International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
* List of ancient Greek philosophers
* Monism
* Panentheism
* Pantheism
* Perennial philosophy
* Peripatetic school
* Sikhism
* Syrianus

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The term first appeared in 1827.[8] According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "The term 'Neoplatonism' is an invention of early 19th century European scholarship and indicates the penchant of historians for dividing 'periods' in history. In this case, the term was intended to indicate that Plotinus initiated a new phase in the development of the Platonic tradition."[9]
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pauliina Remes: "'Neoplatonism' refers to a school of thought that began in approximately 245 CE, when a man called Plotinus moved [to] the capital of the Roman Empire [and] began teaching his interpretation of Plato's philosophy. Out of the association of people in Rome [...] emerged a school of philosophy that displays enough originality to be considered a new phase of Platonism."[13]
3. ↑ Schopenhauer wrote of this Neoplatonist philosopher: "With Plotinus there even appears, probably for the first time in Western philosophy, idealism that had long been current in the East even at that time, for it taught (Enneads, iii, lib. vii, c.10) that the soul has made the world by stepping from eternity into time, with the explanation: 'For there is for this universe no other place than the soul or mind' (neque est alter hujus universi locus quam anima), indeed the ideality of time is expressed in the words: 'We should not accept time outside the soul or mind' (oportet autem nequaquam extra animam tempus accipere)."[27]

Similarly, professor Ludwig Noiré wrote: "For the first time in Western philosophy we find idealism proper in Plotinus (Enneads, iii, 7, 10), where he says, "The only space or place of the world is the soul," and "Time must not be assumed to exist outside the soul."[28] It is worth noting, however, that—like Plato, but unlike Schopenhauer and other modern philosophers—Plotinus does not worry about whether or how we can get beyond our ideas in order to know external objects.
4. ↑ Morewedge: "The greatest cluster of Neoplatonic themes is found in religious mystical writings, which in fact transform purely orthodox doctrines such as creation into doctrines such as emanationism, which allow for a better framework for the expression of Neoplatonic themes and the emergence of the mystical themes of the ascent and mystical union."[63]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Moore, Edward (n.d.). "Neoplatonism". http://www.iep.utm.edu/neoplato/.
2. ↑ Remes, Pauliina; Slaveva-Griffin, Svetla, eds (2014). "The Metaphysics of the One". The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism. Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy. Abingdon, Oxfordshire and New York: Routledge. pp. 182–199. ISBN 9781138573963. https://books.google.com/books?id=yhcWBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182.
3. ↑ Keyser, Paul T.; Scarborough, John, eds (2018). "Plotinus and Neoplatonism: The Creation of a New Synthesis". Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 847–868. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734146.013.78. ISBN 9780199734146. https://books.google.com/books?id=NfxdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA847.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wear, Sarah Klitenic (16 October 2018). "Neoplatonism". Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0201. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195389661/obo-9780195389661-0201.xml.
5. ↑ Armstrong, Karen (1993). A History of God. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0345384560.
6. ↑ Kreisel, Howard (1997). "Moses Maimonides". in Frank, Daniel H. Frank; Leaman, Oliver. History of Jewish Philosophy. Routledge history of world philosophies. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 245–280. ISBN 978-0-415-08064-4. https://archive.org/details/historyjewishphi00fran.
7. ↑ "Wayne Hankey, "Aquinas, Plato, and Neo-Platonism"". https://www.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/fass/Classics/Hankey/Aquinas Plato and Neo-Platonism for Oxford.pdf.
8. ↑ etymonline.com, Neoplatonism
9. ↑ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds). Gerson, Lloyd: "Plotinus"
10. ↑ Wildberg, Christian (2021), Zalta, Edward N., ed., Neoplatonism (Winter 2021 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/neoplatonism/, retrieved 2021-11-08
11. ↑ Allen, Michael J.B. (Summer 1977). "Ficino's Lecture on the Good?". Renaissance Quarterly 30 (2): 160–171. doi:10.2307/2860654.
12. ↑ Tigerstedt, E. N. The Decline and Fall of the Neoplatonic Interpretation of Plato. 1974
13. ↑ Pauliina Remes (2008), Neoplatonism. Acumen publishing, page 1.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Adolf Harnack; John Malcolm Mitchell (1911). "Neoplatonism". in Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 372–378.
15. ↑ J. Bussanich. The roots of Platonism and Vedanta. International Journal of Hindu Studies. January 2005, Volume 9, Issue 1, pp 1–2
16. ↑ Harris, R. Baine (ed.), Neoplatonism and Indian Thought, Norfolk Va., 1982: The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
17. ↑ J.F. Staal, Advaita and Neoplatonism. A Critical Study in Comparative Philosophy. University of Madras, Madras 1961
18. ↑ "Neoplatonism". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. 2021. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoplatonism.
19. ↑ Porphyry, On the Life of Plotinus and the Order of His Books, Ch. 3 (Armstrong's Loeb translation).

> "he became eager to make acquaintance with the Persian philosophical discipline and that prevailing among the Indians"

20. ↑ Handboek Geschiedenis van de Wijsbegeerte I, Article by Frans de Haas
21. ↑ De Mundo, Loeb Classical Library, Introductory Note, D. J. Furley
22. ↑ Hypatia of Alexandria (Revealing Antiquity) by Maria Dzielska (author), F. Lyra (translator), Harvard University Press; reprint edition (October 1, 1996), ISBN 978-0674437760, pp. 38–39.
23. ↑ ""Clarifications" of Obscurity: Conditions for Proclus's Allegorical Reading of Plato's Parmenides" (in de-DE). https://memo.imareal.sbg.ac.at/wsarticle/maq-sonderband/ciarifications-of-obscurity-conditions-for-procluss-allegorical-reading-of-platos-parmenides.
24. ↑ Brenk, Frederick (January 2016). "Pagan Monotheism and Pagan Cult". "Theism" and Related Categories in the Study of Ancient Religions. SCS/AIA Annual Meeting. 75. Philadelphia: Society for Classical Studies (University of Pennsylvania). https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/147/abstract/pagan-monotheism-and-pagan-cult. Retrieved 14 October 2020. "Historical authors generally refer to "the divine" (to theion) or "the supernatural" (to daimonion) rather than simply "God." [...] The Stoics, believed in a God identifiable with the logos or hegemonikon (reason or leading principle) of the universe and downgraded the traditional gods, who even disappear during the conflagration (ekpyrosis). Yet, the Stoics apparently did not practice a cult to this God. Middle and Later Platonists, who spoke of a supreme God, in philosophical discourse, generally speak of this God, not the gods, as responsible for the creation and providence of the universe. They, too, however, do not seem to have directly practiced a religious cult to their God."
25. ↑ Dodds, E.R. "The Parmenides of Plato and the Origin of the Neoplatonic 'One'". The Classical Quarterly, Jul–Oct 1928, vol. 22, p. 136
26. ↑ Plato, Republic 509b
27. ↑ Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume I, "Fragments for the History of Philosophy," § 7)
28. ↑ Ludwig Noiré, Historical Introduction to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.
29. ↑ Richard T. Wallis and Jay Bregman (1992), Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, SUNY Press, pp. 42–45
30. ↑ D. G. Leahy, Faith and Philosophy: The Historical Impact, pp. 5–6. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
31. ↑ Enneads VI 9.6
32. ↑ Richard T. Wallis and Jay Bregman (1992), SUNY Press, p. 173.
33. ↑ Plotinus, iv. 7, On the immortality of the Soul.
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Brown, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar, 1999, Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World, p. 40. Harvard University Press.
35. ↑ See Plato's Timaeus, 41d, 44e, 69c, for the origin of this idea.
36. ↑ Paul S. MacDonald, 2003, History of the Concept of Mind: Speculations About Soul, Mind and Spirit from Homer to Hume, p. 122. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
37. ↑ Plotinus, iii.4.2
38. ↑ Andrew Smith, 1974, Porphyry's Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in Post-Plotinian Neoplatonism, p. 43. Springer.
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Andrew Smith, 1974, Porphyry's Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in Post-Plotinian Neoplatonism, p. 58. Springer.
40. ↑ "Whether human souls could be reborn into animals seems to have become quite a problematical topic to the later Neoplatonists." – Andrew Smith, (1987), Porphyrian Studies since 1913, ANRW II 36, 2.
41. ↑ Remes, Pauliina, Neoplatonism (University of California Press, 2008), p. 119.
42. ↑ James A. Arieti, Philosophy in the Ancient World: An Introduction, p. 336. Rowman & Littlefield
43. ↑ Augustine, Confessions Book 7
44. ↑ Augustine, Confessions, Book 7.12.18
45. ↑ Augustine, Confessions, Book 7.1.1–2
46. ↑ Handboek Geschiedenis van de Wijsbegeerte I, Article by Carlos Steel
47. ↑ The Journal of Neoplatonic studies, Volumes 7–8. Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, 1999. p. 16.
48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 Theological treatises on the Trinity, Marius Victorinus, Mary T. Clark, p. 25
49. ↑ Col. 1:15
50. ↑ Phil. 2:5–7
51. ↑ Augustine, Confessions, Book 7.9.13–14
52. ↑ De immortalitate animae of Augustine: text, translation and commentary, Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo), C. W. Wolfskeel. Introduction.
53. ↑ 1 John 1:14
54. ↑ Handboek Geschiedenis van de Wijsbegeerte I, Article by Douwe Runia
55. ↑ "PLOTINUS, Ennead, Volume I: Porphyry on the Life of Plotinus. Ennead I". http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL440/1969/pb_LCL440.xvii.xml.
56. ↑ Alan Cameron, "The last days of the Academy at Athens," in Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society vol 195 (n.s. 15), 1969, pp 7–29.
57. ↑ Lindberg, David C. "The Beginnings of Western Science", page 70
58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 58.2 Encyclopædia Britannica, Higher Education in the Byzantine Empire, 2008, O.Ed.
59. ↑ Masalha, Nur (24 February 2022) (in en). Palestine Across Millennia: A History of Literacy, Learning and Educational Revolutions. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 81–88. ISBN 978-0-7556-4296-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=OeRSEAAAQBAJ. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
60. ↑ Cleary, John J., ed (1997). The perennial tradition of Neoplatonism. Leuven: Univ. Press. p. 443. ISBN 978-90-6186-847-7. https://archive.org/details/perennialtraditi00clea.
61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 Cleary, John J., ed (1997). The perennial tradition of Neoplatonism. Leuven: Univ. Press. pp. 420–437. ISBN 978-90-6186-847-7. https://archive.org/details/perennialtraditi00clea.
62. ↑ Cleary, John J., ed (1997). The perennial tradition of Neoplatonism. Leuven: Univ. Press. p. 431. ISBN 978-90-6186-847-7. https://archive.org/details/perennialtraditi00clea.
63. ↑ Morewedge, Parviz, ed (1992). Neoplatonism and Islamic thought. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-7914-1335-7.
64. ↑ Heiser, James D., Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century, Repristination Press: Texas, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4610-9382-4
65. ↑ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – entry for Plotinus
66. ↑ Notopoulos, James A. (1936). "Shelley and Thomas Taylor". Proceedings of the Modern Language Association of America 51 (2): 502–517. doi:10.2307/458067.
67. ↑ Dick, Philip K. (2011). Jackson, Pamela; Lethem, Jonathan. eds. The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-547-54927-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=C2176WD_RlcC.
68. ↑ Giudice, Christian (2022). Occult Imperium: Arturo Reghini, Roman Traditionalism, and the Anti-Modern Reaction in Fascist Italy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197610244.
69. ↑ Broackes, Justin (2012). "Introduction". Iris Murdoch, Philosopher: A Collection of Essay s. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0199289905.

## Further reading

* Addey, Crystal. 2014. Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism: Oracles of the Gods. Farnham; Burlington : Ashgate.
* Blumenthal, Henry J., and E. G. Clark, eds. 1993. The Divine Iamblichus: Philosopher and Man of Gods. Proceedings of a Conference held at the University of Liverpool on 23–26 September 1990. Bristol, UK: Bristol Classical Press.
* Catana, Leo 2013. "The Origin of the Division between Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism." Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 46: 2: 166–200.
* Chiaradonna, Riccardo (2023). Ontology in early Neoplatonism: Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110997514.
* Chiaradonna, Riccardo and Franco Trabattoni eds. 2009. Physics and Philosophy of Nature in Greek Neoplatonism: Proceedings of the European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop, Il Ciocco, Castelvecchio Pascoli, 22–24 June 2006. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
* Chlup, Radek. 2012. Proclus: An Introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Dillon, John M. and Lloyd P. Gerson eds. 2004. Neoplatonic Philosophy. Introductory Readings. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co.
* Gersh, Stephen. 2012. "The First Principles of Latin Neoplatonism: Augustine, Macrobius, Boethius." Vivarium 50.2: 113–138.
* Gerson, Lloyd P. ed. 1996. The Cambridge Companion to Plotinus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Gertz, Sebastian R. P. 2011. Death and Immortality in Late Neoplatonism: Studies on the Ancient Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo. Leiden: Brill.
* Hadot, Ilsetraut. 2015. "Athenian and Alexandrian Neoplatonism and the Harmonization of Aristotle and Plato." Translated by Michael Chase. Leiden; Boston: Brill.
* Hartmann, Udo (2018). Der spätantike Philosoph. Die Lebenswelten der paganen Gelehrten und ihre hagiographische Ausgestaltung in den Philosophenviten von Porphyrios bis Damaskios (in German). 3 volumes. Bonn: Habelt, ISBN 978-3-7749-4172-4
* Herkert, Felix (2023). Körperlichkeit im theurgischen Neuplatonismus: Immanente Pforten zur Transzendenz. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter. ISBN 9783111246017.
* O’Meara, Dominic J. 1993. Plotinus: An Introduction to the Enneads. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Rangos, Spyridon. 2000. "Proclus and Artemis: On the Relevance of Neoplatonism to the Modern Study of Ancient Religion." Kernos 13: 47–84.
* Remes, P. 2008. Neoplatonism. Stocksfield, UK: Acumen.
* Remes, Pauliina and Slaveva-Griffin, Svetla eds. 2014. The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism, New York: Routledge.
* Smith, Andrew. 1974. Porphyry's Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in Post-Plotinian Neoplatonism. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
* Whittaker, Thomas. 1901. The Neo-Platonists: A Study in the History of Hellenism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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and lists

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Philosophy

Branches

| Traditional|

* Metaphysics
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|

Philosophy of|

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Schools of thought

| By era|

* Ancient
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|

Ancient|

| Chinese|

* Agriculturalism
* Confucianism
* Legalism
* Logicians
* Mohism
* Chinese naturalism
* Neotaoism
* Taoism
* Yangism
* Chan

|

[[Philosophy:Ancient Greek philosopGreco-Hellenistic philosophy|Roman]] |

* Aristotelianism
* Atomism
* Cynicism
* Cyrenaics
* Eleatics
* Eretrian school
* Epicureanism
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* Ionian
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Indian|

* Hindu
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* Sautrāntika
* Svatantrika

Persian|

* Mazdakism
* Mithraism
* Zoroastrianism
* Zurvanism

Medieval|

| European|

* Christian
* Augustinianism
* Scholasticism
* Thomism
* Scotism
* Occamism
* Renaissance humanism

|

East Asian|

* Korean Confucianism
* Edo neo-Confucianism
* Neo-Confucianism

Indian|

* Vedanta
* Acintya bheda abheda
* Advaita
* Bhedabheda
* Dvaita
* Nimbarka Sampradaya
* Shuddhadvaita
* Vishishtadvaita
* Navya-Nyāya

Islamic|

* Averroism
* Avicennism
* Illuminationism
* ʿIlm al-Kalām
* Sufi

Jewish|

* Judeo-Islamic

Modern|

| People|

* Cartesianism
* Kantianism
* Neo-Kantianism
* Hegelianism
* Marxism
* Spinozism

|

* Anarchism
* Classical Realism
* Liberalism
* Collectivism
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* Determinism
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* Anti-
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* Absolute
* British
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* Objective
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* Individualism
* Kokugaku
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* Monism
* Naturalism
* Natural law
* Nihilism
* New Confucianism
* Neo-scholasticism
* Pragmatism
* Phenomenology
* Positivism
* Reductionism
* Rationalism
* Social contract
* Socialism
* Transcendentalism
* Utilitarianism

Contemporary|

| Analytic|

* Applied ethics
* Analytic feminism
* Analytical Marxism
* Communitarianism
* Consequentialism
* Critical rationalism
* Experimental philosophy
* Falsificationism
* Foundationalism / Coherentism
* Generative linguistics
* Internalism and externalism
* Logical positivism
* Legal positivism
* Normative ethics
* Meta-ethics
* Moral realism
* Quinean naturalism
* Ordinary language philosophy
* Postanalytic philosophy
* Quietism
* Rawlsian
* Reformed epistemology
* Systemics
* Scientism
* Scientific realism
* Scientific skepticism
* Transactionalism
* Contemporary utilitarianism
* Vienna Circle
* Wittgensteinian

|

Continental|

* Critical theory
* Deconstruction
* Existentialism
* Feminist
* Frankfurt School
* New Historicism
* Hermeneutics
* Neo-Marxism
* Phenomenology
* Posthumanism
* Postmodernism
* Post-structuralism
* Social constructionism
* Structuralism
* Western Marxism

Other|

* Kyoto School
* Objectivism
* Postcritique
* Russian cosmism
* more...

Positions

| Aesthetics|

* Formalism
* Institutionalism
* Aesthetic response

|

Ethics|

* Consequentialism
* Deontology
* Virtue

Free will|

* Compatibilism
* Determinism
* Hard
* Incompatibilism
* Hard
* Libertarianism

Metaphysics|

* Atomism
* Dualism
* Monism
* Naturalism

Epistemology|

* Constructivism
* Empiricism
* Idealism
* Particularism
* Fideism
* Rationalism
* /Nihilism-->
* Solipsism

Mind|

* Behaviorism
* Emergentism
* Eliminativism
* Epiphenomenalism
* Functionalism
* Objectivism
* Subjectivism

Normativity|

* Absolutism
* Particularism
* Relativism
* Nihilism
* Skepticism
* Universalism

Ontology|

* Action
* Event
* Process

Reality|

* Anti-realism
* Conceptualism
* Idealism
* Materialism
* Naturalism
* Nominalism
* Physicalism
* Realism

* By region
* Related lists
* Miscellaneous

| By region|

* African
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|

Lists|

* Outline
* Index
* Years
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* Publications

Miscellaneous|

* Natural law
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* Portal
* Category
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* v
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* e

Plato

Life|

* Early life
* Platonism
* Platonic epistemology
* Platonic idealism
* Platonic realism
* Platonic love
* Neoplatonism and Gnosticism
* Platonism in the Renaissance
* Cardinal virtues
* Demiurge
* Theory of Forms
* Transcendentals
* Form of the Good
* Third man argument
* Euthyphro dilemma
* Five regimes
* Philosopher king
* Unwritten doctrines
* Cultural influence of Plato's Republic

Works|

| Uncontested|

* Apology
* Charmides
* Cratylus
* Critias
* Crito
* Euthydemus
* Euthyphro
* Gorgias
* Hippias Minor
* Ion
* Laches
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 228
* Laws
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 23
* Lysis
* Menexenus
* Meno
* Parmenides
* Phaedo
* Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 229
* Phaedrus
* Philebus
* Protagoras
* Republic
* Sophist
* Statesman
* Symposium
* Theaetetus
* Timaeus

|

Of doubtful
authenticity|

* Axiochus
* Clitophon
* Definitions
* Demodocus
* Epigrams
* Epinomis
* Epistles
* Letter I
* II
* IV
* V
* VI
* VII
* IX
* X
* XI
* XII
* Eryxias
* First Alcibiades
* Halcyon
* Hipparchus
* Hippias Major
* Minos
* On Justice
* On Virtue
* Rival Lovers
* Second Alcibiades
* Sisyphus
* Theages

Allegories and metaphors|

* Atlantis
* Ring of Gyges
* The Cave
* The Divided Line
* The Sun
* Ship of State
* Myth of Er
* The Chariot
* Allegorical interpretations of Plato

Family|

* Ariston of Athens (father)
* Pyrilampes (stepfather)
* Perictione (mother)
* Adeimantus of Collytus (brother)
* Glaucon (brother)
* Antiphon (brother)
* Potone (sister)
* Speusippus (nephew)

Related|

* Commentaries
* The Academy in Athens
* Socratic problem
* Middle Platonism
* Neoplatonism
* and Christianity
* Poitier Meets Plato
* List of speakers in Plato's dialogues
* Plato's Dream

* v
* t
* e

Platonists

Academics|

| Old|

* Plato
* Aristotle
* Eudoxus
* Philip of Opus
* Aristonymus
* Coriscus and Erastus of Scepsis
* Demetrius of Amphipolis
* Euaeon of Lampsacus
* Heraclides and Python of Aenus
* Hestiaeus of Perinthus
* Lastheneia of Mantinea
* Timolaus of Cyzicus
* Speusippus
* Axiothea of Phlius
* Heraclides Ponticus
* Menedemus of Pyrrha
* Xenocrates
* Crantor
* Polemon
* Crates of Athens

|

Skeptics|

| Middle|

* Arcesilaus
* Diocles of Cnidus
* Lacydes
* Telecles and Evander
* Hegesinus

|

New|

* Carneades
* Hagnon of Tarsus
* Metrodorus of Stratonicea
* Clitomachus
* Charmadas
* Aeschines of Neapolis
* Philo of Larissa
* Cicero
* Dio of Alexandria

Middle Platonists|

* Antiochus
* Philo of Alexandria
* Plutarch
* Justin Martyr
* Gaius
* Albinus
* Alcinous
* Apuleius
* Atticus
* Maximus of Tyre
* Numenius of Apamea
* Longinus
* Clement of Alexandria
* Origen the Pagan
* Calcidius

Neoplatonists|

| Ancient|

* Ammonius Saccas
* Plotinus
* Disciples
* Origen
* Amelius
* Porphyry
* Iamblichus
* Sopater
* Eustathius of Cappadocia
* Sosipatra
* Aedesius
* Dexippus
* Chrysanthius
* Theodorus of Asine
* Julian
* Sallustius
* Maximus of Ephesus
* Eusebius of Myndus
* Priscus of Epirus
* Antoninus
* Gregory of Nyssa
* Hypatia
* Augustine
* Macrobius

| Academy|

* Plutarch of Athens
* Asclepigenia
* Hierocles
* Syrianus
* Hermias
* Aedesia
* Proclus
* Ammonius Hermiae
* Asclepiodotus
* Hegias
* Zenodotus
* Marinus
* Agapius
* Isidore
* Damascius
* Simplicius
* Priscian

|

Medieval|

* Boethius
* John Philoponus
* Olympiodorus
* Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
* John Scotus Eriugena

| Islamic Golden Age|

* Al-Farabi

|

* Anselm
* Peter Abelard

Chartres|

* Bernard
* Gilbert
* Thierry

|

* Henry of Ghent
* Bonaventure
* Meister Eckhart
* Paul of Venice

Modern|

| Renaissance|

| Florentine Academy|

* Plethon
* Marsilio Ficino
* Cristoforo Landino
* Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

|

Cambridge|

* Ralph Cudworth
* Henry More
* Anne Conway

* Petrus Ramus
* Giordano Bruno
* Blaise Pascal
* Emanuel Swedenborg

German idealists|

* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
* Christian Wolff
* Moses Mendelssohn
* Immanuel Kant
* Johann Gottlieb Fichte
* Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
* G. W. F. Hegel
* Hermann Lotze

|

* Thomas Taylor
* Ralph Waldo Emerson
* Josiah Royce
* Søren Kierkegaard
* Henri Bergson
* Aleksei Losev

Contemporary|

* Bernard Bolzano
* Philip K. Dick
* Joseph Ratzinger

| Analytic|

* Gottlob Frege
* G. E. Moore
* Kurt Gödel
* Alonzo Church
* Roderick Chisholm
* Michael Dummett
* W. V. O. Quine
* David Kaplan
* Saul Kripke
* Alvin Plantinga
* Peter van Inwagen
* Nicholas Wolterstorff
* Crispin Wright
* Edward N. Zalta

|

Continental|

* Edmund Husserl
* Roman Ingarden
* Leo Strauss

Categories|

Platonism

* v
* t
* e

Catholic philosophy

Ethics|

* Cardinal virtues
* Divine command
* Just price
* Just war
* Probabilism
* Natural law
* Personalism
* Seven virtues
* Social teaching
* Theological virtues
* Virtue ethics

Schools|

| Medieval|

* Augustinianism
* Scholasticism
* Thomism
* Scotism
* Occamism

|

Modern|

* Salamanca
* Christian humanism
* Cartesianism
* Molinism
* Neo-scholasticism
* Analytical Thomism

Universals|

* Augustinian realism
* Nominalism
* Conceptualism
* Moderate realism
* Scotistic realism

Other|

* Theological intellectualism
* Theological voluntarism
* Foundationalism

Philosophers|

* Clement
* Augustine
* Boethius
* Dionysius
* Isidore
* Eriugena
* Alcuin
* Anselm
* Abelard
* Lombard
* Albertus
* Bonaventure
* Aquinas
* Llull
* Scotus
* Occam
* Ficino
* Pico
* Erasmus
* Cusa
* Luis
* More
* Suárez
* Descartes
* Pierre
* Montaigne
* Pascal
* Krasicki
* Kołłątaj
* Staszic
* Newman
* Scheler
* Chesterton
* Maritain
* Stein
* Mortimer
* Rahner
* Anscombe
* MacIntyre
* Wojtyla
* Ratzinger

Concepts|

* Actus purus
* Actus Essendi
* Actus primus
* Quinque viae
* Theodicy
* Augustinian
* Irenaean
* Formal distinction
* Univocity
* Head of a pin
* Occam's razor
* Augustinian values
* Principle of double effect
* Seven deadly sins
* Quiddity
* Cardinal virtues
* Stratification of emotional life
* Disputation
* Evil demon
* Aevum
* Haecceity
* Cartesian dualism
* Divine illumination
* Peripatetic axiom
* Memento mori
* Ressentiment
* Rota Fortunae
* Double truth
* Ontological argument
* Utopia
* Trademark argument
* Pascal's wager
* Dehellenization
* Differentia
* Homo unius libri
* Cogito, ergo sum
* Infused righteousness

Related|

* Catholic theology
* Platonism
* Aristotelianism
* Neoplatonism
* Islamic philosophy
* Doctor of the Church
* Renaissance
* Rationalism
* Empiricism
* Phenomenology

*   *

* v
* t
* e

Ancient Roman religion and mythology

Deities
(Dii Consentes)|

* Agenoria
* Angerona
* Anna Perenna
* Apollo
* Bellona
* Bona Dea
* Castor and Pollux
* Ceres
* Cupid
* Dea Dia
* Diana
* Dīs Pater
* Egeria
* Fauna
* Faunus
* Flora
* Genius
* Hercules
* Janus
* Juno
* Jupiter
* Lares
* Liber
* Libertas
* Mars
* Mercury
* Minerva
* Neptune
* Orcus
* Penates
* Pluto
* Pomona
* Priapus
* Proserpina
* Quirinus
* Saturn
* Silvanus
* Sol
* Venus
* Vesta
* Vulcan

Abstract deities|

* Abundantia
* Aequitas
* Aeternitas
* Africa
* Annona
* Averruncus
* Concordia
* Feronia
* Fides
* Fortuna
* Fontus
* Laverna
* Pietas
* Roma
* Salus
* Securitas
* Spes
* Tranquillitas
* Victoria
* Terra

Legendary figures|

* Aeneas
* Rhea Silvia
* Romulus and Remus
* Numa Pompilius
* Tullus Hostilius
* Servius Tullius
* Ancus Marcius
* Lucius Tarquinius Priscus
* Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Texts|

* Virgil
* Aeneid
* Ovid
* Metamorphoses
* Fasti
* Propertius
* Apuleius
* The Golden Ass
* Varro

Concepts
and practices|

* Religion in ancient Rome
* Festivals
* Interpretatio graeca
* Imperial cult
* Pomerium
* Temples

Philosophy|

* Cynicism
* Epicureanism
* Neoplatonism
* Peripateticism
* Pythagoreanism
* Stoicism

See also|

* Glossary
* Greek mythology
* Myth and ritual
* Roman polytheism (List)
* Classical mythology
* Conversion to Christianity
* Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism

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