Thesis--Regimonti. / On reel 16 beginning frame no. 651.

Thesis--Münster. / "Commenationem philologicam consensu et auctoritate amplissimi philosophorum physicorumque in universitate Guilelma Guestfala ordinis ad summon in philosophia honores rite capessendos." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis advisor: Stephen Brown / This thesis is intended as a complement to Fr. Ernest Fortin’s Christianisme et culture philosophique. In that work, he examined the De statu animae of Claudianus Mamertus and its affinity to the thought of the Neoplatonic philosophers (especially Porphyry) in order to make its doctrine more clear. But he also looked at it to see the greatness of philosophical spirit that its author possessed, a remarkable spirit considering the time in which he wrote. Though Fr. Fortin’s work is quite thorough, there are some aspects of the De statu animae that are treated only slightly or not at all. This thesis aims at filling out some of them. The thesis first considers the difficulty of the philosophical question discussed in the work: the incorporeality of the human soul. Among the many difficulties which this question raises is one raised by Faustus of Riez, against whom Claudianus is writing, namely, that of conceiving an incorporeal creature without confounding it with God. It then considers the historical context, both political and philosophical, in which Claudianus lived and wrote. In particular, it brings out the influence of the Emperor Julian in his efforts to replace Christianity with pagan philosophy (especially as influenced by Porphyry and Iamblichus), and his connection with the intellectual life in Gaul. This it does to put into relief the magnanimity of a Christian writer who could look to the philosophy that most influenced the most ardent opponents of Christianity and see in it an ally rather than an enemy. Faustus regarded the philosophers as enemies because he thought them, in their reasonings, to have raised the soul to the dignity of its Creator. Of the philosophers open to this charge of impiety, it is, perhaps, most aptly laid upon the Platonists. A tendency in this direction appears in Plato, and reaches something of an apex in the thought of Plotinus. In Plato’s writings, it appears especially in the Phaedo, which Claudinaus quotes at length in the Second Book. The thesis looks at this dialogue to bring into relief this tendency in the work, and then compares it to Ennead V.1 to show that Plotinus takes the considerations in that dialogue and follows them out to show the kinship between the soul and the divine. Against this background, there are a couple of aspects of De statu animae that emerge. The first is the importance of seeing the soul as a middle being between God and bodily creatures. The second is the importance of seeing the soul as the imago Dei. Claudianus, in spite of his rhetoric, saw the seriousness of the difficulty raised by Faustus, and his work can be read, especially in the First Book, as an attempt to raise the mind of the reader from the fleshy world of sensation to the more beautiful, true, and good world of the spirit. The thesis argues that though the work is polemical, and so formed somewhat in the order of Faustus’s own arguments, Claudianus has worked that order to his own end; this can be seen in his use of the word status. This word is taken from Faustus, who uses it in his letter to name the nature of the soul. Claudianus, without leaving behind that sense, uses it to bring out the importance of understanding the soul’s nature through understanding its standing in the order of beings. His arguments are meant to help the reader to do just that. He first establishes that the world would be more perfect if there were an incorporeal creature, then he argues that there is in fact such a creature, and finally how it is possible for there to be such a creature. In doing so, he relies on ideas of the Neoplatonists, and especially Iamblichus, who looked at the soul as a middle being in order to see it as, one the one hand, less than the beings of the intelligible order, and yet superior to those of the sensible order. It is in this notion of the soul as a middle being that Claudianus finds an account for the changeableness of the soul without relying on matter. To show this, he invokes a distinction among motions: stable, in time, and in time and place. The first belongs to God, the second to the soul, and the last to bodies. This distinction arises from the fact that God is above all the categories of Aristotle, bodies are subject to them all, but the soul is subject only to some. In this way, the soul can be seen to undergo qualitative change, or changes in its affections, without suffering change in place. Thus, though not a body, it is nevertheless subject to change of some sort. And so, though superior to bodies, it falls short of the perfection of its Creator. But running throughout this discussion is the notion of image. And at the end of the book, its importance emerges. When Claudianus turns to a consideration of our act of knowing, the nature of the soul becomes more clear. When the soul turns its attention from bodies to look at itself, what it sees is an image of God, Who is incorporeal. And so, it sees, if it can free itself from the seductions of the images of bodies it has drawn in through the senses, that it is incorporeal. Here he reveals to the reader more fully what he has been trying to do. He has been working to turn the eye of the mind from the world of sensation to look at itself in itself, for if it does this, it will see itself as the imago Dei, and thus incorporeal. In this last aspect of the work especially, we can see the influence of Iamblichus, who, as Carlos Steel has shown, came to conceive of the soul as the image of Intellect precisely to establish it as a middle being between Intellect and the material world. It is an image so that it can be both like and unlike its exemplar. It understands (or more precisely, reasons) and so is like Intellect. But it does so by introducing order into its thoughts so that though always thinking (like Intellect), it moves from one thought to the next. Thus, it introduces time into the world. In this way, it departs from Intellect and becomes subject to change, though not in place. Claudianus recognizes in this a way of conceiving of the soul as incorporeal, therefore like God, and yet subject to change in time, therefore unlike Him, and so a creature. And so he comes to see the soul, in its essence to be the image of its Creator. Claudianus, in his refutation of Faustus, has raised the minds of his readers to lofty heights. Following the teachings of the Platonists, to whom his friend Sidonius likens him in everything except his garb, he has purged his mind from the entrapments of the corporeal world, has raised it to the pure world of being, and found himself a part of it. But those he has followed had been, either directly or indirectly, ardent foes of the faith which he professed and to which he had given his life. Porphyry had composed a work attacking Christianity; and Iamblichus, through his disciples, had inspired Julian with a devotion to the pagan gods that led him to attack the Church both in his writings and in his political endeavors. But unlike Faustus and others like him, he saw a harmony between his faith and his philosophy that gave him confidence that the natural light of reason and the light of revelation could work together to unite his soul to its Beginning, which is also his End. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Cette thèse se propose de donner une synthèse générale du système du néoplatonicien Jamblique de Chalcis, acteur important de l’évolution de la métaphysique grecque durant l’âge antique tardif. Elle reconstruit tour à tour sa doctrine psychologique, sa hiérarchie des êtres et quelques-uns de ses concepts fondamentaux, en mettant l’accent sur l’histoire des idées entre le fondateur de l’école, Plotin, et la naissance de l’école néoplatonicienne d’Athènes. L’ensemble des œuvres laissées par Jamblique est exploité, ainsi que les quelque 800 fragments et témoignages sur sa vie et sa doctrine laissés par les auteurs postérieurs. Les influences subies sont analysées et replacées en contexte : néoplatonisme de Plotin et Porphyre, qui donne à Jamblique les principaux niveaux de son ontologie, qu’il analyse et fractionne ; médio-platonisme, dont le néoplatonisme hérite des topiques philosophiques ; aristotélisme, qui lègue une conception dynamique de l’âme et une hiérarchie des puissances cognitives consacrant la transcendance de l’intellect ; pythagorisme, qui permet à Jamblique de concevoir les mathématiques comme un langage valable pour la description de toutes les parties de la philosophie. Par l’ampleur de son œuvre ainsi que l’originalité et la fermeté des solutions apportées aux problèmes traités, Jamblique crée une synthèse puissante qui sert de base doctrinale aux écoles néoplatoniciennes tardives d’Athènes et Alexandrie, et est profondément représentative d’un âge théocentrique, où l’âme humaine n’est qu’un principe dérivé, qui doit prendre sa place dans l’ordre universel des choses : une métaphysique de l’unité, reposant sur la dualité dynamique de l’ordre et de sa variation. / This thesis strives to provide modern research with a synthesis of the system of Iamblichus of Chalcis, an important figure in the development of later Greek metaphysics. It reconstructs in turn his psychology, his hierarchy of being and some of his most basic concepts and philosophical laws, with a stress on the continuity between Plotinus, founder of the Neoplatonic school, and the beginnings of the school of Athens. The whole of Iamblichus’ body of work is exploited, as well as the 800 fragments and testimonia on his life and doctrine handed down to us by later authors. Influences received are analysed and set in context: Plotinus’ and Porphyry’s Neoplatonism, which provides the general levels of reality which Iamblichus tried to analyse and enrich; Middle Platonism, whose topics are debated in Neoplatonism; Aristotelianism, which accounts for a dynamic conception of the human soul and a hierarchy of cognitive powers beginning with the transcendent Intellect; Pythagoreanism, which allows Iamblichus to depict mathematics as a universal language, able to take the mark of all parts of philosophy. By the scope of his work and the originality and neatness of the solutions he provided to problems which nascent Neoplatonism had to confront, Iamblichus is able to create a powerful synthesis which acts as a doctrinal basis for the later schools of Athens and Alexandria: it is profoundly representative of a theocentric era, in which human soul is but a derived principle that has to keep its place in the grand scheme of being. It is a metaphysics of unity, founded on the dual dynamic of order and variation.

This thesis is an attempt to understand the efficacy of prayer in Boethius’ 'Consolation of Philosophy.' Prayer is man’s commercium with the divine realm, and so prayer is higher than human thought. The highest stage of prayer in the Consolation is similar to that in Iamblichus’ 'De Mysteriis': man becomes aware of his own deficiency compared to the divine and so turns to prayer. Lower prayers are also effective because they are both immaterial theurgy and spiritual exercises. The circles throughout the work are a crucial instance of these prayers. They constantly purify the Prisoner’s soul of false notions, and restore it to its true state. They lead the Prisoner to discover that his activity of thinking is a form of theurgy. The Consolation reveals that in the life of philosophy there is a mutual interdependence between thought, prayer and theurgy.

No description available.

With this paper, I aim to demonstrate that, in Late Antiquity, the definition of magic was inherent to the definition of its opposite, religion. Assuming that the separation of magic and religion is the symptom of cultural clashes. I argue that Iamblichus' (240-325 AD) De Mysteriis was participating in a politico-religious reorganization of the Roman Empire. / The first part of the study analyses the religions beliefs of Porphyry (232--305 AD). With this analysis, I demonstrate that Iamblichus rectified Porphyry's philosophical approach to religion, which minimizied the distinctions between magic and religion. / In the second part of the study, I demonstrate how Iamblichus' response to Porphyry rearranged religious evidence into a new holistic system called "theurgy." By drawing from Neoplatonic political theory, I also explain how the De Mysteriis inseparably bounded politics with theology.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:36:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JosildoJBS_TESE.pdf: 1777094 bytes, checksum: a9a39551fbb840b0d01e7dbe25e6122d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-25 / Pythagoras was one of the most important pre-Socratic thinkers, and the movement he founded, Pythagoreanism, influenced a whole thought later in religion and science. Iamblichus, an important Neoplatonic and Neopythagorean philosopher of the third century AD, produced one of the most important biographies of Pythagoras in his work Life of Pythagoras. In it he portrays the life of Pythagoras and provides information on Pythagoreanism, such as the Pythagorean religious community which resembled the cult of mysteries; the Pythagorean involvement in political affairs and in the government in southern Italy, the use of music by the Pythagoreans (means of purification of healing, use of theoretical study), the Pythagorean ethic (Pythagorean friendship and loyalty, temperance, self-control, inner balance); justice; and the attack on the Pythagoreans. Also in this biography, Iamblichus, almost seven hundred years after the termination of the Pythagorean School, established a catalog list with the names of two hundred and eighteen men and sixteen women, supposedly Pythagoreans of different nationalities. Based on this biography, a question was raised: to what extent and in what ways, can the Pythagoreans quoted by Iamblichus really be classified as Pythagoreans? We will take as guiding elements to search for answers to our central problem the following general objectives: to identify, whenever possible, which of the men and women listed in the Iamblichus catalog may be deemed Pythagorean and specific; (a) to describe the mystery religions; (b) to reflect on the similarities between the cult of mysteries and the Pythagorean School; (c) to develop criteria to define what is being a Pythagorean; (d) to define a Pythagorean; (e) to identify, if possible, through names, places of birth, life, thoughts, work, lifestyle, generation, etc.., each of the men and women listed by Iamblichus; (f) to highlight who, in the catalog, could really be considered Pythagorean, or adjusting to one or more criteria established in c, or also to the provisions of item d. To realize these goals, we conducted a literature review based on ancient sources that discuss the Pythagoreanism, especially Iamblichus (1986), Plato (2000), Aristotle (2009), as well as modern scholars of the Pythagorean movement, Cameron (1938), Burnet (1955), Burkert (1972), Barnes (1997), Gorman (n.d.), Guthrie (1988), Khan (1999), Matt?i (2000), Kirk, Raven and Shofield (2005), Fossa and Gorman (n.d.) (2010). The results of our survey show that, despite little or no availability of information on the names of alleged Pythagoreans listed by Iamblichus, if we apply the criteria and the definition set by us of what comes to be a Pythagorean to some names for which we have evidence, it is possible to assume that Iamblichus produced a list which included some Pythagoreans / Pit?goras ? considerado um dos mais importantes pensadores pr?-socr?ticos. A escola pitag?rica, por ele fundada, influenciou todo um pensar posterior na religi?o e na ci?ncia. J?mblico, fil?sofo neoplat?nico e neopitag?rico do s?culo III d.C., elaborou, quase setecentos anos ap?s o t?rmino do movimento pitag?rico, uma das tr?s biografias de Pit?goras, a Vida de Pit?goras. Nela, ele retrata a vida desse fil?sofo e nos fornece informa??es sobre o pitagorismo: uma comunidade religiosa assemelhada ao culto de mist?rios; o envolvimento de seus participantes em assuntos pol?ticos e no governo no sul da It?lia; a exalta??o dada ? m?sica (meio de purifica??o, de cura, recurso de estudo te?rico), ? ?tica (amizade, lealdade, temperan?a, autocontrole, equil?brio interior), ? justi?a, e o ataque sofrido pelos pitag?ricos. Ao final dessa biografia, J?mblico elabora um cat?logo com os nomes de duzentos e dezoito homens e dezesseis mulheres, suposto(a)s pitag?rico(a)s de diversas nacionalidades. Tomando como base essa biografia, lan?a-se a quest?o: at? que ponto, e em quais aspectos, esses homens e mulheres citado(a)s por J?mblico podem realmente ser classificados como pitag?rico(a)s? Tomaremos como elementos norteadores ? busca de respostas para nosso problema central os seguintes objetivos (i) geral, identificar, quando poss?vel, quais dos homens e mulheres listados no cat?logo de J?mblico podem ser considerados pitag?ricos, e (ii) espec?ficos: (a) caracterizar as religi?es de mist?rios; (b) refletir sobre as semelhan?as entre o culto de mist?rios e a escola pitag?rica; (c) desenvolver crit?rios que v?o definir o que ? ser um pitag?rico; (d) definir um pitag?rico; (e) identificar, se poss?vel, atrav?s dos nomes, locais de nascimento, vidas, pensamentos, obras, estilo de vida, gera??o, etc., cada um dos homens e mulheres listados por J?mblico; (f) destacar, no cat?logo, quem realmente poderia ser considerado um(a) pitag?rico (a), ou se adequando a um ou v?rios crit?rios estabelecidos em c, ou atendendo ao disposto no item d. Para dar conta de tais objetivos, realizamos uma pesquisa bibliogr?fica valendo-se de fontes antigas que discutem o pitagorismo, principalmente J?mblico (1986), Plat?o (2000/s.d.), Arist?teles (s.d.), e modernos estudiosos desse movimento: Cameron (1938), Burnet (1955), Burkert (1972), Guthrie (1988/2003), Barnes (1997), Khan (1999), Gorman (1979), Matt?i (2000), Kirk, Raven & Shofield (2005), e Fossa (2006/2010). Os resultados de nossa pesquisa mostram que, se utilizarmos as raras informa??es acerca de poucos desse(a)s suposto(a)s homens e mulheres catalogado(a)s por J?mblico, e se aplicarmos sobre eles os crit?rios e a defini??o por n?s anteriormente estabelecidos sobre o que vem a ser um pitag?rico, ? poss?vel supor que a lista elaborada por J?mblico pode estar constitu?da por alguns homens e mulheres que possu?am um modo de vida e um interesse por determinados assuntos caracteristicamente pitag?ricos

Cette thèse a pour but de présenter en détails l’importance de la théurgie dans la philosophie de Proclus, ainsi que sa relation avec la mystagogie. Un des premiers objectifs de la recherche est d’expliciter les raisons du jaillissement de la théurgie au cours de l’Antiquité tardive. Nous présentons ainsi le cadre historique d’où émerge la notion de théurgie dans un contexte de christianisation de l’Empire à partir du IVe siècle. Il est ensuite primordial de définir clairement la théurgie, ce que les chercheurs n’ont pas fait jusqu’à maintenant, en tant qu’opération rituelle par laquelle un réceptacle matériel est animé par le divin. Puis, nous démontrons que, bien que le terme « théurgie » soit tardif, celui-ci trouve néanmoins ses racines dans la longue tradition platonicienne, de Platon lui-même jusqu’à Proclus, en passant notamment par Plotin, Porphyre et Jamblique. À la suite du volet historique et après avoir présenté une définition claire de la notion de théurgie, il est important de préciser son statut au sein de la philosophie de Proclus, notamment en nous intéressant au passage-clef TP, I, 25 dans lequel le néoplatonicien présente la théurgie comme étant supérieure (κρείττων) à la philosophie. Nous nous intéressons ensuite à deux rites théurgiques concrets présentés dans l’œuvre proclienne en les analysant en profondeur : le rite de l’ensevelissement du corps (TP, IV, 9) et le rite de l’immortalisation d’Achille (In Remp., I, 152-152). Après avoir exposé le lien intrinsèque de la théurgie avec la mystagogie, notamment autour de l’importance du silence (σιγή) mystique, nous développons sur les implications de la théurgie pour le système philosophique de Proclus. Nous constatons que ces implications sont monumentales et touchent une multitude d’aspects de sa pensée : le statut de l’âme, celui de la matière, l’ontologie, la primauté du véhicule (ὄχημα) de l’âme, la notion d’imagination (φαντασία), l’importance des symboles (σύμβολα et συνθήματα) et le rôle de l’amour (ἔρως). Nous terminons finalement la recherche en présentant l’héritage de Proclus, principalement à travers l’œuvre du néoplatonicien chrétien Pseudo-Denys. / This thesis has for goal to present in detail the importance of theurgy in the philosophy of Proclus, as well as his link with mystagogy. One of the first objectives is to describe the causes of the emergence of theurgy during the late Antiquity. So, we present the historical setting from where emerges the notion of theurgy in the context of the process of Christianisation of the Empire starting during the 4th century. It is after that primordial to propose a clear definition of theurgy, something that the researchers haven’t done yet, as the ritual operation by which a material receptacle is animated by the divine. Then, we demonstrate that, even if the term “theurgy” is late, it finds however his roots in the long platonic tradition, from Plato to Proclus, passing by Plotinus, Porphyry, and Iamblichus. Following the historical aspect and after having clearly define the notion of theurgy, it is important to explain the status of theurgy in the philosophy of Proclus, especially by analyzing the crucial passage in TP, I, 25, where the Neoplatonist declares that theurgy is superior (κρείττων) to philosophy. Moreover, we examine two concrete theurgical rites presented in the Proclus’ works: the burial of the body (TP, IV, 9) and the immortalisation of Achille (In Remp., I, 152-152). After having exposed the intrinsically relation between theurgy and mystagogy, notably with the mystical silence (σιγή), we develop the implications of theurgy in the vast philosophical system of Proclus. These implications are monumental and touch many aspects: the status of the soul, the one of the matter, the ontology, the primacy of the soul’s vehicle (ὄχημα), the notion of imagination (φαντασία), the importance of symbols (σύμβολα et συνθήματα) and the role of love (ἔρως). We finally end this research by presenting the legacy of Proclus, especially through the work of the Christian Neoplatonist Pseudo-Dionysius.