- Iowa City, Iowa, United States
John Finamore
The University of Iowa, Classics, Faculty Member
This paper examines Hermias’ doctrine of the vehicle of the soul to determine whether or not it is the same doctrine as that endorsed by Proclus and his teacher Syrianus. It is discovered that Hermias, like Proclus and Syrianus, believes... more
This paper examines Hermias’ doctrine of the vehicle of the soul to determine whether or not it is the same doctrine as that endorsed by Proclus and his teacher Syrianus. It is discovered that Hermias, like Proclus and Syrianus, believes that human beings have three levels of bodies: an immortal, ethereal vehicle, which houses the pinnacles (ἀκρότητες) of the soul’s irrational faculties; a pneumatic vehicle, which has those faculties in a more expansive form (as it were, the pre-existing traces of the faculties); and the corporeal body, in which the irrational faculties are operative. Hermias’ doctrine therefore is that of Proclus and Syrianus, as further evidence from Hermias’ discussion of the bodies of the daemons verifies.
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This is a follow-up to my "Reason and Irrationality: The Intersection of Philosophy and Magic in Later Neoplatonism," in R. Fowler (ed.), Plato in the Third Sophistic, Walter de Gruyter (2014), 39-55. Here I examine Iamblichus' theories... more
This is a follow-up to my "Reason and Irrationality: The Intersection of Philosophy and Magic in Later Neoplatonism," in R. Fowler (ed.), Plato in the Third Sophistic, Walter de Gruyter (2014), 39-55. Here I examine Iamblichus' theories of dream interpretation and divination and try to show that in the ancient Mediterranean world these were not considered irrational concepts. I trace the history of these interpretations from Homer and Hesiod through Plato and the Middle Platonists to Iamblichus himself, arguing that throughout antiquity the interpretation of dreams and the use of divination were not deemed unusual or irrational, as we might conceive of them today.
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An examination of Iamblichean theurgy in line with his metaphysics. Theurgy provides the link between the otherwise unbridgeable distance between the gods and mortals.
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A look into Iamblichus' theory that light has material and immaterial aspects.
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A consideration of how mind/soul coalesces with body in Iamblichean metaphysics.
The doctrine of the the tripartite soul in the Timaeus differs from that in both the Republic and Phaedrus. I argue that Plato's doctrine has been affected by considerations about the soul's disembodied life.
An examination of the unusual phrase "second trace of life," used by Hermias to describe (apparently) the irrational soul.
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"Iamblichus and the Foundations of Late Platonism, ed. by E. Afonasin, J. Finamore and J. Dillon Brill, Leiden, 2012, p. 13-36 Eugene Afonasin highlights the wealth of information on Pythagoras and his tradition preserved in Clement of... more
"Iamblichus and the Foundations of Late Platonism, ed. by E. Afonasin, J. Finamore and J. Dillon
Brill, Leiden, 2012, p. 13-36
Eugene Afonasin highlights the wealth of information on Pythagoras and his tradition preserved in Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis and presents them against the background of Later Platonic philosophy. He rst outlines what Clement knew about the Pythagoreans, and then what he made of the Pythagorean ideal and how he reinterpreted it for his own purposes. Clement clearly occupies an intermediate position between the Neopythagorean biographical tradition, rmly based on Nicomachus, and that more or less vague and difuse literary situation which preceded the later developments, and in this respect is a very good source, worth studying for its own sake and as supplementary material which can help to understand the great Pythagorean synthesis attempted by Iamblichus. Developing their variants of the “exhortation to philosophy” (protreptikoi logoi), these men were much concerned with the educational value of the Pythagorean way of life rather than biographical circumstances, designed to place the ancient sage in the proper cultural context."
Brill, Leiden, 2012, p. 13-36
Eugene Afonasin highlights the wealth of information on Pythagoras and his tradition preserved in Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis and presents them against the background of Later Platonic philosophy. He rst outlines what Clement knew about the Pythagoreans, and then what he made of the Pythagorean ideal and how he reinterpreted it for his own purposes. Clement clearly occupies an intermediate position between the Neopythagorean biographical tradition, rmly based on Nicomachus, and that more or less vague and difuse literary situation which preceded the later developments, and in this respect is a very good source, worth studying for its own sake and as supplementary material which can help to understand the great Pythagorean synthesis attempted by Iamblichus. Developing their variants of the “exhortation to philosophy” (protreptikoi logoi), these men were much concerned with the educational value of the Pythagorean way of life rather than biographical circumstances, designed to place the ancient sage in the proper cultural context."
Galen of Pergamum (129-c.210 CE) was the physician of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. During his first stay in Rome (162-166 CE), he came to fame by conducting public dissections of animals before learned audiences of physicians and... more
Galen of Pergamum (129-c.210 CE) was the physician of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. During his first stay in Rome (162-166 CE), he came to fame by conducting public dissections of animals before learned audiences of physicians and philosophers, in which he sought to display his expertise especially concerning the system of nerves in the body. During this stay he also began writing his De Placitis Hippocratis et Platonis (On the Doctrines of Hippocrates and Plato), in which he intended to demonstrate that these two writers were in agreement concerning the nature of the tripartite soul. He wrote the
first six books at that time, and completed the final three books during his second Roman sojourn in 169-176 CE.1 In this paper I wish to consider Galen's arguments for the tripartite soul. I will argue that Galen's interpretation of Plato's Timaeus while not always accurate is nonetheless a kind of interpretation generally found in the later-Platonic period, and I will defend him against some recent scholars who have seen him as unphilosophical.
first six books at that time, and completed the final three books during his second Roman sojourn in 169-176 CE.1 In this paper I wish to consider Galen's arguments for the tripartite soul. I will argue that Galen's interpretation of Plato's Timaeus while not always accurate is nonetheless a kind of interpretation generally found in the later-Platonic period, and I will defend him against some recent scholars who have seen him as unphilosophical.
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Selected Papers from the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies
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Ever since Vlastos' " Theology and Philosophy in Early Greek Thought, " scholars have known that a consideration of ancient philosophy without attention to its theological, cosmological and soteriological dimensions remains onesided. Yet,... more
Ever since Vlastos' " Theology and Philosophy in Early Greek Thought, " scholars have known that a consideration of ancient philosophy without attention to its theological, cosmological and soteriological dimensions remains onesided. Yet, philosophers continue to discuss thinkers such as Parmenides and Plato without knowledge of their debt to the archaic religious traditions. Perhaps our own religious prejudices allow us to see only a " polis religion " in Greek religion, while our modern philosophical openness and emphasis on reason induce us to rehabilitate ancient philosophy by what we consider the highest standard of knowledge: proper argumentation. Yet, it is possible to see ancient philosophy as operating according to a different system of meaning, a different " logic. " Such a different sense of logic operates in myth and other narratives, where the argument is neither completely illogical nor rational in the positivist sense. The articles in this volume undertake a critical engagement with this unspoken legacy of Greek religion. The aim of the volume as a whole is to show how, beyond the formalities and fallacies of arguments, something more profound is at stake in ancient philosophy: the salvation of the philosopher-initiate.