Porphyry, ›On Principles and Matter‹
Porphyry, ›On Principles and Matter‹

Author: Yury Arzhanov

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2021-08-02

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 3110747022

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The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously, there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre. Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato’s concept of Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language. The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with philosophical commentaries on Plato’s Timaeus.

Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?
Plato and Aristotle in Agreement?

Author: George E. Karamanolis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2006-04-06

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0199264562

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George Karamanolis breaks new ground in the study of later ancient philosophy by examining the interplay of the two main schools of thought, Platonism and Aristotelianism, from the first century BC to the third century AD. Arguing against prevailing scholarly assumption, he argues that the Platonists turned to Aristotle only in order to elucidate Plato's doctrines and to reconstruct Plato's philosophy, and that they did not hesitate to criticize Aristotle when judging him to be at odds with Plato. Karamanolis offers much food for thought to ancient philosophers and classicists.

Porphyry, On Principles and Matter
Porphyry, On Principles and Matter

Author: Porphyry

Publisher: de Gruyter

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783110745771

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The treatise On Principles and Matter preserved in Syriac derives most probably from Porphyry of Tyre. This text is an important witness to late antique discussions among Platonists on First Principles and on Plato's concept of Prime Matter in the

Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature

Author: James Wilberding

Publisher:

Published: 2012-04-05

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13:

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This volume dispels the idea that Platonism was an otherworldly enterprise which neglected the study of the natural world. Leading scholars examine how the Platonists of late antiquity sought to understand and explain natural phenomena: their essays offer a new understanding of the metaphysics of Platonism, and its place in the history of science.

Neoplatonic Demons and Angels
Neoplatonic Demons and Angels

Author: Luc Brisson

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-07-10

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9004374981

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Neoplatonic Demons and Angels is a collection of eleven studies which examine, in chronological order, the place reserved for angels and demons not only by the main Neoplatonic philosophers (Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus), but also in Gnosticism, the Chaldaean Oracles, Christian Neoplatonism, especially by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This volume originates from a panel held at the 2014 ISNS meeting in Lisbon, but is supplemented by a number of invited papers.

Plotinus the Platonist
Plotinus the Platonist

Author: David J. Yount

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-10-23

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1472575237

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In this insightful new book David J. Yount argues, against received wisdom, that there are no essential differences between the metaphysics of Plato and Plotinus. Yount covers the core principles of Plotinian thought: The One or Good, Intellect, and All-Soul (the Three Hypostases), Beauty, God(s), Forms, Emanation, Matter, and Evil. After addressing the interpretive issues that surround the authenticity of Plato's works, Plotinus: The Platonist deftly argues against the commonly held view that Plotinus is best interpreted as a Neo-Platonist, proposing he should be thought of as a Platonist proper. Yount presents thorough explanations and quotations from the works of each classical philosopher to demonstrate his thesis, concluding comprehensively that Plato and Plotinus do not essentially differ on their metaphysical conceptions. This is an ideal text for Plato and Plotinus scholars and academics, and excellent supplementary reading for upper-level undergraduates students and postgraduate students of ancient philosophy.

Porphyry in Syriac
Porphyry in Syriac

Author: Yury Arzhanov

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2024-07-01

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 3111388166

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In 2021, a previously unknown treatise by Porphyry of Tyre, which has been preserved in a Syriac translation, was made available to historians of philosophy: Porphyry, On Principles and Matter (De Gruyter, 2021). This text not only enlarges our knowledge of the legacy of the most prominent disciple of Plotinus but also serves as an important witness to Platonist discussions of first principles and of Plato’s concept of prime matter in the Timaeus. The aim of the present volume of collected studies is two-fold. On the one hand, it brings up an update to the state of the art of our knowledge of Porphyry’s philosophy and of his role in the transmission of the earlier philosophical materials, especially those of the Middle Platonic works. On the other hand, it focuses on the questions of the reception of Porphyry’s legacy, both by Greek and Latin Platonists (with special interest in Calcidius) and by Christian Oriental authors (with particular focus on the Syriac tradition). The primary audience of the book will be scholars and graduate students in ancient and late ancient Greek philosophy, Orientalists and scholars interested in the Christian reception of Greek philosophy, in the studies of the Christian Orient, as well as in Greek, Latin, and Syriac philology.