Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is a philosophical tradition rooted in Plato and developed in late antiquity, especially by Plotinus. It describes reality as emanating from the transcendent One and returning toward it through contemplation.

The One: The ineffable, unified first principle from which all reality proceeds in Neoplatonic metaphysics. It is the source from which the tradition explains every level of reality.
Theory of Forms: Plato’s view that intelligible Forms are stable realities by which sensible things are understood. Neoplatonic Intellect houses the Forms as living intelligible realities.
Plotinus: A third-century philosopher whose teachings established the mature form of Neoplatonism. His Enneads provide the tradition’s central account of the One, Intellect, and Soul.
Christian Platonism: Christian thought that adapts Platonic metaphysics, ethics, or accounts of the soul. Christian authors incorporated Neoplatonic ideas while reworking them around creation and God.
Aristotelianism: A philosophical tradition grounded in Aristotle’s writings and their later interpretation. Its account of substance and causation differs from Neoplatonic procession from a transcendent source.
Emanation: The process by which reality proceeds from a source without diminishing or dividing that source. It describes how the One gives rise to reality without acting through deliberate creation.
Platonic ladder of love: An ascent from bodily attraction toward beauty itself, described in Plato’s Symposium. It anticipates the upward movement from sensible beauty toward intelligible reality.
Porphyry: A third-century Neoplatonist, editor of Plotinus’s writings and author of the Life of Plotinus. His editorial work organized the Enneads and preserved Plotinus’s legacy.
Augustine of Hippo: A Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings shaped Western Christianity. Augustine drew on Platonist texts to articulate immaterial reality and the soul’s ascent.
Stoicism: A Hellenistic philosophical tradition emphasizing virtue, reason, and life in accord with nature. Stoic materialism contrasts with the Neoplatonic hierarchy of immaterial realities.

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