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Neoplatonism is the modern name for the last school of pagan Greco-Roman philosophy. It flourished from 200 to 550 c.e., when its last teachers died; however, the influence of Neoplatonic doctrines continued in the teachings of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers. The influence of Neoplatonism in the Middle Ages was enormous and has lasted into the 21st century. At times it was helpful, but more often it was rejected as subversive to orthodox monotheism. The term Neoplatonism, to distinguish it from Platonism, was first used in the 19th century. Neoplatonism combined the philosophy of Plato with bits of the whole history of Greco-Roman philosophy. It was otherworldly, mystical, and, in part, nonrational. Until Neoplatonism, Greco-Roman philosophy had been secular in that it sought the way to live as a “wise man” (or “wise woman”) in this world.

Although Neoplatonism was to develop its own unique doctrines, it had a number of precursors. Except for the Epicureans whose doctrines were always seen by Neoplatonists as an anathema, virtually all of the development of Greco-Roman pagan philosophy contributed to their doctrines. Plato and the many interpretations of his teachings, especially in epistemology, had been developed into a long and varied tradition of Platonism. Moreover, Plato’s greatest student, Aristotle, had initiated new lines of inquiry with varied forms of Aristotelianism. Also of influence is the idea of a transcendent God who deals with humans only through intermediaries. Others also contributed to the emergence and development of Neoplatonism.

Plotinus

The first Neoplatonist was Ammonius Saccas of Alexandria. However, his student Plotinus (c. 204–270 c.e.) was the one who gave Neoplatonism its first major exposition. After studying and teaching at Alexandria he settled in Rome, where he taught in his own school that attracted some of the Roman elite, including the emperor and his wife. For a while Plotinus considered developing a new city organized from the ideas of Plato’s Republic. The city was to be called Platonopolis, but he was unable to implement the plan. During his life Plotinus wrote 54 treatises, which were less eloquent than his speeches. After his death Plotinus’s literary corpus was organized into a unified whole and given the title, Enneads. The Enneads are the locus classicus for Neoplatonism’s doctrines. Plotinus’s thought presents a philosophical analysis of God, nature, human beings, and the problem of evil.

Plotinus taught a mystical form of Platonism. Plato, in describing the nature of knowledge, had argued that sensory knowledge was transitory and that ultimate knowledge was acquired by direct experience of the ultimate forms or ideas. The greatest of these was the form of the Good. The apprehension of the form of the Good required long philosophical training and was ultimately a kind of mysterious experience rather like “seeing” the solution to a mathematics problem.

For Plotinus the Good was really the ultimate or the divine. He was not a monotheist but a pantheist who believed that the divine was the ultimate “stuff” of the universe. For Plotinus the mystical experience of the One is ineffable. The One, or the Absolute, “resides” in Unity in an arena which is Transcendent, Good, and from which it is the Source of all things. For Plotinus the Absolute is the One from which all things come. It is an active force that is beyond description. The Absolute can be experienced mystically only by those who are seeking to be joined with it. In the philosophy of Plotinus, the one and all things are of the same substance. His view is very different from the biblical doctrine of creation. The biblical doctrine teaches that the world is not of the same substance with its creator but stands distinctly apart. For Plotinus the visible world is rationally apprehensible because it is the product of Intelligence. In this regard there is a similarity to Plato’s rationally apprehensible forms, and to the Wisdom of God, the divine Logos, Christ, through whom all things are made.

Porphyry Of Tyre

After the death of Plotinus his best student, Porphyry of Tyre (233–305), devoted his life to spreading the teachings of Plotinus. Porphyry wrote the Life of Plotinus (298) as an introduction to the Enneads and arranged Plotinus’s works into six Enneads or groups of nine. The Enneads is not a systematic organization of Plotinus’s teachings but instead presents the oral lectures of Plotinus. Each lecture had independently considered ideas such as the problem of memory, the worth of astronomy, and the relationship of soul and body. Porphyry also wrote other works, including On the Philosophy to Be Derived from the Oracles (written before meeting Plotinus); On Images, Introduction to Intelligibles, which taught that the soul was impassive; On Abstinence from Animal Foods; and The Nymph’s Cave, which expounded a passage from Homer.

The literary achievements of Porphyry also included an introduction (isagogue) to Aristotle’s Categories, which was translated by Boethius and had a great impact on medieval philosophy. The Tetrabiblos suggests that Porphyry had a keen interest in astrology. With the death of Plotinus and the spread of his teachings numerous teachers used his instructions to guide their students. However, these varied Neoplatonic teachers created numerous conflicting interpretations of Plotinus’s thought. Neoplatonism merged slowly with the religion of paganism. Those who had an interest in magical practices took up the great emphasis that Plotinus put upon rites and rituals as formulas that evoked powerful responses.

Iamblichus Of Chalcis

Iamblichus of Chalcis (c. 270–330) began the last stage of Neoplatonism. His teachings gave future Neoplatonists a method for developing it in new directions and allowed for a more mathematical expression. The son of a prosperous family in Coele-Syria, Iamblichus studied under Anatolius and later with Porphyry, after which he returned to Chalcis. There he attracted a large group of students from many different countries. Many of them would later claim that he had divine powers. Most of the writings of Iamblichus listed by Suidas have been lost. He wrote commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, works on Chaldaean theology, and on the soul. He also wrote a book called On the General Science of Mathematics and a biography of the Life of Pythagoras.

The tradition of students reading Plato’s dialogues in fixed order is attributed to Iamblichus. He taught that the student should begin with Alcibiades, then read through the Gorgias, and finally complete the readings with the Parmenides. To read the dialogues in this order would teach students how to gain knowledge of self, political virtues, and spiritual principles. Iamblichus changed the teachings of Plotinus on the soul from a “being” that is passionless intellect to a more active reality that moves through multiple transmigrations in which it acquires virtues that are political, purifying, theoretical, paradigmatic, and priestly. He taught that the soul is active and has free will with which, and with the aid of the gods, eventually returns to the Absolute. The Pythagorean and Neo-Pythagorean influences accepted by Iamblichus allowed him to teach that the whole complex vision of Neoplatonism was ruled by mathematical principles beginning with a monad.

Mystical experience did not play a major role in the philosophy of Iamblichus. Instead, he seemed intent on bringing the gods to people. For most of Iamblichus’s life Platonism was held in high regard. With the founding of Constantinople there was even speculation that Plotinus’s vision of a Platonopolis would be realized. This was not to be after Christianity became the religion of the empire, despite the great admiration for him by Emperor Julian the Apostate.

Proclus And Damascius

Proclus Diadochus (412–485), one of the late representatives of Neoplatonism, was born at Constantinople and grew up at Xanthus in Lycia. He attended the Neoplatonic lectures of Plutarch and Syrianus. About 450 he succeeded to the chair of philosophy at Syrianus to become the successor of Plato. He put Neoplatonism squarely into the Academy as its doctrine. An adamant supporter of the old paganism, Proclus often attended or performed the rites of Egyptian, Chaldaean, and Greek celebrations. He succeeded in so enraging the local Christians with his paganism that he felt it prudent to go to Asia Minor. After a year he returned to Athens where he remained until his death. The writings of Proclus were numerous, with a small number having survived. His views were fully developed in his work On Platonic Theology. His teachings on Neoplatonism were elaborated in Institutio Theologica. Other writings by Proclus discussed astronomy, mathematics, and some of the astrology of Ptolemy.

The Neoplatonism of Damascius (c. 480–550), taught at Alexandria, almost abandoned it. He wrote Life of Isidorus and a long treatise, On the First Principles, which is a commentary on the last part of the Platonic dialogue, Parmenides. The hierarchical world of Proclus is replaced with a mystical path that allows the soul to journey to the higher realities. Perhaps the most influential of Neoplatonic writings in the Middle Ages was the anonymous work long attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite (Acts 17:34), but which are now attributed to Dionysius the Pseudo-Dionysius. The writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius were originally written in Greek sometime after 450, probably either at Ephesus or in Syria. The writings, The Divine Names, The Mystical Theology, The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and The Letters, have been the center of debates by scholars over whether the PseudoDionysius was a Neoplatonist, a Christian, or both.

Neoplatonism’s influence was deep and long lasting. The Neoplatonists promoted a fresh, dynamic philosophy. Christians influenced by Neoplatonism include Origen, the Cappadocian Fathers of Orthodoxy, and some of the medieval Byzantines such as Psellos. Neoplatonism found occasional expressions in medieval Western philosophy in the writings of Johannes Scotus Eriugena, and others. After the Arab conquest of much of the Middle East, Neoplatonism deeply influenced Islamic philosophy through the thought of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Averroës, and others. Neoplatonism influenced Jewish philosophy and literature in Moorish Spain, eventually finding expression in the philosophy of Baruch de Spinoza.

References:

Armstrong, A. H., ed. The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970;
Bigg, Charles. Neoplatonists. 1886;
Blumenthal, H. J. Aristotle and Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity: Interpretations of the De Animia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996;
Bowerstock, G. W. Hellenism in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990;
Brehier, Emile. The Hellenistic and Roman Age. Trans. by Wade Baskin Reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965;
Burt, B. C. A Brief History of Greek Philosophy. Boston: Ginn and Co., 1889;
Gersh, Stephen. From Iamblichus to Eriugena: An Investigation of the Prehistory and Evolution of the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1978;
Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995;
Luibheid, Colm, trans. Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1987;
Siorvanes, Lucas. Proclus: Neo-Platonic Philosophy and Science. New Haven: CT: Yale University Press, 1996;
Wallis, R. T. Neoplatonism. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1995.

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