Ten Gifts of the Demiurge

Ten Gifts of the Demiurge
Author: Emilie Kutash
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 535
Release: 2013-10-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1472519825

Proclus' commentary on Plato's "Timaeus" is perhaps the most important surviving Neoplatonic commentary. In it Proclus contemplates nature's mysterious origins and at the same time employs the deductive rigour required to address perennial philosophical questions. Nature, for him, is both divine and mathematically transparent. He renders theories of Time, Eternity, Providence, Evil, Soul and Intellect and constructs an elaborate ontology that includes mathematics and astronomy. He gives ample play to pagan theology too, frequently lapsing into the arcane language of the "Chaldaean Oracles". "Ten Gifts of the Demiurge" is an essential companion to this rich but complex and densely wrought text, providing an analysis of its arguments and showing that it, like the cosmos Proclus reveres, is a living coherent whole. The book provides aides to understanding Proclus' work within the complex background of Neoplatonic philosophy, familiarising the reader with the political context of the Athenian school, analysing Proclus' key terminology, and giving background to the philosophical arguments and ancient sciences upon which Proclus draws.Above all, it helps the reader appreciate the varicoloured light that Proclus sheds on the secrets of nature.

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, Part 2, Proclus on the World Soul

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus, Part 2, Proclus on the World Soul
Author: Proclus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 571
Release: 2009-12-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1139482998

In the present volume Proclus describes the 'creation' of the soul that animates the entire universe. This is not a literal creation, for Proclus argues that Plato means only to convey the eternal dependence of the World Soul upon higher causes. In his exegesis of Plato's text, Proclus addresses a range of issues in Pythagorean harmonic theory, as well as questions about the way in which the World Soul knows both forms and the visible reality that comprises its body. This part of Proclus' Commentary is particularly responsive to the interpretive tradition that precedes it. As a result, this volume is especially significant for the study of the Platonic tradition from the earliest commentators onwards.

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Volume 1, Book 1: Proclus on the Socratic State and Atlantis

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Volume 1, Book 1: Proclus on the Socratic State and Atlantis
Author: Proclus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2007-04-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1139461974

Proclus' Commentary on Plato's dialogue Timaeus is arguably the most important commentary on a text of Plato, offering unparalleled insights into eight centuries of Platonic interpretation. This edition offers the first new English translation of the work for nearly two centuries, building on significant recent advances in scholarship on Neoplatonic commentators. It provides an invaluable record of early interpretations of Plato's dialogue, while also presenting Proclus' own views on the meaning and significance of Platonic philosophy. The present volume, the first in the edition, deals with what may be seen as the prefatory material of the Timaeus. In it Socrates gives a summary of the political arrangements favoured in the Republic, and Critias tells the story of how news of the defeat of Atlantis by ancient Athens had been brought back to Greece from Egypt by the poet and politician Solon.

Ten Gifts of the Demiurge

Ten Gifts of the Demiurge
Author: Emilie Kutash
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2013-10-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1472519817

Proclus' commentary on Plato's "Timaeus" is perhaps the most important surviving Neoplatonic commentary. In it Proclus contemplates nature's mysterious origins and at the same time employs the deductive rigour required to address perennial philosophical questions. Nature, for him, is both divine and mathematically transparent. He renders theories of Time, Eternity, Providence, Evil, Soul and Intellect and constructs an elaborate ontology that includes mathematics and astronomy. He gives ample play to pagan theology too, frequently lapsing into the arcane language of the "Chaldaean Oracles". "Ten Gifts of the Demiurge" is an essential companion to this rich but complex and densely wrought text, providing an analysis of its arguments and showing that it, like the cosmos Proclus reveres, is a living coherent whole. The book provides aides to understanding Proclus' work within the complex background of Neoplatonic philosophy, familiarising the reader with the political context of the Athenian school, analysing Proclus' key terminology, and giving background to the philosophical arguments and ancient sciences upon which Proclus draws.Above all, it helps the reader appreciate the varicoloured light that Proclus sheds on the secrets of nature.

Commentary on Plato's Timaeus

Commentary on Plato's Timaeus
Author: Proclus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2007
Genre: Philosophy, Ancient
ISBN: 0521845955

Pythagorean harmonic theory, as well as questions about the way in which the World Soul knows both Forms and the visible reality that constitutes its body. This part of Proclus' Commentary is particularly responsive to the interpretive tradition that precedes it. As a result, this volume is especially significant for the study of the Platonic tradition from the earliest commentators onwards." --Book Jacket.

The Demiurge in Ancient Thought

The Demiurge in Ancient Thought
Author: Carl Séan O'Brien
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2015-01-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 110707536X

This book examines religious and 'scientific'/philosophical accounts of world-generation as represented by the figure of the Demiurge, or Craftsman-god.

Proclus and the Chaldean Oracles

Proclus and the Chaldean Oracles
Author: Nicola Spanu
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000166376

This volume examines the discussion of the Chaldean Oracles in the work of Proclus, as well as offering a translation and commentary of Proclus’ Treatise On Chaldean Philosophy. Spanu assesses whether Proclus’ exegesis of the Chaldean Oracles can be used by modern research to better clarify the content of Chaldean doctrine or must instead be abandoned because it represents a substantial misinterpretation of originary Chaldean teachings. The volume is augmented by Proclus’ Greek text, with English translation and commentary. Proclus and the Chaldean Oracles will be of interest to researchers working on Neoplatonism, Proclus and theurgy in the ancient world.

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Volume 5, Book 4

Proclus: Commentary on Plato's Timaeus: Volume 5, Book 4
Author: Proclus
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2013-10-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1107244323

Proclus' commentary on Plato's dialogue Timaeus is arguably the most important commentary on a text of Plato, offering unparalleled insights into eight centuries of Platonic interpretation. It has had an enormous influence on subsequent Plato scholarship. This edition offers the first new English translation of the work for nearly two centuries, building on significant recent advances in scholarship on Neoplatonic commentators. It provides an invaluable record of early interpretations of Plato's dialogue, while also presenting Proclus' own views on the meaning and significance of Platonic philosophy. The present volume, the fifth in the edition, presents Proclus' commentary on the Timaeus, dealing with Proclus' account of static and flowing time; we see Proclus situating Plato's account of the motions of the stars and planets in relation to the astronomical theories of his day. The volume includes a substantial introduction, as well as notes that will shed new light on the text.

Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, Volume 3

Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, Volume 3
Author: Dragos Calma
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 657
Release: 2022-01-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004501339

Reading Proclus and the Book of Causes, published in three volumes, is a fresh, comprehensive understanding of the history of Neoplatonism from the 9th to the 16th century. This third volume gathers contributions on key concepts of the Platonic tradition (Proclus, Plotinus, Porphyry or Sallustius) inherited and reinterpreted by Arabic (e.g. Avicenna, the Book of Causes), Byzantine (e.g. Maximus the Confessor, Ioane Petritsi) and Latin authors (e.g. Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Berthold of Moosburg, Marsilio Ficino etc.). Two major themes are presently studied: causality (in respect to the One, the henads, the self-constituted substances and the first being) and the noetic triad (being-life-intellect).