The Neoplatonism It is a set of doctrines and schools inspired by Platonism, described as "mystical" in nature and based on a spiritual principle from which the material world emanates. In this sense, it is considered the last mystical expression of ancient pagan thought..
From the historical point of view, Neoplatonism as a doctrine began around the year 200, with Plotinus as the main representative; and ended in the year 529, the year in which the closure of the Platonic Academy was declared by the Emperor Justinian.
However, his projection does not end there but rather expands in the Middle Ages, when his ideas are studied and discussed by both Jewish, Christian and Islamic thinkers, and even by some Renaissance authors, such as Marsilio Ficino (1433-1492) and Pico de la Mirándola (1463-1494).
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In the first place, it should be clarified that the word "Neoplatonism" is a modern historiographic term, since the thinkers to whom it is applied do not describe themselves with that name..
They feel like exhibitors of Plato's ideas, although many of these philosophers formulate a completely new system, as is the case with Plotinus..
This is because already in the Ancient Academy many of Plato's successors tried to correctly interpret his thinking, and came to completely different conclusions..
For this reason, it can be assured that Neoplatonism began immediately after Plato's death, when they tried to address new approaches to his philosophy..
Its origins come from the Hellenistic syncretism that gave birth to movements and schools such as Gnosticism and the Hermetic tradition..
One of the fundamental factors in this syncretism is the introduction of the Jewish Scriptures into Greek intellectual circles through the translation known as the Septuagint.
The crossing between the narration of the Timaeus of Plato and the creation of Genesis set in motion a kind of tradition of cosmological theorizing that ended with the Enneads by Plotino.
As already mentioned, Neoplatonism is not a univocal philosophical current, since it encompasses the ideas or doctrines of each of its representative philosophers. However, certain general characteristics that unite them can be delineated.
-Its principles are based on the doctrine of Plato.
-Seek truth and salvation.
-It is an idealistic philosophy with a tendency to mysticism.
-It has a conception of emanative reality, since it maintains that the rest of the Universe emanates from the Unum.
-Affirms that evil is simply the absence of good.
-Believe that man is made up of body and soul.
-Asserts that the soul is immortal.
Within its history three stages can be recognized:
- Alexandrian-Roman stage, dating from the 2nd-3rd century. It is represented by Plotinus and is defined by the preeminence of the philosophical over the theosophical.
- Syrian stage, dating from the IV-V century and is represented by Porphyry of Tire and Jamblico. It is characterized by a predominance of the mystical over the philosophical, standing out for its theurgical character. Theurgy is defined as the practice that brings Platonic philosophy closer to a ritual practice of religious magic substrate.
In this way, the philosopher tries to approach and elevate the divine part of man to the Unum without making so much use of dialectical means. Instead, it prefers to prevail the hidden properties and qualities of things and of the intermediary entities that govern them.
- Athenian stage, dating from the V-VI century. It is represented by Proclus, with the union of the philosophical and the mystical.
Plotinus, born in Egypt in 204-270, is considered the founder of Neoplatonism. Among its most prominent concepts are:
First principle of reality that is conceived as an entity that is beyond Being. It transcends physical reality and is absolute unity. However, it is the carrier of a singular type of activity or energy since it has within itself all the essences.
From the Unum emanates the supreme intelligence, which constitutes the second principle of things. This emanation does not imply volition of the Unum, it is spontaneous and necessary as the light emanates from the sun..
Consciousness is not an emergent property of material constituents arranged in a certain way. Rather, it is the first effect of the One's activity. The inherent task of consciousness is to understand itself..
The soul is conceived as an external activity of consciousness, it looks back and towards its cause in order to understand itself.
On the other hand, look at the forms and ideas that are eternally present in consciousness; in this way it carries images of the eternal forms to the lower realm of being. Thus gives birth to the universe and the Earth's biosphere.
Nature involves not only the essence of each natural being or of the entire natural world, but also a lower aspect of conscious life. In this way, every aspect of the natural world - even the most insignificant - has a divine and eternal moment..
Matter is part of bodies and is the furthest from the Unum. It is also the most imperfect of ideas and the last reflection of the universal soul. It is separated from the ideal material by its solidity and extension.
Porphyry of Tire spread the work of Plotinus. He is an opponent of Christianity and a defender of paganism.
At this stage the thought of Iamblichus of Calcidia arises, a disciple of Porphyry who continued with the commentary of the most important Greek philosophers. He replaced philosophical speculation with a mystique.
He planted a kingdom of divinities that extends from the original One to material nature, where the soul descends into matter and incarnates in human beings. In that kingdom of the divinities there are gods, angels, demons and other beings that mediate between humanity and the Unum.
For its part, the incarnated soul had to return to divinity, performing certain rites or divine works (theurgy).
Before the philosophy of Iamblichus and his disciples a reaction appeared against the mystical-theurgic exaggerations. This reaction had among its representatives Plutarco, son of Nestorio; Sirian and Hierocles of Alexandria.
Who stands out above all is Proclus, whose writings reflect the ideas of the Athenian Neoplatonic school. In this sense, it unites and amalgamates the philosophical element with the mystical, without giving pre-eminence to one over the other. The fundamental points of his philosophy are the following:
Unity is the cause essence from which everything comes out and to which everything returns. The process is verified by descending gradations; thus, this bottom-up process contains four worlds:
- Sensitive and material.
- Lower intellectual (human souls and demons).
- Higher intellectual (lower gods, angels or pure spirits).
- Intelligible, which represents the supreme intelligence from which superior spirits or souls come; and the universal soul, from which come the demons and the human souls united to the body. Both constitute a world called intelligible intellectual.
Matter is neither good nor bad, but it is the source that governs the objects of the sensible world.
The human soul that derives from the universal. It is both eternal and temporary: eternal because it starts from the essence and temporary because of the development of its activity..
She suffers from evils that are due to past and present guilt, but she can free herself from this by turning to God and being absorbed by him. This absorption occurs through moral purification, the intellectual intuition of the Unum and through the practice of virtue..
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