Summing up current discussion this article presents a detailed critique of Carlo Maria Mazzucchi's suggestion that Damascius, the last head of the pagan Neoplatonist school of Athens, was the author of the enigmatic Pseudo-Dionysian corpus. Mazzuchi's approach grasps better the probable context of the emergence of the Dionysian Corpus than mainstream interpretation, which accepts the author's overt claim of Christianity, resorts too easily to rather twisted theories of pseudonymic writing and overrates the autonomy of the Corpus Areopagiticum in relation to Proclus. Contrary to the opinions that dismiss speculation about the identity of the writer as meaningless in the absence of new data this article considers such attempts necessary and useful. The article agrees with Carlo Maria Mazzucchi's general thesis that the Corpus was a creation of pagan philosophers in the Neoplatonic academy of Athens after Proclus. However, it argues that Mazzucchi misjudged the perspective regarding the future that prevailed in the Athenian school and in particular Damascius' willingness to accept a compromise with Christianity at the cost of polytheism as articulated in Proclus' theology of the classes of the gods. As a result a more credible version of the crypto-pagan hypothesis could be developed, namely to see the Corpus Dionysiacum as a purely instrumental stratagem aiming to protect Proclus' works in order to resurrect more easily the polytheistic religion in better times, which according to the Neoplatonists' cyclic view of history were destined to return one day.
The outlines of Proclus' metaphysical system are fairly well known. However, the role of the particular deities in this structure is not thoroughly examined. This article deals with the place of Aphrodite within Proclus' theology. Aphrodite has a prominent place in Proclus' thought because devotion to her had long been under moralistic attack and Proclus carried out his defence in the context of Christian intolerance. With Neoplatonic theories of the divine series and henadology Proclus can determine different modes of the Aphrodisiac presence at all levels of reality. The tales which speak about the goddess and the meaning of the rituals dedicated to her are properly interpreted according to Proclus as symbols revealing and adoring the immaculate holiness of life.
Proclus' 1600 th anniversary was celebrated by various scholarly events. One of them was a major international conference held at Amsterdam in February 2012. This book, produced from this conference, presents a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of Proclus. The editors point out that R. Chlup (Proclus: an Introduction [2012]) already reserved a niche for an up-to-date introduction to Proclus in English at the time when the Amsterdam book was still in an inchoate state. Later, S. Gersh's Interpreting Proclus (2014) was published. The editors present this book as 'a third approach: our aim is to provide a general overview of the main aspects of Proclus' thought, including a number of subjects which would be difficult to include in a general introductory monograph, even though they represent some of the more salient aspects of Proclus' thought. Think, for example, of his mathematical, scientific, or literary views' (p. vi). The second and more important aim, according to the editors, is to provide 'with this volume, which is the product of a unique collaboration between a great number of specialists on Proclus. .. not only [with] in-depth studies on the different aspects of Proclus' philosophy, but also [with] a state of the art of Proclean studies today' (p. vi). One can expect the very best from such authors as C. Steel, D. O'Meara and J. Opsomer, but each contribution is exceptionally learned and immensely useful for Proclean scholarship. Customary complaints about a lack of coherence and uneven quality in a multi-authored volume certainly do not apply in this case. The editors can be fully satisfied with their achievement. The net of cross-references indicates nicely how different chapters of the book complement and elucidate one another. More than that, the project has succeeded in getting the authors to interact and elaborate their arguments during the years after the Amsterdam conference. The editors have wisely avoided forcing false uniformity. In the best of cases, chapters engage in dialogue among themselves, bringing forth different perspectives on the same problems, for example, on the question of how Proclus was involved in 'politics' in theory and praxis. As for editorial technicalities, one can find only few typos. C. Wildberg's note 45 (p. 24) referencing the Suda about 'Proclus moving his insolent tongue against the Christians' is not translated. Generally, the notes and bibliography are excellent. The book is divided into fifteen chapters with two appendices: a table on Proclus' metaphysical levels and a list of Proclus' works with information on modern translations. The most recent English translations available are listed. The book is 'much more selective for translations into other modern languages', which are only mentioned 'when either English translations are lacking or when these other translations provide. .. obvious advantages' (p. 336). The 'modern languages' are French, German and Italian, thus excluding some established bodies of translated Proclus, like Spanish and Russian. L...
This article is inspired by Peter Van Nuffelen’s comparison between post-Hellenistic philosophy and Neoplatonism. The article defends the thesis of a fundamental break between ancient religions and new universal religions which became prevalent at the end of late antiquity. This break concerns not only fundamental doctrines but also the principles of how religious communities were constituted. There was a shift from the world of practice-oriented and reciprocally recognizing cults to the world of exclusive theocracies whose mindset emphasizes doctrinal confession. Some seeds of such a “doxastic turn” are to be seen in the post-Hellenistic philosophy and especially in the dogmatic tendencies of Middle Platonism. Thus, there is an observable route from the post-Hellenistic thought towards late ancient universal religions.Neoplatonism’s role in this historical drama is not that of precursor but, rather, it represents a deviation from the main line.
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