A Wisdom Archive on Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) was a school of philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century A.D. Though based on the teachings of Plato and the Platonists, it interpreted Plato in many new ways, so that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato had written, though many Neoplatonists would prefer to say that what they advocated had been previously taught by Plato. The prefix "neo" (Greek for "new") was only added by modern scholars to distinguish between the two, but the prac ... Including:

• Neoplatonism - Teachings
• Neoplatonism - Christian Neo-Platonism
• Neoplatonism - Islamic Neoplatonism
• Neoplatonism - Renaissance Neoplatonism
• Neoplatonism - Modern Neo-Platonism
• Neoplatonism - Publications

Read more here: » Neoplatonism: Encyclopedia - Neoplatonism

The source of Western theurgy can be found in the philosophy of late Neoplatonists, especially Iamblichus. In late Neoplatonism, the universe is regarded as a series of emanations from the Godhead. Matter itself is merely the lowest of these emanations, and therefore not in essence different from the Divine. Although the number and qualities of these emanations differ, most Neoplatonists insisted that God was both singular and good. Although Neoplatonists were technically polytheists, they also embraced a form of monism: reality was varied, with varied gods, but they all ...

Read more here: » Theurgy: Encyclopedia II - Theurgy - Neoplatonism

Although under Plotinus, Neoplatonism began as a school of philosophy, the teachings of later Neoplatonists such as Iamblichus and Proclus incorporate additional details of the emanation process in terms of the dialectical action of the hypostases and further subdivisions from Plotinus' original three hypostases. Each higher hypostasis constitutes a more sublime deific state of existence. There is also a tendency in later neoplatonic thought towards increasing transcendentalism and dualism. Although Plotinus saw spiritual ascent as leading ultimately to the One (The Absolute), in later Neoplatonism the best one can ho ...

Read more here: » Esoteric cosmology: Encyclopedia II - Esoteric cosmology - Neoplatonism

Renaissance Platonism cannot really be easily considered as a school or even a coherent movement. Unlike humanism or Aristoteleanism, it was not a program of education and so did not constitute normal studies, nor did it ever become a program of study or curriculum. Aside from the Academy founded by Marsilio Ficino and Cosimo de'Medici, it had only the slimmest of institutional support as a distinct discipline. Only a few philosophers, such as Cardinal Bessarion, Nicholas Cusanus, Marsilio Ficino, and Pico della Mirandola, can be unabashedly ...

Read more here: » Neoplatonism: Encyclopedia II - Neoplatonism - Renaissance Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism: A term that describes the non-academic form of philosophy attributed to Plato but actually beginning with Plotinus and ending when Emperor Justinian closed the Platonic Academy in 529 C.E. It blended Gnosticism and Judaism (and later, Christianity) and is seen as one source of Kabalistic thought. Neoplatonism heavily influenced medieval mysticism and occultism, and the humanism that developed in the Renaissance.

 
(See also: Neoplatonism, Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca )

For more dictionary entries, see » neoplatonism dictionary

Solomon Ibn Gabriol, also Solomon ben Judah, is a Spanish Jewish poet and philosopher. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia. He is sometimes referred to as "Avicebron" in the West, a corruption of "Ibn Gabirol" ("Ibngebirol," "Avengebirol," "Avengebrol," "Avencebrol," "Avicebrol," "Avicebron"). Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Biography. Little is known of Gabirol's life. His parents died while he was a child. At seventeen years of age he became the friend and protégé of Jekut ... Including:

• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Biography
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Restorer of Neoplatonism
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Identity with Avicebron
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - The Fons Vitæ
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Reconciling Neoplatonism with Jewish theology
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Effect upon his successors
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Influence on Scholasticism
• Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Ethical Treatise

Read more here: » Solomon Ibn Gabirol: Encyclopedia - Solomon Ibn Gabirol

It is held by some scholars that Ibn Gabirol set out to reconcile Neoplatonism with Jewish theology. Geiger finds complete harmony between Gabirol's conception of the Deity and the historical Jewish conception of God; and Guttmann and Eisler hold that in Gabirol's doctrine of the will there is a departure from the pantheistic emanation doctrine of Neoplatonism and an attempted approach to the Biblical doctrine of creation. A suggestion of Judaic monotheism is found in Gabirol's doctrine of the oneness of the "materia universalis." The ...

Read more here: » Solomon Ibn Gabirol: Encyclopedia II - Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Reconciling Neoplatonism with Jewish theology

Gabirol was one of the first teachers of Neoplatonism in Europe. His role has been compared to that of Philo. Philo had served as the intermediary between Hellenic philosophy and the Oriental world; a thousand years later Gabirol Occidentalized Greco-Arabic philosophy and restored it to Europe. The philosophical teachings of Philo and Ibn Gabirol were largely ignored by their fellow Jews; the parallel may be extended by adding that Philo and Gabirol alike exercised a considerable influence in extra-Jewish circles: Philo upon early Christiani ...

Read more here: » Solomon Ibn Gabirol: Encyclopedia II - Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Restorer of Neoplatonism

After a lapse during the early Roman occupation, the Academy was refounded (Cameron 1965) as a new institution of some outstanding Platonists of late antiquity who called themselves "successors" (diadochoi, but of Plato) and presented themselves as an uninterrupted tradition reaching back to Plato. There cannot really have been any geographical, institutional, economic or personal continuity with the original Academy in the new organizational entity (Bechtle). The last "Greek" philosophers of the revived Academy in the 6th cent ...

Read more here: » Academy: Encyclopedia II - Academy - The revived neoplatonic Academy of Late Antiquity

Gabirol in the "Fons Vitæ" aims to outline but one part of his philosophical system, the doctrine of matter and form: hence the "Fons Vitæ" also bore the title "De Materia et Forma." The manuscript in the Mazarine Library is entitled "De Materia Universali." The "Fons Vitæ" consists of five tractates, treating respectively of (1) matter and form in general and their relation in physical substances ("substantiæ corporeæ sive compositæ"); (2) the substance which underlies the corporeality of the world ("de substantia quæ sustinet ...

Read more here: » Solomon Ibn Gabirol: Encyclopedia II - Solomon Ibn Gabirol - The Fons Vitæ