Reading Neoplatonism: Non-discursive Thinking in the Texts of Plotinus, Proclus, and Damascius

Neoplatonism is a term used to designate the form of Platonic philosophy that developed in the Roman Empire from the third to the fifth century AD and that based itself on the corpus of Plato’s dialogues. Sara Rappe’s challenging study analyses Neoplatonic texts themselves using contemporary philosophy of language. It covers the whole tradition of Neoplatonic writing from Plotinus through Proclus to Damascius. Addressing the strain of mysticism in these works, the author shows how these texts reflect actual meditational practices, methods of concentrating the mind, and other mental disciplines that informed the tradition as a whole. In providing such a broad survey of Neoplatonic writing, the book will appeal to classical philosophers classicists as well as students of religious studies.

• An analysis of Neoplatonic texts using contemporary philosophy of language • Broad survey of the whole Neoplatonic tradition • Will appeal to philosophers, classicists and theologians

Preface: discursive strategies and Neoplatonic texts; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction. Representing a tradition: exegesis, symbol and self-reflection; Part I. Language in the Enneads: 2. Plotinus’ critique of discursive thinking; 3. Non-discursive thinking in the Enneads; 4. Introspection in the dialectic of the Enneads; 5. The symbolism of the Enneads; Part II. Text and Tradition in Neoplatonism: 6. History of an enigma: mathematical symbolism in the Neoplatonic tradition; 7. Transmigrations of a myth: Orphic texts and Platonic contexts; 8. Language and theurgy in Proclus’ Platonic Theology; 9. Damascius’ ineffable discourse; 10. Conclusion: reading Neoplatonism; References; General index; Index locorum.

‘The application of a modern literary approach to the rather esoteric field of neoplatonism is exciting and fruitful. The book is filled with sharp insights and comparisons that I have never seen before in the literature.’

– Lloyd Gerson, University of Toronto