94 research outputs found
Proclus and the Statesman Myth
IndexaciĂłn: Revista UNAB.En el mito del PolĂtico (268d8-274d) PlatĂłn nos presenta dos
humanidades primitivas: la de la de Edad de Oro, en la que
reina Crono, y la que vive al comienzo del reinado de Zeus.
En el siglo V D.C., Proclo interpreta este mito de una manera no literal, estableciendo una comparación entre la demiurgia del Timeo y la de Crono. El relato disocia, situándolos en
tiempos diferentes, dos estados que, de hecho, coexistĂan en
nuestro universo, donde el reino de Crono, considerado como
el dialéctico supremo que representa la culminación del orden
intelectual de los dioses, corresponde al mundo inteligible, y el
reino de Zeus, representante de la razĂłn operativa en el mundo fĂsico, al ámbito de lo sensible.In the Statesman’s myth (268d8-274d), Plato features two
primitive human races: that of the Golden Age, under Cronus
reigns, and that which lives at the beginning of the reign of
Zeus. In the fifth century AD, Proclus interprets this myth in
a non-literal way, establishing a comparison between Timaeus’
demiourgia and that of Cronus. His narrative dissociates two
states —placing them at different times—, which, in fact, coexisted in our universe, where Cronus’ realm, considered the
supreme dialectic representing the culmination of the intellectual order of the gods, corresponds to the intelligible world;
while Zeus’ realm, representative of the operative reason in the
physical world, corresponds to the sensible domain.http://revistahumanidades.unab.cl//wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Art%C3%ADculo.-Proclo.-Zamora.pd
Proclus on the Atlantis Story
This paper explores the central thesis of the story of Atlantis put forward by Proclus in his Commentary on Plato's Timaeus. For Proclus, who interprets this story eight centuries after his invention by Plato, the Atlantean account does not constitute the “birth of fiction”, nor a historical novel composed in order to critize the politics of his time, but a total historical account, “entirely true”. The conflict between ancient Athens, the city of Athena, and Atlantis, dedicated to Poseidon, exposes an episode of the constitution of the cosmos of which the history of humanity is a part. Therefore, the story of Atlantis is a representation of the new creation or second demiurgy.This paper benefited from the support of two Spanish R&D projects: Acis&Galatea H2015/HUM-3362 (Community of Madrid) and HAR2017-83613- C2-2-P (Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness), and is part of the activities of the UAM Research Group: “Influences of Greek Ethics on Contemporary Philosophy” (Ref. F-055
Atenas-AlejandrĂa
The Athens of the second half of the V century
B.C. probably expresses the best conception of active citizenship,
but in this city-state, women, slaves and metics
were excluded from citizenship. For its part, Alexandria,
the lighthouse city founded by Alexander the Great, arises
in Egypt, takes root in ancient Athens, but goes through
the collapse of the polis and the emergence of cosmopolitanism,
setting a new world order, technological and cultura
Derveni theogony and Plotinian genealogy
La teogonĂa de Derveni construye un relato complejo sobre la organizaciĂłn del
mundo y el poder divino desde el comienzo de los tiempos. El Ăşltimo rey divino, el dios
supremo del universo, Zeus, que también es su demiurgo, devora el falo de su padre, Urano,
para poder asĂ regresar Ă©l mismo a una generaciĂłn anterior a la primera, dando inicio bajo su
reinado a un nuevo ciclo cĂłsmico. Para Plotino, la castraciĂłn de Urano representa la
transcendencia del Uno-Bien respecto a la Inteligencia, simbolizada por Crono; y el Alma,
Zeus, que escapa a la voracidad de su padre, constituye el primer dios demiurgo, cuya
funciĂłn es la de servir de mediador entre lo inteligible y el mundo sensibleDerveni theogony constructs a complex narrative about the organization of the world
and the divine power from the beginning of time. The last divine king, the supreme god of
the universe, Zeus, who is also his demiurge, devours the phallus of his father, Uranus, in
order to return himself to a generation before the first, giving birth under his reign to the
beginning of a new cosmic cycle. For Plotinus, the castration of Uranus represents the
transcendence of the One-Good with regard to Intelligence, symbolized by Kronos; and the
Soul, Zeus, who escapes from the voracity of his father, is the first demiurge god, whose
function is to serve as mediator between the intelligible and the sensible worl
The Christ-Logos question in Amelius
The main thesis of Christians, according to which Jesus is the divine Logos, the
Son of God, is unacceptably illogical for Plotinus closest disciples. The irrationality of
Christian doctrine lies in having identified a unique, personal and corporal individual
with the divine principle. Such a statement implies identifying God himself with something
passive and irrational, which is inadmissible to Amelius and Porphyry. Amelius
helps Plotinus to answer the Gnostic Christians attending the school of Plotinus. In
his Praeparatio Evangelica (XI.19.1–8) Eusebius refers to Amelius’ comment to the prologue
to the Gospel of John. Unlike Numenius, for whom the demiurgic intellect, compared
to Zeus, is the second cause of what comes to be, for Amelius, this second cause is
the logos, which is the formal cause (kath’ hon), the efficient cause (di’ hou) and the material
cause (en hôi) of what comes to be. Amelius links this conception of logos – which
is being, life and thought – with Heraclitus (DK 22 B1) and with the prologue to the Gospel
of John. Likewise, Amelius, based on the interpretation of Timaeus (39e7–9), established
a triad of the demiurgic intellects (= the three Kings of the apocryphal Second Letter).
In his Neoplatonic rereading, the logos of the beginning of the fourth Gospel has a
very similar function to that performed by the world soul. On the one hand, it is the supreme
cause of all the things which come to be, and, on the other hand, redirects its energy
towards the superior god from which it comesThis paper benefited from the support of two Spanish R&D projects: Acis&Galatea
H2015/HUM-3362 and HAR2017-83613-C2-2-P, and is part of the activities of the UAM
Research Group: “Influences of Greek Ethics on Contemporary Philosophy” (Ref. F-055
LaimÄ— ir gyvenimo homonimija Plotino filosofijoje
This article analyses the Plotinian reconsideration of the link between the definition of happiness and the homonymy of life. To safeguard Platonism, Plotinus inverts the Aristotelian discussions of homonymy and its metaphysical implications, and presents the prior-posterior relationship in terms of progressive degradation. Happiness does not consist of “life” in general (understood in a univocal sense) nor of the “rational life” (understood as the sum of genus and specific difference); rather, it consists of the life that is situated in the ontologically first and most perfect degree, which is the life that pertains to intelligence and is consubstantial with it, and of which the other lives are progressively degraded derivations. The man who possesses the first and perfect life of the intelligible in actuality, like the gods, can be considered happy.Straipsnyje analizuojamas Plotino atsigrįžimas į ryšį tarp laimės apibrėžimo ir gyvenimo homonimijos. Kad išsaugotų platonizmą, Plotinas apverčia aristoteliškąjį svarstymą apie homonimiją bei jos metafizines implikacijas ir teigia pirmesnio–paskesnio santykį, reiškiantį progresyvią degradaciją. Laimė jam nėra nei „gyvenimas“ bendrąja prasme (suprantamas vienareikšmiškai), nei „racionalus gyvenimas“ (suprantamas kaip giminės ir rūšinio skirtumo suma); veikiau laimė – tai gyvenimas, pasiekęs ontologiškai pirmą ir aukščiausią laipsnį, tai yra gyvenimas, derantis protui, konsubstantyvus jam, visi kiti gyvenimai yra tik progresyviai degraduojantys jo vediniai. Žmogus, gyvenantis pirmąjį – tobulą proto gyvenimą aktualybėje, gali būti laikomas laimingu, kaip dievai
Neoplatonic Exegesis of Hermaic Chain: Some reflections
In his exposition of the philosophical history of Neoplatonist School in Athens, Damascius attempts to prove that Isidore's soul was part of the Hermaic chain to which Proclus also belonged. According to Marinus (V. Procl. 28), Proclus had the revelation of this very fact and had learned from a dream that he possessed the soul of the Pythagorean Nicomachus of Gerasa. In the 4th and 6th centuries the expression “pattern of Hermes Logios” is transmitted through the various links of the Neoplatonic chain, Julian (Or. 7.237c), Proclus (in Parm. I.618), Damascius (V. Isid. Fr. 16) and Olympiodorus (in Gorg. 41.10.16–22; in Alc. 190.14–191.2). The formula that Aelius Aristides (Or. III.663) dedicates to the praise of Demosthenes, the best of Greek orators, arises in the context of an opposition between rhetoric and philosophy, and appears transferred and transmuted in the texts of the Neoplatonic schools to a philosophical context that defends an exegetical mode of teaching. Demosthenes, through his admirer Aristides, exerts an influence on Neoplatonism, introducing Hermes as the key piece that strengthens the chain of reason and eloquence. Hermes, the “eloquent” god or “friend of discourses”, transmits divine authority through the word of the exegete: an exceptional philosopher, a model of virtue to strive to rise t
Pseudo-platonic immortality: Axiochus and its posterity in humanism
The aim of this article is to trace the influence of Axiochus, an apocryphal text
attributed to Plato, on Humanism. The dialogue, which belongs to the literary genre of
“consolation”, addresses the theme of contempt of death and the immortality of the soul.
The jurist Pedro DĂaz de Toledo (1410/15 – 1466) translated it into Spanish in 1444 from a
Latin version entitled De morte contemnenda, which Cencio de’ Rustici had translated
eight years earlier, probably from the Greek codex provided by Joannes Chrysoloras, the
Vaticanus gr. 1031. For his part, the humanist Beatus Rhenanus (1485 – 1547), the owner of
five editions, revised and corrected in detail the text of a translation by Rudolf Agricola,
proposing a number of amendments and changes that would appear in the Basel edition printed by Adam Petri in 151
What is that which is always becoming, and what is that which always is?
This paper explores the Neoplatonic interpretations of the distinction that Plato draws at the beginning of Timaeus (27d6 - 28a1) between "that which always is and has no becoming" and "that which is always becoming but never is". Philoponus tries to show that Plato understands "generated" in the sense of "generated in time", rejecting Aristotle's incompatible thesis. According to the Neoplatonic reading that Plotinus inaugurates, and Porphyry subsequently develops, "generated" (γϵνητóν) has two meanings: to depend on a cause and to exist by virtue of a composition. The first meaning is assigned to the incorporeal - the Intelligence and the Soul; the two meanings, on the other hand, are assigned to bodies. The Intelligence depends on a cause, the One-Good; and, in turn, the Soul depends on a cause, the Intelligence. These realities are not in the range of "that which is always generated and never is", but of "that which always is and is not generated", i.e. of "that which is without ceasing to be".This paper benefited from the support of two Spanish R&D projects: HAR2017-83613-C2-2-P and H2019/HUM-5714, and is part of the activities of the UAM Research Group: Influences of Greek Ethics on Contemporary Philosophy (Ref. F-055
The status of sexuality in neoplatonism
The stereotype of “Platonic love” that developed during the Renaissance implies a type of relationship, between two people of the opposite gender, which does not involve sexual activity. A new examination of certain relevant texts by Neoplatonists such as Plotinus, Porphyry, Hierocles, Hermias, Proclus and Olympiodorus, written during the period of Late Antiquity, establish that the question of sexuality is present in the very architecture of their systems, thus maintaining a coherent approach over time. “Mixed love”, tending towards the sexual union that enables the conception of children, is morally good. Through an exegesis of the Symposium, Phaedrus and First Alcibiades, each of these Neoplatonic philosophers explores sexuality through the prisms of cosmology, ethics and political theory
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