Neoplatonism main ideas. Philosophy of Neoplatonism. Three sources and three components of Neoplatonism

17. Neoplatonism: Plotinus and other Neoplatonists

Neoplatonism - direction ancient philosophy late Hellenism (III-IV centuries), systematizing the main ideas of Plato, taking into account the ideas of Aristotle. The personal specificity of Neoplatonism is the doctrine of the preservation of the inner peace of the individual and its protection from various kinds of upheavals characteristic of a given period in the history of the Roman Empire and associated with its decrepitude and decay. The philosophical core of Neoplatonism is the development of the dialectic of the Platonic triad one - mind - soul and bringing it to a cosmic scale. Thus, Aristotle's teaching about the "prime mover mind" and its self-consciousness developed, by virtue of which it acted both as a subject and an object, containing its own "mental matter".

The founder of the school of Neoplatonism is Plotinus (c. 205 - c. 270). According to Plotinus, the central outstanding figure of all Neoplatonism is the soul, as A.F. Losev, is not a body, but the soul is realized in the body and the body is the limit of its existence. The mind is also not the body. But without the mind there would be no organized body at all. Matter is also in the mind itself, since the mind is always some kind of organization, and any organization requires material for itself, without which there would be nothing to organize, because any organization would lose its meaning. Therefore, it is not surprising that, in addition to sensual matter, according to Plotinus, there is also “intelligible matter”, and the mind is also a body of a certain kind, namely, a semantic body. Plotinus developed the idea of ​​the action of the "world soul" throughout the Cosmos.

The Neoplatonists remained at the stage of the Orphic-Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration and reincarnation of souls. They paid much attention to the development of logical problems - definitions of concepts and classifications, as well as philological studies.

The ideas of Neoplatonism did not perish with the collapse of ancient society. They absorbed the early Christian views.

The most original part of Plotinus' system of views is the doctrine of the first hypostasis - the One as a transcendent beginning, which is above all other categories. Connected with this is such an idea of ​​his as the ascent of the soul from the sensual state to the supersensible - ecstasy. Every thing contemplated as such is different from everything else: it is “one”, opposed to everything else, and the One is indistinguishable and inseparably inherent in everything that exists and everything that is conceivable. So it is also all that exists, taken in absolute individuality, including the life of the Cosmos and the human mind, being the principle of all that exists. The One does not break up in any way, existing everywhere and in everything. At the same time, everything “is poured out of it”. Light is the main image of Plotinus's philosophy, corresponding to its concepts. “One - the light is absolutely pure and simple (the power of light); the mind is the sun having its own light; the soul is the moon, borrowing light from the sun; matter is darkness.

This, according to A. Bergson, "primary philosophical intuition" of Plotinus is based, perhaps, on his personal psychological experience of an epileptic.

Recall the description of an epileptic fit in the novel The Idiot: “Then suddenly something opened up before him: an extraordinary inner light lit up his soul” (Dostoevsky F.M. Poln. sobr. soch. Vol. 8. S. 188, 195).

I had to experience something similar during the operation on the eye (elimination of cataracts). During this operation (it was carried out by an academician with “golden” hands B.N. Alekseev), a light suddenly shone in front of me with some amazing colors of bizarre, inexpressible, unearthly beauty. Feeling no pain, I, lying on the operating table, was surprised and enjoyed this unearthly beauty, which only I.V. could accurately describe. Goethe is a great connoisseur of nature and the symbolism of flowers. I have never experienced anything like it in my life...

The soul is also not divided into parts, representing something unified and indivisible: it is a special, semantic substance. It cannot be thought of as a multiplicity of mental states. Not a single individual soul can exist independently from all other souls: all individual souls are embraced by the “world soul”. Criticizing Aristotle, Plotinus says: the soul does not have being because it is a form of something, but it is directly a reality; it borrows its being not from the fact that it is in a body, but it already exists before it begins to belong to the body.

Plotinus bequeathed to his student Porfiry (c. 233 - c. 304) to put his writings in order and publish them. Porfiry entered the history of philosophy as a commentator on Aristotle and Plotinus (note that "Introduction to the "Categories" of Aristotle" is the main source of acquaintance with Aristotelian logic in the Middle Ages). But he was much more interested than Plotinus in practical philosophy, which he understood as the doctrine of the virtues that purify from various kinds of affects. Porfiry called for the mind to be a model for all spiritual life.

The ideas of Plotinus and Porphyry were developed by Proclus (c. 410-485), who believed that the highest type of knowledge is possible only through divine illumination; love (eros), according to Proclus, is associated with divine beauty, truth reveals divine wisdom, and faith connects us with the goodness of the gods. The historical significance of the teachings of Proclus, according to A.F. Losev, not so much in the interpretation of mythology, but in a subtle logical analysis that is not directly related to any mythology and represents a huge material for studying the history of dialectics. The dialectic of the Cosmos he developed was of great importance. The philosophy of Proclus had a tremendous influence on all medieval philosophy.

A student of Porfiry - the Syrian Iamblichus (c. 280 - c. 330) analyzed and systematized the dialectic ancient mythology. He paid primary attention to the practical-cult side of philosophy, explaining the essence and methods of prophecy, miracle-working, witchcraft and internal ecstatic ascent into the supernatural world.

We briefly reviewed the history of ancient philosophy. In conclusion, it must be said that ancient philosophy, which contained the rudiments of the main types of philosophical worldview developed in all subsequent centuries, is not a “museum of antiquities”, but a living picture of the formation of theoretical thought, full of bold, original, wise ideas. This is a great celebration of reason. That is why it will never lose its high significance in the eyes of thinking humanity. She was a real social force ancient world and then worldwide historical development philosophical culture. And each new generation, receiving higher education, is called upon to plunge into this ever-fresh stream of young, for the first time self-identified philosophical thought. Ancient philosophy is of great interest to every inquisitive person who is concerned about philosophical questions. Many of the problems that ancient philosophers pondered have not lost their relevance to this day. The study of ancient philosophy not only enriches us with valuable information about the results of the reflections of outstanding thinkers, but also contributes to the development of more refined philosophical thinking in those who delve into their creations with love and zeal.

NEOPLATONISM If the teaching of Plotinus, in the words of the greatest expert on his philosophy, is “not the usual system of emanation, but immaterialistic energism,” that is, “substances are energies; as such it is inherent in them to act; their action is the generation in the object of the action of "similarity"

5.1. Platonism and Neoplatonism Everyone knows that Plato was the discoverer of the third world. As Whitehead noted, all Western philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato. I will make only three brief remarks on Plato, two of them critical.

10. Neoplatonism The schools of Epicureanism and Stoicism, which became widespread in republican and then in imperial Rome by the 3rd century, shortly before the fall of the latter, practically disappeared, with the exception of Platonism. Incorporating mystical ideas

XII. Neoplatonism The formation of the vast Roman Empire, with its strong military power and administrative organization, was accompanied by profound changes in the consciousness of society and the oppressed masses of the population. It was the era of the collapse of the ancients absorbed and subjugated by Rome.

Plotinus and the Neoplatonists The philosophical synthesis of this whole epoch was Plotinus' Neoplatonism, the last great philosophical system of antiquity. In contrast to the system of Philo, in it the philosophical elements prevailed over the elements of religion, the spirit of Greece prevailed over the spirit

Chapter III. Third period: Neoplatonists

3. Neoplatonists other than Plotinus Plotinus' doctrine of the soul is presented in such a clear and detailed way that for us now, perhaps, there is no need to talk about other Neoplatonists on this topic. We find various interesting details, first of all, in Porfiry, the treatise

1. Neoplatonism Plotinus gives the final and clearest definition of sophia. To this he devotes his wonderful text V 8, 3 - 6 with further details in chapters 7 - 13. We translated this entire treatise (IAE VI 452 - 465) and analyzed (465 - 482). The main thing here is that

4. Plotinus and other Neoplatonists a) The Neoplatonists do not literally call nature a myth. But, as can be confirmed by various texts, they call nature the soul. But animate nature is a myth. Plotinus already said that the soul can be

§6. Same. Neoplatonism Neoplatonism, characteristic of late Hellenism, as in all major problems in general, is distinguished by a tense-synthetic character, which, of course, requires special consideration. As for Plotinus, the necessary for its study

5. Neo-Platonists a) If we keep in mind Plato's teaching on the virtues, which we have proposed, then basically this teaching will have to be stated for the Neo-Platonists as well. However - and we have already observed this many times above - in Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism, the big news

8. Neoplatonism It was the idea of ​​the world as the center of symbols that forced the Neoplatonist philosophers to interpret the infinite diversity of cosmic and human life in a purely symbolic way with extraordinary consistency and perseverance. Indeed, Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism Neoplatonism (Plotinus, Plotinus 205-270) claims to express this religiosity. In this teaching, the individual is placed in a gigantic cosmological order, and evil is understood as a flaw in being, its absence, as non-being, like considering a body (matter)

No matter how sometimes they speak of philosophy as a pseudoscience, having studied in detail its world heritage, it is impossible to deny the fact that philosophy itself is the “mother” of most disciplines.

Philosophy gave rise to the inquisitiveness of the mind, which has already mastered the secrets of nature. Thanks to her, we now live in a civilized world (unlike some still primitive tribes), enjoy the fruits of scientific progress. It is the first science.

The interaction of philosophical thought with religion, natural science allowed us to find solutions to riddles. Much remains to be mastered, but the experience gained is invaluable.

Neoplatonism in philosophy allowed a person to realize the exaltation of the soul above the body, its divine belonging. He combined different cultures into a single idealistic mood, which provided people with invaluable help in setting the life principles (ideals) that everyone needs.

Neoplatonism as a direction and its main ideas

Neoplatonism is an idealistic trend based on the concepts of Plato, Aristotle and some Eastern teachings. He implies the existence of the world as a kind of hierarchical arrangement that emerged from the beginning, where the soul rushes to its “high” source, looking for ways to reunite with the Divine principle.

The end of the ancient era is characterized by a skeptical attitude of society. As if to normalize the balance, a philosophical trend appears - Neoplatonism, which persistently studies the supersensitive sphere of life, the relationship between the world, God, and man.

Representatives of the doctrine are based on the ideas of Plato, but oriental motifs are also reflected in the main ideas. The Neoplatonic system of mystical speculations and symbols became the spiritual atmosphere of the time. Mythical heroes personified the possibility of obtaining divinity by the human spirit, and the symbolism of the East convinced that the soul was capable of reincarnation. The Alexandrian Talmuds, to which Neoplatonists often referred, expounded magical, mystical-astrological fantasies.

Philosophical doctrine was a system of religious syncretism, an ideal pantheon of Platonic ideas combined with Eastern, Greek fantasy. Mysticism consumed the imagination of the people. With its help, the Neoplatonists tried to suppress the emerging Christianity. Practical life for them was "impure", so the adherents represented their main dogma asceticism, merging with the divine essence, achieved through mystical rites.

With this in mind, several basic ideas of Neoplatonism can be classified:

• Unification, according to the idea of ​​Plato, one with the soul and mind;
• Intuitive-fantastic knowledge of the highest essence;
• The liberation of the human spirit from material dependence through asceticism, the achievement of "pure" spirituality.

Plotinus - the founder of Neoplatonism

Plotinus (203 - 270) was an ardent supporter of the doctrine. When he moved to Rome and became a lecturer, his Platonic discourses on morality attracted a large number of admiring admirers. Plotinus promoted asceticism, as abstinence from sensual pleasures, meat. Aristocrats, noble nobles followed his principles (even the emperor, his wife).

The thinker is considered the founder of Neoplatonism, because he systematized Platonic idealism.

The thinker considered the source of being beyond the natural essence - the One (Absolute), which is independent, everything else is dependent on it. The Absolute rises above heavenly and earthly space. It differs radically from the Christian deity in its internal property: if God creates everything worldly, then the Absolute, in the course of a natural process (emanation), radiates other entities from itself. Emanation is a process of development from the most ideal to the less ideal. At the same time, a constant geometric progression of being is carried out, but also degradation.

The anthropological concept of Plotinus intersects with the theory of the One. The sage, like Pythagoras, considered the soul immortal, but with the difference that he denied its continuous wandering from one body to another. The philosopher believed that after the expiration of its earthly destiny, the soul must return to the origin (World Soul), and through it back to the Absolute. It follows from this that the degrading process of emanation is replaced by the reverse process of returning, less perfect to absolutely perfect, which completes the cycle.

Neoplatonism from the lips of Plotinus is an extremely influential teaching of the late period of antiquity. The intellectual elite of society was permeated with his ideas. The direction served as the basis for understanding the religious and mythological judgments of the Greco-Roman era.

Model of Neoplatonism according to Plotinus

The philosopher created an idealistic system of the world, faceted by objectivism, which will influence the future dynamics of philosophical thought. It has a strict hierarchy, according to which there is an entity that is paramount over all others:

• Striving for the One (good);
• Creation of the One - World Mind;
• The Creation of the One is the World Soul;
• The last creation of the One is Matter.

Despite the fact that the universe is one, Plotinus considered the world to be different in its different areas. The wonderful Soul of the world prevails over the clumsy Matter, the noble world Mind rises above the Soul, but the very first place belongs to the One - it manifests itself in all previous substances, everything began from it.

The One is an irrefutable Good, therefore it ennobles the listed entities. If the One disappears, then virtue will also disappear.

The ability of a person to comprehend the Good depends on the commitment to its antipode - evil. A person can cognize the One only through a fantastic merger with it.

Duality, plurality of the World Mind

The first substance generated by the One is the World Mind. He differs from the Creator by the presence of existence. Platonism sees a similar image in the face of the demiurge, which does not contain the main predetermined plan. According to Aristotle, God is a comprehending mind. The World Mind of Plotinus implies the existence of an idea as its own inner nature.

Reason being, multiple, as it contains many ideas. It has two sides: facing the Absolute and turned away from it, which characterizes the duality of the Mind. The first side reflects its unity, the second multiplicity. Globally, Mind is itself a reflection of an ordered set of ideas.

Mind is capable of being known, it is also capable of being known (difference from the One). He comprehends himself, which testifies to unity. The Neoplatonic Mind of Plotinus exists independently of time, from which they conclude that the process of self-knowledge is also timeless. The mind simultaneously comprehends ideas and immediately implements them. The process of comprehension of ideas extends from general ideas to peripheral ones, which emphasizes the paradoxical nature of the Mind.

The World Soul is a creation of the World Mind

In Plotinus, the Soul is to some extent a copy, but a creation of the Mind. The light that radiates the One is so huge that the Mind is not able to completely absorb it, and it goes on. Thanks to this, the World Soul appears, which, unlike the Mind, has a connection with time, it generates time. The Soul is born directly from Reason, but remotely from the Absolute.

She, as a parent (Mind), is distinguished by duality. The first side of the Soul opens to him, the second one hides from him. Such a state of it gives rise to the concept of the upper, lower Souls. It personifies the connection between the supersensible, material worlds: when the upper Soul is turned to the Mind on the supersensible world, and the lower one is directed to the material.

The author's philosophizing implies that the Soul has no body. She observes the ideas of the Mind in a detached way. But they are reflected in the Soul by the logos (a kind of universal law of subordination), which also has no bodily manifestation.

The soul gave birth not only to time, but also to movement. Its temporary existence transfers the Soul from the stage of movement to the stage of self-movement.

The World Soul is an integral indivisible substance, since it consists of many separate souls that cannot exist without the rest. Plotinus noted: "Each soul originates long before joining the body."

Essence of matter

Plotinus perceived matter as non-existence or absolute non-existence different from actual being.

Matter is eternal, as the Absolute is eternal. It is dependent on the One, contradictory, because it opposes it, but also comes from it.

Matter is a child of darkness, as it appears when the luminosity of the Absolute fades away. The thinker gives the definition of substance as the extinguished light, the absence of the necessary illumination. She is not nothing, but something. Although matter is like nothing that contains something. Since the One is omnipresent, it must also be in matter.

Being the antipode of light, matter opposes the Good (the One), personifies evil. Since it is a dependent entity, evil is also inferior in strength to good, that is, it is a lack of good or the Light of the One. The negative is characterized by the lack of the positive.

Matter changes, but transforming, always remains unchanged. It can be known with the help of an artificial syllogism.

Reunion with the One

The philosophy of late ancient neoplatonism concentrates on the main idea of ​​Plotinus, which is that the descent of the Absolute (the One) is accompanied by a reverse process. In short, the entities it generates tend to return back to ideal unity. All world substances (even negative Matter) need the Great Good (good). For the sake of the opportunity to get in touch with him, they overcome existing discord.

It's no secret that a person also consciously strives for the Good. Even a static, not thirsty for ascent, Human Soul is a part of the World Soul, which is turned to the World Mind by its elevated side. When the lower side of the personality prevails over the higher, the human mind is able to awaken the latter's thirst for perfection so that the personality can rise.

Plotinus considered the true ascent to the Good to be ecstasy, in which the Soul, as it were, breaks away from the mortal body, rises above it, reunites with the One. Only in this unique, unreasonable, fantastic way is a person able to comprehend the Absolute.

Proponents of Plotinus

Plotinus did not know the Hellenic language well, so his student Porfiry (233-304) streamlined the compositions. The philosopher analyzed the scientific works of the teacher, Aristotle. His distinguishing feature was a great interest in the practical side of the direction. Initially, the thinker understood dogmas as a doctrine of virtue, where reason serves as an example of spiritual perfection.

Later, the principles of Porfiry, the founder of the direction, were inherited by Proclus (410-485). He believed that the perfection of knowledge is achieved by illumination, love is one with the beauty of God, the truth is comprehended by the wisdom of God, faith gives God's mercy. The philosophical view of Proclus is significant not as a mythological interpretation, but as a subtle analysis that provides food for the study of the historical development of dialectics. Medieval philosophy would not have reached its heights without the cosmic dialectic of Proclus.

Another follower of Porphyry was Iamblichus (280-330). His works consisted in systematizing the mythological dialectics of antiquity. The thinker had a practical approach: he studied cult philosophy, explained the principles of prophecy, miracles, mysticism, inner knowledge of supernatural phenomena.

The last major and, in its own way, epochal philosophical system of Western antiquity is Neoplatonism. The founder of Neoplatonism is Plotinus (204/205 - 270). The philosophy of Neoplatonism arises in the III AD. e. and develops until the beginning of the 7th century. Neoplatonism is associated primarily with the names of Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and Iamblichus.

Plotinus wrote 54 opuses on various topics. He made no claim to originality. Plotinus was greatly influenced by Plato. His worldview was also influenced by many other Greek and even Roman philosophers, including Seneca and Aristotle. It is characteristic that the return to the ideas of Plato and the need for their rethinking arise at a time when the ancient way of philosophizing is coming to an end, gradually giving way to a new and radically different philosophizing based on the Christian worldview. Neoplatonism arises against the backdrop of a wide spread of various teachings that try to combine the incompatible elements of ancient philosophical systems. Just as Stoicism was characteristic of the theoretical worldview of the Early Roman Empire, so Neoplatonism is characteristic of the Late Roman Empire. It emerges in a vacuum between empires. This vacuum continued for half a century: from 235 to 284.

Plotinus substantiates his idealistic doctrine through the doctrine of different types of people. An ordinary person is immersed in sensual-practical existence. For such a person, things are more important than ideas, the material is more important than the ideal. For an ordinary lowly person, the body is more important than the soul, and he amuses his body without worrying about the soul at all. All the activity of the soul of such a person is due to his stay in the body, entirely dependent on the body. But this is because the soul of such a person is narrowed, because he himself made her a servant of the body, and nothing more.

Another, elevated person rises from the lowest state of existence to its highest state. He shifts the center of gravity of his being from the bodily to the spiritual. He develops in himself the capacity for intellectual supersensible contemplation; he turns from outside world into the depths of his soul and finds there truth, peace and serenity, which are so inaccessible to the base person. The exalted person turns away from sensual beauty, despises it and seeks true beauty. First of all, he is able to see what the base man does not see: the beauty of virtue, prudent actions, good morals, the beauty of greatness of character, justice of the heart, etc. At this stage of human existence, the soul in its activity is still in the body, but it is independent of the body.

Plotinus substantiates this relative independence of the soul from the body of an elevated person by the idea of ​​the pre-existence of the soul.

The world in the view of Plotinus is strictly hierarchical, it forms the steps of descending being, beginning in superbeing. The existence of a sensual bodily world is self-evident, it is given to our senses, our body is part of this world, we are part of it. But Plotinus treats this world, as mentioned above, negatively and does not consider it the only one that exhausts all possible being. Even the best in this world, its undoubted beauty, is only a faint and dim reflection of true, supercorporeal and supernatural beauty.

The source of beauty is the objective world mind. After all, beauty is harmony and form. But in nature, the form is spatially divided into parts, and in this division it is very easy to lose the unity of the form. Beauty in nature, the beauty of a corporeal thing - in the unity of its parts, and this unity - from the mind. Therefore, reason is something other than nature, a higher principle in relation to it. In nature, there is both animate and inanimate. The material cannot give rise to the spiritual. Therefore, it is necessary to admit a principle other than nature, namely, the world soul. The world soul is not identical with the world mind, because the soul equally animates both the beautiful and the ugly, the soul is indifferent to beauty. Since there is less beauty than animate, the mind is farther from nature and higher than the world soul, because its manifestation in nature is more selective. One world mind cannot be a source of beauty, which is based on the unity of things. By itself, the mind does not contain unity, it can be a chaotic collection of ideas contained in it. Therefore, Plotinus also puts forward the one as the beginning.

The most significant moment in the philosophy of Neoplatonism is the doctrine of otherworldliness, superintelligence and even superexistence of the origin of all things and of mystical ecstasy as a means of approaching this origin. In the person of Plotinus, ancient philosophy comes to where Indian philosophy began in the Upanishads with their atman and brahman, unknowable by the mind. Neoplatonism even goes beyond the bounds of philosophy, if philosophy is understood as a rational worldview. Neoplatonism is superintelligent. It shows a return to mythology or re-mythologization. The philosophy of Neoplatonism is a consistent monistic idealism and even super-idealism. Unlike the god of Plato, who is accessible to reason, the god of the Neoplatonists eludes thought. It's already mystical. According to the teachings of Neoplatonism, at the head of the hierarchy of existence stands one principle, united as such, super-existent and super-rational, comprehensible only in a state of ecstasy and expressible only by means of apophatic theology. The world system is strictly hierarchical; it is built not from the bottom up, but from the top down.

Neoplatonism is radically different from its prototype - the philosophy of Plato. Nevertheless, in retrospect, it allows much to be understood both in the teachings of Plato and in the philosophy of his best student, Aristotle.

Neoplatonism arose during the period of the late Roman Empire.

The founder - Plotinus uses the philosophical concepts of Plato and Aristotle.

Neoplatonism is not only a philosophical, but also a religious doctrine; this is a true anticipator of Christianity, as it is a reflection on the transpersonal, the recognition of an irrational essence.

Neoplatonism is the doctrine of the suprareason of being.

Basic provisions:

Atonement for sin preaching.

Recognition of a single original supersensible essence - God. A single source permeates the world like a ray, a person comprehends it in a kind of ecstatic tension, in a rush to a single one, since the human soul is a part of the cosmic soul. There is a motive of personal intuition, aimed at the knowledge of the one.

The principle of emanation is the principle of expiration, the transition from one to many → the problem of universals.

The dogma of the trinity is anticipated: Plotinus speaks of three stages of the outflow of the one (the question of the outflow of the divine essence):

1. One in itself

Neoplatonism - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Neoplatonism" 2017, 2018.

NEOPLATONISM- the last stage in the development of ancient Platonism, the fundamental novelty of which in comparison with middle platonism should be considered the recognition of the super-existential nature of the beginning and the identity of the mind-being as its first manifestation, which was first clearly presented in philosophy Dam (3rd century). Neoplatonism closes the middle Platonism, absorbs neopythagoreanism and starting with the student of Plotinus porfiria uses Aristotelianism as an introduction - ch.o. logical - in the teachings of Plato. Ancient Neoplatonism gravitated toward a school organization and existed primarily in the form of a number of schools focused primarily on the interpretation of Plato's dialogues and the systematization of his teachings. True, the school of Plotinus in Rome was a circle of students, which disintegrated during the life of the teacher. Nevertheless, it was Plotinus and his students who Amelia and Porfiry, the basic concepts of the Neoplatonist system were developed: at the head of the hierarchy of being is the superexistent single -good, comprehensible only in superintelligent ecstasy and expressible only by means of negative (apophatic) theology; further in the order of revealing the one and as its main manifestations (hypostases) in the sphere of being (cf. Emanation ) followed by being-mind ( nous ) with ideas in it, soul (psyche), turned to the mind and to the sensual cosmos, eternal in its temporal existence (the third hypostasis). However, the school of Plotinus still lacked a clear foundation for interpreting Plato's dialogues. Amelius, for example, carried out a triple division of the mind and taught about three minds and three demiurges, believing that these are the “three kings” of the 2nd “Letter” of Plato, while Plotinus understood the “three kings” as one, mind and soul . Porfiry, unlike Plotinus and Amelius, believed that the demiurge of Plato can be understood not as the mind, but as the soul.

Undertaken in con. 12th c. transfers to Latin language a number of Arabic texts (including Aristotle's Theology and the Book of Causes), as well as the translations of Proclus made between 1268–81 by William Moerbecke, gave a new impetus to the spread of Neoplatonism in the West. Under the influence of these translations, the ideas of Augustine and Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Neoplatonic concepts were refracted in German mysticism of the 13th-14th centuries. (Franciscan Ulrich of Strasbourg and Dominicans Dietrich of Freiburg, Meister Eckhart and his students G. Suso and I. Tauler). In line with the same tradition, Neoplatonism is assimilated and developed by Nicholas of Cusa.

The popularity of Neoplatonism among humanists was largely facilitated by Plethon , who headed the Platonic school at Mistra; under his influence, Cosimo de' Medici founded the Platonic Academy in Florence. In the 2nd floor. 15th c. in connection with the active translation and publishing activities of humanists, the base of sources for acquaintance with ancient neoplatonism is expanding. M. Ficino's translations and comments had a huge impact. Neoplatonism in all its diversity of manifestations (among the Greeks, Arabs, Jews, Latins) was considered by Pico della Mirandola. In the 16th century under a strong neoplatonic influence, the teachings of F. Patrici and J. Bruno are formed.

The influence of Florentine Neoplatonism was experienced by the English commentator Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite J. Colet (14677–1519), through whom Neoplatonism was perceived in the 17th century. by the Cambridge Platonists . Neoplatonic elements can be traced in Spinoza and Leibniz. Berkeley's "Siris" was written under the influence of Plotish's ideas. However, in general, the tradition of Neoplatonism to con. 18th century fading away. Interest in him is renewed in the era of romanticism ( English translation Plato and Neoplatonists T. Taylor, study and publication of Plotinus and Proclus by F. Kreutzer and V. Cousin). Neoplatonists are studied by Schelling and Hegel, who praised Neoplatonism in his History of Philosophy. Significant influence of Neoplatonism marked the teachings of Bergson. In Russian philosophy 19 - early. 20th century Neoplatonism influenced Vl. Solovyov, P. A. Florensky, S. L. Frank, S. N. Bulgakov, BUT. F. Loseva.

The first systematic and full review materials on ancient Neoplatonism gave in the 2nd half. 19th century E.Zeller, who followed in the interpretation of Neoplatonism the historical and philosophical concept of Hegel. A new approach to the study of Neoplatonism as a philosophy based on school development and commenting on authoritative texts was outlined in the works of K. Prechter (1910) and was developed in a number of specific studies on the history of Neoplatonist schools (E. Breye, R.E. Dodde, R. .Beutler, W.Tyler, A.Zh.Festyuzher, L.G.Westerink and others).

General works:

1. The Cambridge history of later Greek and early medieval philosophy, ed. by A.H. Armstrong. Cambr, 1970;

2. Wallis R.T., Neoplatonism. L., 1972;

3. Beierwaltes W. Piatonismus and Idealismus. Fr./M., 1972;

4. Dorrie H. Platonica minora. Munch., 1976 (bibl.);

5. The Significance of Neoplatonism, ed. R. B. Harris. Norfolk, 1976;

6. Die Philosophie des Neuplatonismus, hrsg. v. C.Zintzen. Darmstadt, 1977;

7. Westerink L.G. Texts and studies in Neoplatonism and Byzantine literature. Amst., 1980.

Ancient Neoplatonism:

1. Losev A.F. History of ancient aesthetics, v. 6: Late Hellenism. M., 1980; vol. 7: Last centuries, book. I–II. M., 1988; vol. 8: Results of millennial development, book. I.M., 1992;

2. He is. Dictionary of ancient philosophy. M., 1995;

3. Taylor W. Forschungen zum Neuplatonismus. V., 1966;

4. PrachterK. Richtungen und Schulen im Neuplatonismus. — Kleine Schriften. Hildesheim, 1973, pp. 165–216;

5. Saffrey H.D. Recherches sur le neoplatonisme après Plotin. P., 1990.

Medieval Neoplatonism:

1. Klibansky R. The continuity of the Platonic tradition during the middle ages. L., 1939;

2. Platonismus in der Philosophie des Mittelalters, hrsg. v. W.Beierwaltes. Darmstadt, 1969;

3. Imbach R. Le neoplatonisme medieval. Proclus latin et l'école dominicaine allemande. – Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie, 1978, v. 6, p. 427–448.

Neoplatonism in patristics:

1. Henru R. Plotin et l'Occident. Louvain, 1934;

2. Courcelle P. Les lettres grecques en Occident. De Macrobe a Cassiodore. P., 1948;

3. Ivanka E. v. Plato Christianus. Ubernahme und Umgestaltung des Platonismus durch die Väter. Einsiedeln, 1964.

Neoplatonism in Arabic Philosophy:

1. Neoplatonici apud arabos, ed. B.Badawi. Le Caire, 1955;

2. Idem. La transmission de la philosophie grecque au monde arabe. P., 1968;

3. Walzer R. Greek into Arabia. Oxf., 1962.

Neoplatonism in Jewish Philosophy:

1. Grave H. Studien zum judischen Neuplatonismus. V.–Ν.Υ., 1973.

Western European Neoplatonism 11th-14th centuries:

1. Garin A. Studi sul Platonismo medievale. Firenze, 1958;

2. Mittelalterliche Mystik unter dem Einfluß des Neuplatonismus, hrsg. v. W. Schultz. V., 1967;

3. Saffrey H.D. Recherches sur la tradition platonicienne au Moyen âge et à la Renaissance. P., 1987.

Neoplatonism in the Renaissance:

1. Robb N. A. Neoplatonism of the Italian Renaissance. L., 1935;

2. Miles L. John Colet and the Platonic tradition. La Salle, 1961;

3. Kristeller P.O. Eight philosophers of the Italian Renaissance. Stanford, 1964;

4. Garin E. Platonici bizantini e platonici italiani del Quattrocento. - "Veltro", 1983, v. 27, p. 219–32.

Literature review:

1. Courcelle P. Travaux neoplatoniciens. - Actes du congres. Bude. P., 1954, p. 227–54.

Congresses, conferences, symposia on Neoplatonism:

1. Les sources de Plotin. Gen., 1960 (Entretiens sur l'antiquité classique, vol. 5);

2. Porphyre. Gen., 1965 (ibid., t. 12);

3. De Jambliche a Proclus. Gen., 1975 (ibid., t. 21); Le Neoplatonisme. P., 1971 (Colloques Internationaux...);

4. Études Néoplatoniciennes, Conférence... Neuchâtel, 1973;

5. Plotino e il Neoplatonismo in Oriente e in Occidente: Atti del convegno intemazionale. Rome, 1974.

See also lit. to Art. Alexandria School , Athenian school , Middle Platonism , Plotinus , Proclus , Cambridge Platonists.