Neoplatonismo

À primeira vista, Plotino e Santo Tomás assumem posições contrastantes, no que tange à criação: a necessidade ressaltada por Plotino é negada na concepção cristã de criação. Para não incidirmos em erro, mister se faz retomar o sentido do termo necessidade (ananke) empregado pelo licopolitano. Três são os aspectos a serem considerados: primeiro, necessidade, em Plotino, significa coação externa. Ora, nada há, acima ou fora do Uno, que possa obrigá-lo a fazer algo ou impedi-lo de fazer. Em (…)

Contour, tout d’abord — méthode et contenu — celui-ci l’amour comme démon, un singulier, mais aussi les démons, une généralité. Il s’agirait d’interpréter Platon [« supposer que Platon veut dire que l’Amour est ce monde lui-même et non pas l’amour (né en lui) que ce monde éprouve, entraîne beaucoup d’objections qui vont contre cette opinion »] et pour cela passer par dessus les interprétations trompeuses, celle-ci donc, attribuée à Plutarque. Interpréter c’est tout d’abord évacuer (…)

To those who approach Plato’s philosophy for the first time, the most striking aspect of it perhaps is its distinctive way of seeing reality Plato’s dialogues, in particular the Phaedo, Phaedrus, Republic, and Timaeus, encourage us to visualize reality as if it were divided into two worlds, the material world that we perceive around us with our senses (the ‘sensible’ world) and an immaterial world to which we have access only by thought or intellect (the ‘intelligible’ world). The material (…)

Positively, it can be shown that, granted the outlines of Plotinus’ view of the world, there must be intermediaries between the Noûs and the sensible world. And vet it must be admitted that, as our insight into the nature of soul progressively deepens, there seems to be a danger that soul, in the real order, will be seen to be absorbed into Noûs on the one hand and into the sensible world on the other.
We are first told that soul, the highest part of which is rooted in the intelligible (…)

For Plato, philosophy was a practice of and for death; a discipline of immortality aimed at the purification and separation of the soul—which was no longer regarded as the illusory phantom (eidolon) of the body, but as the immortal psuche—and which was now considered as the very essence of the being. By shifting the emphasis from the mortal body to the immortal soul, Plato initiated a philosophically oriented paideia, the final goal of which was a learning to live according to the highest (…)

In short, the world can be viewed truly as Noûs. It can be viewed relatively truly as soul, as nature, as sensible. All of these aspects, which Plotinus sees, are in the world.
The Noûs and the intermediaries are more than logically distinct. In all the ways the world can be thought, so it is. It can be known as Noûs—it is Noûs. It can be known, by a diminished knowledge, as soul—it is soul. It can be known as nature—it is nature. The Noûs is a distinct hypostasis to the extent that it is (…)

3. Efectivamente en el De mysteriis aegyptiorum, el sacerdote Abammon (= Jámblico) no sólo señala a Anebón que los orígenes de la filosofía tradicional platónico-pitagorizante que alcanza la gnosis provienen del hermetismo egipcio ((Cf. De myst. 1,1 y 12; VIII, 5, y ver García Bazán, F., La religión hermética, pp. 49-54.)), sino que asimismo agrega que la filosofía y la teología no logran su plenitud más que en la prueba experimental del contacto con los dioses, y que la continuidad de tal (…)

The subject of Plotinus’ ‘mysticism’ includes a further issue that requires attention. In pursuit of union with the One Plotinus advocates a rather ascetic, otherworldly attitude: we must turn away and escape from this material world, withdrawing ourselves from any involvement with it so as to be able to lead a transcendent life, that of intellect and that of the One. His is an ethics of escape from the world (see above, s. 2). In this respect, we might conclude, Plotinus is not faithful to (…)

[...] Como Plotino já declarou (Enéada III, 5, 7, 9 e 8, 3), Poros é o logos, ou seja, o que flui do Espírito para a alma. Este tema do fluxo de logos e logoi será proeminente ao longo de todo o final do tratado, e estará intimamente ligado à imagem da embriaguez de Poros (9, 4; 9, 16; 9, 37), à do néctar (9, 5; 9, 16-19; 9, 35) e até à do jardim (9, 11-14; 9, 35-36). Todas estas imagens evocam um fluxo, que vai do Espírito à alma, o logos e o logoi comunicando assim à alma as Formas que (…)

La providence, c’est-à-dire ici l’Âme du Monde, est à l’origine du mouvement circulaire du ciel ((II, 2 (14), 1,1. 25 ; II, 3 (52), 6,1. 16 ss.)). Il est impie de dire avec les gnostiques qu’elle ne pénètre pas dans le monde d’ici-bas, ni dans n’importe quel monde, mais qu’elle s’occupe seulement d’eux, les gnostiques. Le monde sensible a quelque chose de celui d’en haut et n’est pas abandonné par la providence ni ne le sera. Elle s’occupe du tout plus que des parties ((II, 9 (33), 16,1. 14 (…)