Neoplatonism

By Siorvanes, Lucas

Neoplatonism was the final flowering of ancient Greek thought, from the third to the sixth or seventh century ad. Building on eight centuries of unbroken philosophical debate, ...

Neoplatonism in Islamic philosophy

By Netton, Ian Richard

Islamic Neoplatonism developed in a milieu already saturated with the thought of Plotinus and Aristotle. The former studied in Alexandria, and the Alexandrine philosophical syllabus included such figures ...

Renaissance philosophy

By Ashworth, E.J.

The term ‘Renaissance’ means rebirth, and was originally used to designate a rebirth of the arts and literature that began in mid-fourteenth century Italy (see Humanism, Renaissance). Here ...

Ancient philosophy

By Sedley, David

The philosophy of the Greco-Roman world from the sixth century bc to the sixth century ad laid the foundations for all subsequent Western philosophy. Its greatest ...

Encyclopedists, medieval

By Barnish, Samuel

The modern encyclopedic genre was unknown in the classical world. In the grammar-based culture of late antiquity, learned compendia, by both pagan and Christian writers, were organized around ...

Liber de causis

By Jarka-Sellers, Hannes

The Liber de causis (Book of Causes) is a short treatise on Neoplatonist metaphysics, composed in Arabic by an unknown author probably in the ninth century in Baghdad. ...

Greek philosophy: impact on Islamic philosophy

By Fakhry, Majid

During the Hellenistic period (323–43 bc), classical Greek philosophy underwent a radical transformation. From being an essentially Greek product, it developed into a cosmopolitan and eclectic cultural ...

Israeli, Isaac ben Solomon (c.855–955)

By Lasker, Daniel J.

A pioneering Jewish philosopher and a physician, Isaac Israeli was among the very first medieval Jewish writers to formulate a philosophy employing Greek sources. He based his metaphysics ...

Plotinus (AD 204/5–70)

By Emilsson, Eyjólfur Kjalar

Plotinus was the founder of Neoplatonism, the dominant philosophical movement of the Graeco-Roman world in late antiquity, and the most significant thinker of the movement. He is sometimes ...

Porphyry (c.233–309 AD)

By Siorvanes, Lucas

The late ancient philosopher Porphyry was one of the founders of Neoplatonism. He edited the teachings of Plotinus into the form in which they are now known, clarified ...

al-Farabi, Abu Nasr (c.870–950)

By Netton, Ian Richard

Al-Farabi was known to the Arabs as the ‘Second Master’ (after Aristotle), and with good reason. It is unfortunate that his name has been overshadowed by those of ...

Plato (427–347 BC)

By Schofield, Malcolm

Plato was an Athenian Greek of aristocratic family, active as a philosopher in the first half of the fourth century bc. He was a devoted follower of ...

Plato (427–347 BC)

Plato was an Athenian Greek of aristocratic family, active as a philosopher in the first half of the fourth century bc. He was a devoted follower of ...

Simplicius (fl. first half 6th century AD)

By Wildberg, Christian

Simplicius of Cilicia, a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher and polymath, lived in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. He is the author of the most learned commentaries on ...

Ikhwan al-Safa’

By Netton, Ian Richard

The philosophy of the group of Arab philosophers of the fourth or fifth century AH (tenth or eleventh century ad) known as the Ikhwan al-Safa’ (Brethren ...

Pseudo-Dionysius (fl. c. AD 500)

By Jarka-Sellers, Hannes

‘Pseudo-Dionysius’ was a Christian Neoplatonist who wrote in the late fifth or early sixth century and who presented himself as Dionysius the Areopagite, an Athenian converted by St ...

Magic

By Kassell, Lauren

Magic is the art of influencing the workings of nature through occult powers. It can be found in most societies throughout history. It is often defined by contrast ...

Ibn Gabirol, Solomon (1021/2–57/8)

By Frank, Daniel H.

Ibn Gabirol was an outstanding exemplar of the Judaeo–Arabic symbiosis of medieval Muslim Spain, a poet as well as the author of prose works in both Hebrew and ...

Shaftesbury, Third Earl of (Anthony Ashley Cooper) (1671–1713)

By McNaughton, David

Shaftesbury, whose influence on eighteenth-century thought was enormous, was the last great representative of the Platonic tradition in England. He argued that by natural reason we can see ...

Eriugena, Johannes Scottus (c.800–c.877)

By Moran, Dermot

Johannes Scottus Eriugena is the most important philosopher writing in Latin between Boethius and Anselm. A Christian Neoplatonist, he developed a unique synthesis between the Neoplatonic traditions of ...

Ibn Miskawayh, Ahmad ibn Muhammad (c.940–1030)

By Leaman, Oliver

Like so many of his contemporaries in the fourth and fifth centuries AH (tenth and eleventh centuries ad) Ibn Miskawayh was eclectic in philosophy, basing his ...

Creation and conservation, religious doctrine of

By Hasker, William

The doctrine of the creation of the universe by God is common to the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; reflection on creation has been most extensively ...

Ibn al-‘Arabi, Muhyi al-Din (1164–1240)

By Robinson, Neal

Ibn al-‘Arabi was a mystic who drew on the writings of Sufis, Islamic theologians and philosophers in order to elaborate a complex theosophical system akin to that of ...

Bonaventure (c.1217–74)

By Kent, Bonnie

Bonaventure (John of Fidanza) developed a synthesis of philosophy and theology in which Neoplatonic doctrines are transformed by a Christian framework. Though often remembered for his denunciations of ...

al-Tawhidi, Abu Hayyan (c.930–1023)

By Genequand, Charles

Al-Tawhidi was an Arabic litterateur and philosopher, probably of Persian origin, and author of numerous books which reflect all the main themes of debate and reflection in the ...