Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life, 2015
By: Wilberding, James, Marmodoro, Anna (Ed.), Prince, Brian (Ed.)
Title Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2015
Published in Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity
Pages 171-185
Categories no categories
Author(s) Wilberding, James
Editor(s) Marmodoro, Anna , Prince, Brian
Translator(s)
In the Neoplatonism of late antiquity there was an exciting and revolution­ ary development in the understanding of the aetiology involved in the generation of living things, and here it will be argued that this extended all the way to the Neoplatonic understanding of the causes of vegetative life. In a way, this should come as no surprise. Hippocratics, Aristotle and Galen had all viewed the processes involved in the generation of plants as analogous to those in the generation of embryos.1 In fact, the embryo was commonly held to have the life-status of a plant, with the mother taking on the role of the earth, at least at the earliest stages of its generation.2 As a result, these thinkers saw the same causal models that govern the gener­ ation of embryos at work in the generation of plants. Indeed, Galen even advises those who wish to investigate the formation of embryos to begin by looking into the generation of plants, The above-mentioned analogy is certainly part of the motivation behind Galen’s counsel, but equally important is that plants are simpler, in terms of both their physiology and their psychology, and thus more perspicuous objects of study. This is what gives us ‘hope to discover among the plants [biological] adminis­ tration in its pure and unadulterated form’.* What is surprising is the conception of vegetative generation and life that results for Neoplatonists. For, as I shall show here, they ultimately concluded that the vegetative souls of individual plants are not self-sufficient. That is to say, the depend­ ence of individual plants on the earth, in terms of both their generation and their preservation, extends beyond mere nutritive needs into the psychological domain of their life activities. [pp.. 171 ff.]

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Hippocratics, Aristotle and \r\nGalen had all viewed the processes involved in the generation of plants as \r\nanalogous to those in the generation of embryos.1 In fact, the embryo was \r\ncommonly held to have the life-status of a plant, with the mother taking \r\non the role of the earth, at least at the earliest stages of its generation.2 As a \r\nresult, these thinkers saw the same causal models that govern the gener\u00ad\r\nation of embryos at work in the generation of plants. Indeed, Galen even \r\nadvises those who wish to investigate the formation of embryos to begin by \r\nlooking into the generation of plants, The above-mentioned analogy is \r\ncertainly part of the motivation behind Galen\u2019s counsel, but equally \r\nimportant is that plants are simpler, in terms of both their physiology \r\nand their psychology, and thus more perspicuous objects of study. This is \r\nwhat gives us \u2018hope to discover among the plants [biological] adminis\u00ad\r\ntration in its pure and unadulterated form\u2019.* What is surprising is the \r\nconception of vegetative generation and life that results for Neoplatonists. \r\nFor, as I shall show here, they ultimately concluded that the vegetative \r\nsouls of individual plants are not self-sufficient. That is to say, the depend\u00ad\r\nence of individual plants on the earth, in terms of both their generation and their preservation, extends beyond mere nutritive needs into the \r\npsychological domain of their life activities. 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Highlighting some of the most important and interesting aspects of these philosophical debates, the volume will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of philosophy, classics, theology and ancient history.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/kmaeEwrlY6zOmkp","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":155,"pubplace":"Cambridge","publisher":"Cambridge University Press","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":[2015]}

Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul, 2012
By: Menn, Stephen, Horn, Christoph (Ed.), Wilberding, James (Ed.)
Title Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 44-67
Categories no categories
Author(s) Menn, Stephen
Editor(s) Horn, Christoph , Wilberding, James
Translator(s)
A central puzzle of recent scholarship on late Neoplatonism has been to understand how what Richard Sorabji has called a ‘perfectly crazy position', the thesis of die harmony of Plato and Aristode, nonetheless ‘proved philosophically fruitful' — whereas, for instance, the same philosophers' perfectly crazy thesis of the harmony of Plato and Homer did not. In this chapter, starting from Hermias' commentary on a passage of the Phaedrus which poses a difficulty for harmonization, I hope to shed some light on what the late Neoplatonists were asserting when they asserted the harmony of Plato and Aristotle, in general or on some particular issue (here the immortality of soul); on why they were inclined to make such assertions o f harmony, and what they saw themselves as needing to do in order to defend them: and on why,in the process of defending them, they were led to conceptual clarifications which were in some cases of longstanding benefit to the conceptual stoic of philosophy. I will point to a sur­ prising case of such a conceptual benefit resulting from Neoplatonic interpretations of this Pimdtus passage and its parallels in the Timaeus. While my central example will be from Hermias, the themes I am interested in ate not peculiar to him, and I will also make use of other late Neoplatonic authors, especially Proclus. Hermias, and Produs, to recall, were both students of Syrianus;at one point in Hermias' commentary 'our companion Proclus' raises an aporia, and ‘the philosopher'— that is, ‘the professor — replies (92,6-10 Couvrcur), which seems to imply that the commentary in general was drawn by Hermias from Syrianus lectures. [Introduction, pp. 44 f.]

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In this chapter, starting from Hermias' commentary on a passage of the Phaedrus which poses a difficulty for harmonization, I hope to shed some light on what the late Neoplatonists were asserting when they asserted the harmony \r\nof Plato and Aristotle, in general or on some particular issue (here the immortality of soul); on why they were inclined to make such assertions o f harmony, and what they saw themselves as needing to do in order to defend them: and on why,in the process of defending them, they were led to conceptual clarifications which were in some cases of longstanding benefit to the conceptual stoic of philosophy. I will point to a sur\u00ad\r\nprising case of such a conceptual benefit resulting from Neoplatonic interpretations of this Pimdtus passage and its parallels in the Timaeus. While my central example will be from Hermias, the themes I am interested in ate not peculiar to him, and I will also \r\nmake use of other late Neoplatonic authors, especially Proclus. Hermias, and Produs, to recall, were both students of Syrianus;at one point in Hermias' commentary 'our companion Proclus' raises an aporia, and \u2018the philosopher'\u2014 that is, \u2018the professor \u2014 replies (92,6-10 Couvrcur), which seems to imply that the commentary in general was drawn by Hermias from Syrianus lectures. 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Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory, 2012
By: Mueller, Ian, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)
Title Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 129-146
Categories no categories
Author(s) Mueller, Ian
Editor(s) Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)
Aristotle and Plato advanced very different theories of the traditional four elements. Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato’s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius’ responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author’s abstract]

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[Author\u2019s abstract]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/QlpIOoX7gUxpkrf","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":812,"section_of":299,"pages":"129-146","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. 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In defence of geometric atomism: Explaining elemental properties, 2012
By: Opsomer, Jan, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)
Title In defence of geometric atomism: Explaining elemental properties
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 147-173
Categories no categories
Author(s) Opsomer, Jan
Editor(s) Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)
Plato introduces what is nowadays called geometric atomism in his Timaeus—more precisely, in the second part of the physical account where he examines the cosmos under the aspect of what he calls ‘necessity’. This resurfaces again in the final part, which is devoted to what comes about from the cooperation of reason and necessity, where he regularly invokes the triangles and polyhedra in order to explain various biochemical processes of the human body. The introduction of geometric atomism is preceded by the infamously obscure description of the receptacle. This mysterious entity is presented as that in which qualities and shapes appear but also appears to provide the stuff out of which things are made.1 I will not here enter into the debates about what the receptacle is supposed to be; it suffices to note that the text in some passages may suggest to readers familiar with the later conception of matter that matter is exactly what Plato means. Since this is certainly what Aristotle1 2 and in his wake all ancient commentators took it to be, we need not for our present purposes consider other readings. [Introduction, p. 147]

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[Introduction, p. 147]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/x8mHljUEiDjK4jt","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":211,"full_name":"Opsomer, Jan","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":1095,"section_of":299,"pages":"147-173","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. In fact, precisely because these thinkers did see the sensible world as an image of the intelligible world, they devoted much time and energy to understanding its inner workings. Thus we find Neoplatonists writing on embryology, physiology, meteorology, astronomy, and much else. This volume collects essays by leading international scholars in the field that shed new light on how these thinkers sought to understand and explain nature and natural phenomena. It is thematically divided into two parts, with the first part\u2014\u2018The general metaphysics of Nature\u2019\u2014directed at the explication of central Neoplatonic metaphysical doctrines and their relation to the natural world, and the second part\u2014\u2019Platonic approaches to individual sciences\u2019\u2014showing how these same doctrines play out in individual natural sciences such as elemental physics, geography, and biology. Together these essays show that a serious examination of Neoplatonic natural philosophy has far-reaching consequences for our general understanding of the metaphysics of Platonism, as well as for our evaluation of their place in the history of science.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/xHUG6gdrtjMT7K4","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":299,"pubplace":"Oxford","publisher":"Oxford University Press","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":[2012]}

  • PAGE 1 OF 1
Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory, 2012
By: Mueller, Ian, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)
Title Aristotelian objections and post-Aristotelian responses to Plato's elemental theory
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 129-146
Categories no categories
Author(s) Mueller, Ian
Editor(s) Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)
Aristotle and Plato advanced very different theories of the traditional four elements. Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato’s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius’ responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author’s abstract]

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Whereas Plato in his Timaeus proposes a geometrical theory of these elements, Aristotle in his On the Heavens (and On Generation and Corruption) offers a qualitative analysis and offers a series of objections to Plato\u2019s theory. These objections provided later Platonists with the opportunity to defend Plato against and possibly harmonize him with Aristotle. This paper explores Simplicius\u2019 responses to Aristotle one by one, paying particular attention to the brand of scientific discourse that he engages in with Proclus, and to how different commitments to harmonization affect their responses to these objections. [Author\u2019s abstract]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/QlpIOoX7gUxpkrf","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":270,"full_name":"Mueller, Ian","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":812,"section_of":299,"pages":"129-146","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. In fact, precisely because these thinkers did see the sensible world as an image of the intelligible world, they devoted much time and energy to understanding its inner workings. Thus we find Neoplatonists writing on embryology, physiology, meteorology, astronomy, and much else. This volume collects essays by leading international scholars in the field that shed new light on how these thinkers sought to understand and explain nature and natural phenomena. It is thematically divided into two parts, with the first part\u2014\u2018The general metaphysics of Nature\u2019\u2014directed at the explication of central Neoplatonic metaphysical doctrines and their relation to the natural world, and the second part\u2014\u2019Platonic approaches to individual sciences\u2019\u2014showing how these same doctrines play out in individual natural sciences such as elemental physics, geography, and biology. 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In defence of geometric atomism: Explaining elemental properties, 2012
By: Opsomer, Jan, Wilberding, James (Ed.), Horn, Christoph (Ed.)
Title In defence of geometric atomism: Explaining elemental properties
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 147-173
Categories no categories
Author(s) Opsomer, Jan
Editor(s) Wilberding, James , Horn, Christoph
Translator(s)
Plato introduces what is nowadays called geometric atomism in his  Timaeus—more 
precisely, in the second part of the physical account where he examines the cosmos 
under the aspect of what he calls  ‘necessity’. This resurfaces again in the final part, 
which is devoted to what comes about from the cooperation of reason and necessity, 
where  he  regularly invokes the  triangles and polyhedra in order to explain various 
biochemical processes of the human body. The introduction of geometric atomism is 
preceded by the  infamously  obscure description of the receptacle. This mysterious 
entity is presented as that in  which  qualities and shapes appear but also appears to 
provide the stuff out of which things are made.1 I will not here enter into the debates 
about what the receptacle is supposed to be; it suffices to note that the text in some 
passages may suggest to readers familiar with the later conception of matter that matter 
is exactly what Plato means. Since this is certainly what Aristotle1 2 and in his wake all 
ancient commentators took it to be, we need not for our present purposes consider 
other readings. [Introduction, p. 147]

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This resurfaces again in the final part, \r\nwhich is devoted to what comes about from the cooperation of reason and necessity, \r\nwhere he regularly invokes the triangles and polyhedra in order to explain various \r\nbiochemical processes of the human body. The introduction of geometric atomism is \r\npreceded by the infamously obscure description of the receptacle. This mysterious \r\nentity is presented as that in which qualities and shapes appear but also appears to \r\nprovide the stuff out of which things are made.1 I will not here enter into the debates \r\nabout what the receptacle is supposed to be; it suffices to note that the text in some \r\npassages may suggest to readers familiar with the later conception of matter that matter \r\nis exactly what Plato means. Since this is certainly what Aristotle1 2 and in his wake all \r\nancient commentators took it to be, we need not for our present purposes consider \r\nother readings. [Introduction, p. 147]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/x8mHljUEiDjK4jt","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":211,"full_name":"Opsomer, Jan","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":1095,"section_of":299,"pages":"147-173","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. In fact, precisely because these thinkers did see the sensible world as an image of the intelligible world, they devoted much time and energy to understanding its inner workings. Thus we find Neoplatonists writing on embryology, physiology, meteorology, astronomy, and much else. This volume collects essays by leading international scholars in the field that shed new light on how these thinkers sought to understand and explain nature and natural phenomena. It is thematically divided into two parts, with the first part\u2014\u2018The general metaphysics of Nature\u2019\u2014directed at the explication of central Neoplatonic metaphysical doctrines and their relation to the natural world, and the second part\u2014\u2019Platonic approaches to individual sciences\u2019\u2014showing how these same doctrines play out in individual natural sciences such as elemental physics, geography, and biology. 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Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life, 2015
By: Wilberding, James, Marmodoro, Anna (Ed.), Prince, Brian (Ed.)
Title Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2015
Published in Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity
Pages 171-185
Categories no categories
Author(s) Wilberding, James
Editor(s) Marmodoro, Anna , Prince, Brian
Translator(s)
In  the  Neoplatonism  of late  antiquity  there  was  an  exciting  and  revolution­
ary  development  in  the  understanding  of  the  aetiology  involved  in  the 
generation  of living  things,  and  here  it  will  be  argued  that  this  extended  all 
the  way  to  the  Neoplatonic  understanding  of  the  causes  of vegetative  life. 
In  a  way,  this  should  come  as  no  surprise.  Hippocratics,  Aristotle  and 
Galen  had  all  viewed  the  processes  involved  in  the  generation  of plants  as 
analogous  to  those  in  the  generation  of embryos.1  In  fact,  the  embryo  was 
commonly  held  to  have  the  life-status  of  a  plant,  with  the  mother  taking 
on  the  role  of the  earth,  at  least  at the  earliest  stages  of its  generation.2 As  a 
result,  these  thinkers  saw  the  same  causal  models  that  govern  the  gener­
ation  of  embryos  at  work  in  the  generation  of  plants.  Indeed,  Galen  even 
advises  those  who  wish  to  investigate  the  formation  of embryos  to  begin  by 
looking  into  the  generation  of  plants,  The  above-mentioned  analogy  is 
certainly  part  of  the  motivation  behind  Galen’s  counsel,  but  equally 
important  is  that  plants  are  simpler,  in  terms  of  both  their  physiology 
and  their  psychology,  and  thus  more  perspicuous  objects  of  study.  This  is 
what  gives  us  ‘hope  to  discover  among  the  plants  [biological]  adminis­
tration  in  its  pure  and  unadulterated  form’.*  What  is  surprising  is  the 
conception  of vegetative  generation  and  life  that  results  for  Neoplatonists. 
For,  as  I  shall  show  here,  they  ultimately  concluded  that  the  vegetative 
souls  of individual  plants  are  not  self-sufficient.  That  is  to  say,  the  depend­
ence of individual plants on the earth, in terms of both their generation and  their  preservation,  extends  beyond  mere  nutritive  needs  into  the 
psychological domain of their life activities. [pp.. 171 ff.]

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Hippocratics, Aristotle and \r\nGalen had all viewed the processes involved in the generation of plants as \r\nanalogous to those in the generation of embryos.1 In fact, the embryo was \r\ncommonly held to have the life-status of a plant, with the mother taking \r\non the role of the earth, at least at the earliest stages of its generation.2 As a \r\nresult, these thinkers saw the same causal models that govern the gener\u00ad\r\nation of embryos at work in the generation of plants. Indeed, Galen even \r\nadvises those who wish to investigate the formation of embryos to begin by \r\nlooking into the generation of plants, The above-mentioned analogy is \r\ncertainly part of the motivation behind Galen\u2019s counsel, but equally \r\nimportant is that plants are simpler, in terms of both their physiology \r\nand their psychology, and thus more perspicuous objects of study. This is \r\nwhat gives us \u2018hope to discover among the plants [biological] adminis\u00ad\r\ntration in its pure and unadulterated form\u2019.* What is surprising is the \r\nconception of vegetative generation and life that results for Neoplatonists. \r\nFor, as I shall show here, they ultimately concluded that the vegetative \r\nsouls of individual plants are not self-sufficient. That is to say, the depend\u00ad\r\nence of individual plants on the earth, in terms of both their generation and their preservation, extends beyond mere nutritive needs into the \r\npsychological domain of their life activities. [pp.. 171 ff.]","btype":2,"date":"2015","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/fBNwO9EAEaa6zJT","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":47,"full_name":"Marmodoro, Anna","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":48,"full_name":"Prince, Brian","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":913,"section_of":155,"pages":"171-185","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":155,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Marmodoro\/Prince2015","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2015","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2015","abstract":"Written by a group of leading scholars, this unique collection of essays investigates the views of both pagan and Christian philosophers on causation and the creation of the cosmos. Structured in two parts, the volume first looks at divine agency and how late antique thinkers, including the Stoics, Plotinus, Porphyry, Simplicius, Philoponus and Gregory of Nyssa, tackled questions such as: is the cosmos eternal? Did it come from nothing or from something pre-existing? How was it caused to come into existence? Is it material or immaterial? The second part looks at questions concerning human agency and responsibility, including the problem of evil and the nature of will, considering thinkers such as Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and Augustine. Highlighting some of the most important and interesting aspects of these philosophical debates, the volume will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of philosophy, classics, theology and ancient history.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/kmaeEwrlY6zOmkp","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":155,"pubplace":"Cambridge","publisher":"Cambridge University Press","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":["Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life"]}

Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul, 2012
By: Menn, Stephen, Horn, Christoph (Ed.), Wilberding, James (Ed.)
Title Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul
Type Book Section
Language English
Date 2012
Published in Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature
Pages 44-67
Categories no categories
Author(s) Menn, Stephen
Editor(s) Horn, Christoph , Wilberding, James
Translator(s)
A central puzzle of recent scholarship on late Neoplatonism has been to understand how  what  Richard Sorabji  has called a ‘perfectly  crazy  position', the thesis of die harmony  of  Plato  and  Aristode,  nonetheless  ‘proved  philosophically  fruitful' — 
whereas, for instance, the same philosophers' perfectly crazy thesis of the harmony of Plato and Homer did not. In this chapter, starting from Hermias' commentary on a passage of the Phaedrus which poses a difficulty for harmonization, I hope to shed some light on what the late Neoplatonists were asserting when they asserted the harmony 
of Plato and Aristotle, in general or on some particular issue (here the immortality of soul); on why they were inclined to make such assertions o f harmony, and what they saw themselves as needing to do in order to defend them: and on why,in the process of defending them, they were led to conceptual clarifications which were in some cases of longstanding benefit to the conceptual stoic of philosophy. I  will point to a sur­
prising case of such a conceptual benefit resulting from Neoplatonic interpretations of this Pimdtus passage and its parallels in the Timaeus. While my central example will be from Hermias, the themes I am interested in ate not peculiar to him, and I will also 
make use of other late Neoplatonic authors, especially Proclus. Hermias, and Produs, to recall, were both students of Syrianus;at one point in Hermias' commentary 'our companion Proclus' raises an aporia, and ‘the philosopher'— that is, ‘the professor — replies (92,6-10 Couvrcur), which seems to imply that the commentary in general was drawn by Hermias from Syrianus lectures. [Introduction, pp. 44 f.]

{"_index":"sire","_type":"_doc","_id":"1164","_score":null,"_ignored":["booksection.book.abstract.keyword"],"_source":{"id":1164,"authors_free":[{"id":1742,"entry_id":1164,"agent_type":null,"is_normalised":null,"person_id":255,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"},"free_name":"Menn, Stephen","free_first_name":"Stephen","free_last_name":"Menn","norm_person":{"id":255,"first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Menn","full_name":"Menn, Stephen","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/174092768","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2081,"entry_id":1164,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":256,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"},"free_name":"Horn, Christoph","free_first_name":"Christoph","free_last_name":"Horn","norm_person":{"id":256,"first_name":"Christoph","last_name":"Horn","full_name":"Horn, Christoph","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/115589406","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}},{"id":2082,"entry_id":1164,"agent_type":"person","is_normalised":1,"person_id":257,"institution_id":null,"role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"},"free_name":"Wilberding, James","free_first_name":"James","free_last_name":"Wilberding","norm_person":{"id":257,"first_name":"James","last_name":"Wilberding","full_name":"Wilberding, James","short_ident":"","is_classical_name":null,"dnb_url":"http:\/\/d-nb.info\/gnd\/143517465","viaf_url":"","db_url":"","from_claudius":null}}],"entry_title":"Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul","main_title":{"title":"Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul"},"abstract":"A central puzzle of recent scholarship on late Neoplatonism has been to understand how what Richard Sorabji has called a \u2018perfectly crazy position', the thesis of die harmony of Plato and Aristode, nonetheless \u2018proved philosophically fruitful' \u2014 \r\nwhereas, for instance, the same philosophers' perfectly crazy thesis of the harmony of Plato and Homer did not. In this chapter, starting from Hermias' commentary on a passage of the Phaedrus which poses a difficulty for harmonization, I hope to shed some light on what the late Neoplatonists were asserting when they asserted the harmony \r\nof Plato and Aristotle, in general or on some particular issue (here the immortality of soul); on why they were inclined to make such assertions o f harmony, and what they saw themselves as needing to do in order to defend them: and on why,in the process of defending them, they were led to conceptual clarifications which were in some cases of longstanding benefit to the conceptual stoic of philosophy. I will point to a sur\u00ad\r\nprising case of such a conceptual benefit resulting from Neoplatonic interpretations of this Pimdtus passage and its parallels in the Timaeus. While my central example will be from Hermias, the themes I am interested in ate not peculiar to him, and I will also \r\nmake use of other late Neoplatonic authors, especially Proclus. Hermias, and Produs, to recall, were both students of Syrianus;at one point in Hermias' commentary 'our companion Proclus' raises an aporia, and \u2018the philosopher'\u2014 that is, \u2018the professor \u2014 replies (92,6-10 Couvrcur), which seems to imply that the commentary in general was drawn by Hermias from Syrianus lectures. [Introduction, pp. 44 f.]","btype":2,"date":"2012","language":"English","online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/x0FYbwRgOdH8WM2","doi_url":null,"categories":[],"authors":[{"id":255,"full_name":"Menn, Stephen","role":{"id":1,"role_name":"author"}},{"id":256,"full_name":"Horn, Christoph","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}},{"id":257,"full_name":"Wilberding, James","role":{"id":2,"role_name":"editor"}}],"book":null,"booksection":{"id":1164,"section_of":299,"pages":"44-67","is_catalog":null,"book":{"id":299,"bilderberg_idno":null,"dare_idno":null,"catalog_idno":null,"entry_type":null,"type":4,"language":"en","title":"Neoplatonism and the Philosophy of Nature","title_transcript":"","title_translation":"","short_title":"Horn\/Wilberding2012","has_no_author":null,"volume":null,"date":"2012","edition_no":null,"free_date":"2012","abstract":"Despite Platonism\u2019s unquestioned claim to being one of the most influential movements in the history of philosophy, for a long time the conventional wisdom was that Platonists of late antiquity\u2014or Neoplatonists\u2014were so focused on other-worldly metaphysics that they simply neglected any serious study of the sensible world, which after all is \u2018merely\u2019 an image of the intelligible world, and only recently has this conventional wisdom begun to be dispelled. In fact, precisely because these thinkers did see the sensible world as an image of the intelligible world, they devoted much time and energy to understanding its inner workings. Thus we find Neoplatonists writing on embryology, physiology, meteorology, astronomy, and much else. This volume collects essays by leading international scholars in the field that shed new light on how these thinkers sought to understand and explain nature and natural phenomena. It is thematically divided into two parts, with the first part\u2014\u2018The general metaphysics of Nature\u2019\u2014directed at the explication of central Neoplatonic metaphysical doctrines and their relation to the natural world, and the second part\u2014\u2019Platonic approaches to individual sciences\u2019\u2014showing how these same doctrines play out in individual natural sciences such as elemental physics, geography, and biology. Together these essays show that a serious examination of Neoplatonic natural philosophy has far-reaching consequences for our general understanding of the metaphysics of Platonism, as well as for our evaluation of their place in the history of science.","republication_of":null,"online_url":"","online_resources":"https:\/\/uni-koeln.sciebo.de\/s\/xHUG6gdrtjMT7K4","translation_of":null,"new_edition_of":null,"is_catalog":0,"in_bibliography":0,"is_inactive":0,"notes":null,"doi_url":null,"book":{"id":299,"pubplace":"Oxford","publisher":"Oxford University Press","series":"","volume":"","edition_no":null,"valid_from":null,"valid_until":null}}},"article":null},"sort":["Self-motion and reflection: Hermias and Proclus on the harmony of Plato and Aristotle on the soul"]}

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