Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of philosophy that is based on the teachings of Plato and early Platonists. Neoplatonism took definitive shape in the third century AD with the philosopher Plotinus, whose student, Porphyry, assembled his teachings into the six Enneads. Neoplatonists considered themselves simply "Platonists", and the modern distinction is due to the perception that their philosophy contained enough unique interpretations of Plato to make it substantively different from what Plato wrote and believed. Neoplatonism flourished until 529 C.E. when Emperor Justinius closed the Neoplatonic Academy in Athens, nevertheless, the Neoplatonic tradition has shaped centuries of philosophy and has been adapted into a broad spectrum of religious thought.

Subsequent Neoplatonic philosophers included Hypatia of Alexandria, Iamblichus, Proclus, Hierocles of Alexandria, Simplicius of Cilicia, and Damascius, who wrote On First Principles. Born in Damascus, he was the last teacher of Neoplatonism at Athens. Neoplatonism strongly influenced Christian thinkers (such as Augustine, Boethius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Johannes Scottus Eriugena, and Bonaventura). Neoplatonism was also present in medieval Islamic and Jewish thinkers such as al-Farabi and Maimonides, and experienced a revival in the Renaissance with the acquisition and translation of Greek and Arabic Neoplatonic texts.

Teachings

Neoplatonism is a form of idealistic monism. It is largely derived from the interpretation of Plato's philosophy by Plotinus. Plotinus taught the existence of an ineffable and transcendent One, which exists in it of itself and transcends all catagories of being, and thus no attributes can be placed on the "one" itself as a being. The process of creation is not so much as the "One" create, but rather out of the "One" emanated its own essence as the rest of the universe as a sequence of lesser beings. The first emanation being Nous, or intellect, which relates to the Forms in Plato's philosophy. Furthermore the successive emanation results in the emanation of the "soul," which has the functions to contemplate the higher realm of emanation of "Nous" and also relates to the lower realm of "nature." Later Neoplatonic philosophers, especially Iamblichus, added hundreds of intermediate gods, angels and demons, and other beings as emanations between the One and humanity. Plotinus' system was much simpler in comparison.

Some Neoplatonists believed human perfection and happiness were attainable in this world, without awaiting an afterlife, while others, like Bonaventura, held the concept that perfect unity with the "One" was a promise to be fulfilled in the afterlife. Perfection and happiness, seen as synonymous, could be achieved through philosophical contemplation, the highest level and function of life.

They 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 that they should have. Where the individual descends into the material realm, some like Plotinus held that the forgetfulness of the divine origin in the "One" results in evil.

It is also a cornerstone of Neoplatonism to teach that all people return to the Source, and for some, this descent into the material realm is a necessary process. The Source, Absolute or One, is what all things spring from and as a superconsciousness is where all things return. It can be said that all consciousness is wiped clean and returned to a blank slate when returning to the source. Proclus, a later predecessor of Plotinus, Porphyry, and Iamblichus, further expounded on the Neoplatonist philosophy with complex analysis and tremendous rigor. He viewed this process of descent from the divine "One" and return as the process of originating from an ambiguous unity, then entering a realm of multiplicity, then completing a unity that is the substantial manifestation of the one. Thus, the function of contemplation to be the process of uniting with the greater unity and higher level of Nous and eventually with the "One."

Early Christian and Medieval Neoplatonism

Ideas of Neoplatonism such as evil as the privation of good influenced Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo, upon learning about it, to abandon dualistic Manichaeism and convert to Christianity. When, three or four years after his 387 baptism, he wrote his treatise On True Religion, he was still thinking of Christianity in Neoplatonic terms. However, after he was ordained priest and bishop and had acquired greater familiarity with Scripture, he noted contradictions between Neoplatonism and Christianity.

Nevertheless, many Christians were influenced by Neoplatonism. They identified the One as God. The most important and influential of them was the fifth century author known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. His works were significant for both Eastern Orthodox and Western branches of Christianity. Johannes Scotus Eriugena's ninth century Latin translation of the writing of pseudo-Dionysius was widely studied during the Middle Ages. Another notable Christian theologian who was influenced by Neoplatonism was Bonaventura, who had a deep understanding of his faith tied with the philosophical rigor of the Neoplatonic tradition, relating ideas such as concept of beings existing in the realm of the Forms within a Christian context of beings existing likewise in a divine realm transcendent of material reality, and the ultimate goal was this unity with the "One."

Neoplatonism also had links with the belief systems known as Gnosticism. Plotinus, however, rebuked Gnosticism in the ninth tractate of the second Enneads: "Against Those That Affirm The Creator of The Kosmos and The Kosmos Itself to Be Evil" (generally quoted as "Against The Gnostics"). Being grounded in platonic thought, the Neoplatonists would have rejected the gnostic vilification of Plato's demiurge, a deity discussed in Timaeus.

In the Middle Ages, Neoplatonist ideas influenced the thinking of Jewish Kabbalists, such as Isaac the Blind. However, the Kabbalists modified Neoplatonism according to their own monotheistic belief. A famous Jewish Neoplatonic philosopher from the early Middle Ages was Solomon ibn Gabirol. During this period, Neoplatonist ideas also influenced Islamic and Sufi thinkers such as al Farabi and through him Avicenna.

Neoplatonism survived in the Eastern Christian Church as an independent tradition and was reintroduced to the west by Plethon.

Renaissance Neoplatonism

In western Europe, Neoplatonism was revived in the Italian Renaissance by figures such as Marsilio Ficino, the Medici, and Sandro Botticelli. Thomas Taylor, "The English Platonist," wrote extensively on Platonism and translated almost the entire Platonic corpus into English.

Commentary on Parmenides

As Plotinus claimed that, since the academy and Plato taught via dialectical interaction between student and teacher, his works were the writing down of a long oral tradition. This remark has been given renewed attention due to some scholars calling into question The Anonymous Commentary on Plato's 'Parmenides' as being authored after Plotinus by his student Porphyry. It has recently been presented that the text is pre-Plotinian and pre-Porphyryian in origin by Kevin Corrigan of the University of Saskatchewan and this conclusion is supported by Dr John D Turner. This text contains a great many ideas that have been attributed to Plotinus and his students exclusively if the text was pre Plotinus then much of what is considered Neo Platonic would indeed be pre Plotinus.

Publications

• Gersh, S. (1986) Middle Platonism and Neo-platonism: The Latin Tradition, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
• Wallis, R.T. (1972) Neoplatonism, London: Duckworth
• Whittaker. (1901) The Neo-Platonists, Cambridge
• Shayega, Y. (1996) 'The Transmission of Greek Philosophy into the Islamic World', in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman (eds) History of Islamic Philosophy, London: Routledge, ch. 6, 98-104.

External links

• International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Neoplatonism
• The Neoplatonic Church

General Philosophy Sources

• Philosophy Sources on Internet EpistemeLinks
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet
• Paideia Project Online
• The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Project Gutenberg

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