Philoponus: Against Proclus On the Eternity of the World 6-8


Book Description

This is one of the most interesting of all post-Aristotelian Greek philosophical texts, written at a crucial moment in the defeat of paganism by Christianity, AD 529, when the Emperor Justinian closed the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. Philoponus in Alexandria was a brilliant Christian philosopher, steeped in Neoplatonism, who turned the pagans' ideas against them. Here he attacks the most devout of the earlier Athenian pagan philosophers, Proclus, defending the distinctively Christian view that the universe had a beginning against Proclus' eighteen arguments to the contrary, which are discussed in eighteen chapters. Chapters 6-8 are translated in this volume.




Against Proclus on the Eternity of the World 6-8


Book Description

This is one of the most interesting of all post-Aristotelian Greek philosophical texts, written at a crucial moment in the defeat of paganism by Christianity, AD 529, when the Emperor Justinian closed the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. Philoponus in Alexandria was a brilliant Christian philosopher, steeped in Neoplatonism, who turned the pagans' ideas against them. Here he attacks the most devout of the earlier Athenian pagan philosophers, Proclus, defending the distinctively Christian view that the universe had a beginning against Proclus' eighteen arguments to the contrary, which are discussed in eighteen chapters. Chapters 6-8 are translated in this volume.







Against Proclus's "On the Eternity of the World, 6-8"


Book Description

This is one of the most interesting of all post-Aristotelian Greek philosophical texts, written at a crucial moment in the defeat of paganism by Christianity, AD 529, when the Emperor Justinian closed the pagan Neoplatonist school in Athens. Philoponus in Alexandria was a brilliant Christian philosopher, steeped in Neoplatonism, who turned the pagans' ideas against them. Here he attacks the most devout of the earlier Athenian pagan philosophers, Proclus, defending the distinctively Christian view that the universe had a beginning against Proclus' eighteen arguments to the contrary, which are discussed in eighteen chapters. Chapters 6-8 are translated in this volume.




Proclus and his Legacy


Book Description

This volume investigates Proclus' own thought and his wide-ranging influence within late Neoplatonic, Alexandrine and Byzantinian philosophy and theology. It further explores how Procline metaphysics and doctrines of causality influence and transition into Arabic and Islamic thought, up until Richard Hooker in England, Spinoza in Holland and Pico in Italy. John Dillon provides a helpful overview of Proclus' thought, Harold Tarrant discusses Proclus' influence within Alexandrian philosophy and Tzvi Langermann presents ground breaking work on the Jewish reception of Proclus, focusing on the work of Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (1591-1655), while Stephen Gersh presents a comprehensive synopsis of Proclus' reception throughout Christendom. The volume also presents works from notable scholars like Helen Lang, Sarah Wear and Crystal Addey and has a considerable strength in its presentation of Pseudo-Dionysius, Proclus' transmission and development in Arabic philosophy and the problem of the eternity of the world. It will be important for anyone interested in the development and transition of ideas from the late ancient world onwards.




On Aristotle's "Metaphysics"


Book Description

The series is devoted to the study of scientific and philosophical texts from the Classical and the Islamic world handed down in Arabic. Through critical text editions and monographs, it provides access to ancient scientific inquiry as it developed in a continuous tradition from Antiquity to the modern period. All editions are accompanied by translations and philological and explanatory notes.




Eranos Yearbook 74 - The Age of Immediacy at the Test of Meaning


Book Description

The 74th volume of the Eranos Yearbooks, The Age of Immediacy at the Test of Meaning, presents to the public the work of the last two years of activities at the Eranos Foundation (2017–2018). The book gathers the lectures presented at the occasion of the 2017 Eranos Conference, Where is the World Going? The Uncertain Future, between Traditional Knowledge and Scientific Thought, the 2018 Eranos Conference, Space for Thinking and Thinking about Space. Reflections on the Relations between the Soul and Places at the Time of the Anthropocene, the 2017 Eranos-Jung Lectures, Who is Afraid of Interiority? A Journey through Literature, Philosophy, and Psychology, the 2018 Eranos-Jung Lectures, Who is Stealing our Time? The Age of Immediacy at the Test of Meaning, and the 2018 Eranos School seminar, The Mechanisms of Heresy: Old and New Forms of Exclusion and Repression. The volume includes essays by Valery Afanassiev, Stephen Aizenstat, Arnaldo Benini, Paul Bishop, Roberto Casati, Adriano Fabris, Franco Ferrari, Giuseppe O. Longo, Jaap Mansfeld, Panos Mantziaras, Grazia Shōgen Marchianò, Massimo Mori, Guy Pelletier, Antonio Prete, Francesca Rigotti, René Roux, Silvano Tagliagambe, Yannis Tsiomis, Amelia Valtolina, Matteo Vegetti, Antonio Vitolo, Samaneh Yasaei, and Chiara Zamboni.




Divine Creation in Ancient, Medieval, and Early Modern Thought


Book Description

Throughout his academic career Robert Crouse has insisted that the patristic and medieval philosophical and theological traditions, which have so profoundly shaped western culture, cannot be understood apart from the subtle and complex dialogue between Christianity and Hellenic culture out of which these traditions emerged. In this volume in Father Crouse’s honour, twenty-two eminent scholars from across North America and Europe examine various moments within the emergence of the doctrine of creation in the patristic and medieval periods, the Hebraic and Hellenic pre-history of this movement, as well as modern reactions to the partristic and medieval syntheses. Student and specialist alike will appreciate not only the depth of scholarly research clearly evident in the individual essays, but also the broad scope of the volume as a whole. Contributors include: Stephen Andrews, Stephen F. Brown, Mary T. Clark, RSCJ, Kevin Corrigan, Lawrence Dewan, Robert Dodaro, OSA, Wayne J. Hankey, Walter A. Hannam, Michael Harrington, Paige E. Hochschild, Dennis House, Edouard Jeauneau, Angus Johnston, Torrance Kirby, Terence J. Kleven, Marguerite Kussmaul, Matthew L. Lamb, D. Gregory MacIsaac, Ralph McInerny, Luca Obertello, Willemien Otten, Neil G. Robertson, Horst Seidl, and Michael Treschow.




Studies on Plotinus and al-Kindi


Book Description

This book collects 15 papers on the greatest philosopher of late antiquity and founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (d.270), and the founding figure of philosophy in the Islamic world: al-Kindī (d. ca. 873). A number of the contributions focus on the text that joins the two: the so-called Theology of Aristotle, in fact an Arabic version of Plotinus’ Enneads produced in al- Kindī’s translation circle. Across several papers, Adamson argues that this translation is best understood as a reinterpretation of Plotinus designed to appeal to contemporary readers in the culture of the ’AbbÄsid era. Two contributions also analyze the notes on the Theology written by the great Avicenna. Other papers look at aspects of al-Kindī’s own thought, exploring his ideas concerning metaphysics, free will astrology, and optics. The traditions of Plotinus and al-Kindī are also treated, with papers on Plotinus’ student Porphyry and his Arabic reception, and on followers of al-Kindī. Adamson argues that we can identify what he calls a 'Kindian tradition' in the 9th-10th centuries. He discusses the philosophical presuppositions of this movement, and the use of al-Kindī’s ideas made by one particular representative of the Kindian tradition, the Persian thinker Miskawayh.




The Penultimate Curiosity


Book Description

The curiosity that leads to the search for religious understanding and the curiosity that leads to the search for scientific understanding have common origins in aspects of the human mind that go back as far as the earliest records of human intellectual endeavour. Tracing that history all the way from cave painting to quantum physics, this book (a collaboration between a painter and a physical scientist that uses illustrations throughout the narrative) sets out to explain the nature of the long entanglement between religion and science: the ultimate and the penultimate curiosity. --Adapted from publisher description.