Neoplatonism and its Medieval Transformations: The Latin, Byzantine, and Arabic Traditions

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Neoplatonic philosophy is one of the or maybe even the most influential intellectual movement in Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages and into modern times. Neoplatonic ideas shaped philosophical, theological, mystical and literary texts and art and architecture. The course will study a wide range of Neoplatonic texts and of texts inspired by Neoplatonism from Antiquity into the Middle Ages, including the Byzantine, Latin and Arabic tradition. As the intellecutal basis of the course, we will first study pagan Neoplatonism in late Antiquity. We will focus mainly on the founder of Neoplatonism Plotinus who transforms Platonic thought and combines it with Aristotelean ideas without neglecting Stoic input as well. Later developments in Neoplatonism will be dicussed as well, since they are the basis of Christian transformations of Neoplatonism (e.g. Porphyry, Proclus). Then we will move to the first Christian transformations of Neoplatonic thought in late Antiquity, especially Dionysius the Areopagite, but also Boethius and Augustine. After a briefer detour to Neoplatonism in Byzantium we will focus on the neoplatonic traditions in the Middle Ages, focusing especially on the first translations of Dionysius the Areopagite and his reception in philosophy, theology, mysticism and art. Furthermore, we will take a look at the Arabic tradition. Topics dicussed in the course will include: 1) The Good, the One and God; 2) Intellect; 3) Soul; 4) Self, person, self-consciousness; 5) the intelligible realm and the visible world; 6) body; 7) matter 8) evil; 9) freedom; 10) the ascent of the soul and the union with the divine; 11) art and its anagocial power Most texts will be read in translation, but we will also look at selected passages in Greek or Latin (for those who read these languages; they are not a requirement for the course). The course is by design a graduate course, but could be opened to well-qualified undergraduates.