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Neoplatonism - Online Papers

Neoplatonism

As defined by Funk and Wagnals, is a type of idealistic monism in which the ultimate reality of the universe is held to be an infinite, unknowable, perfect One. From this one emanates nous (pure intelligence), whence in turn is derived the world soul, the creative activity of which engenders the lesser souls of human beings. The world soul is conceived as an image of the nous, even as the nous is an image of the One; both the nous and the world soul, despite their differentiation, are thus consubstantial with the One.
The world soul, however, because it is intermediate between the nous and the material world, has the option either of preserving its integrity and imaged perfection or of ...

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in the opposite direction the successive steps of its degeneration, until it is again united with the
fountainhead of its being. The actual reunion is accomplished through a mystical experience in which the soul knows an all-pervading ecstasy.
Doctrinally, is characterized by a categorical opposition between the spiritual and the carnal, elaborated from Plato's dualism of Idea and Matter; by the metaphysical hypothesis of mediating agencies, the nous and the world soul, which transmit the divine power from the One to the many; by an aversion to the world of sense; and by the necessity of liberation from a life of sense through a rigorous ascetic discipline. (Funk and Wagnalls)
History of
Neoplatonism began in Alexandra, Egypt, in the third century AD. Plotinus was the founder of Neoplatonsim and was born in Egypt. He studied at Alexandra with the philosopher Ammonium Saccus. Along with 224 others he helped carry the Neoplatonic doctrine to Rome, where he established a ...

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Neoplatonism. (2007, February 21). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Neoplatonism/60669

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"Neoplatonism." Essayworld.com. February 21, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Neoplatonism/60669.

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 2/21/2007 09:22:43 AM
Category: World History
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 911
Pages: 4

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