Elements in the thought of Plotinus at variance with Classical Intellectualism

1973 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
A. Hilary Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Account ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

Plotinus is, up to a point, a classical intellectualist in the manner of Aristotle, and, he would himself have certainly thought, of Plato. He professes, that is, to give an account of everything that is in any degree real in the universe (and even a kind of account of the unreal) which is certainly and unchangingly true and can be demonstrated to be so by rational processes. This account culminates in the description of an eternal realm of intelligible intellect which can be (and indeed really always is) our own, certainly and imperturbably possessed. This systematic account of reality, as is well known, breaks down, and we have to break out of it, in a very startling way at the top. Beyond the Platonic-Aristotelian Intellect-Intelligible, the world of real being which is Νοῦς and νοητά, lies the One or Good beyond being, which is neither intelligent nor intelligible. When we have completed our understanding of reality, we have to leave it all behind in order to find what turns out to be the only thing we want, the source of all values and the goal of all desire, which alone makes it worth the effort to attain to Νοῦς on the way, as it is the only reason why Νοῦς is there at all.

Il Dio Creatore nelle testimonianze esamerali di Teofilo di Antiochia e Clemente di Alessandria

Augustinianum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-44
Author(s):  
Matteo Monfrinotti ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Christian ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
The World ◽  
Genesis 1 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
God The Father ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

Early Christian authors were challenged by the impenetrable question of the origin of the world, but persevered in tracing the creation of the universe back to the one and only God. Part of their response was to defend the truth of God, the Father and Creator by meditating and commenting on the biblical account of the six days of creation. The commentaries on the Hexameron which we have are by Theophilus of Antioch and Clement of Alexandria. Theophilus, author of the oldest commentary on Genesis 1:1-25, pursues a primarily apologetic aim in favour of Christian monotheism and of faith in God who, through his Logos, is the Creator of all things; Clement, through statements scattered throughout his works, confirms in opposition to Gnostic-Marcionite ditheism that God the Father, working through the Logos, created the universe according to a plan of salvation whose fulfillment will be redemption at the end of time. Exegesis is combined with theology and – on the basis of a philosophical substratum which also includes predominantly Judaic traditions – translates into principles which will later open the way to protological reflection.

Causality Then and Now

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-177
Author(s):  
Karen Harding
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Theory ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Mechanical Model ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

Ate appearances deceiving? Do objects behave the way they do becauseGod wills it? Ate objects impetmanent and do they only exist becausethey ate continuously created by God? According to a1 Ghazlli, theanswers to all of these questions ate yes. Objects that appear to bepermanent are not. Those relationships commonly tefemed to as causalare a result of God’s habits rather than because one event inevitably leadsto another. God creates everything in the universe continuously; if Heceased to create it, it would no longer exist.These ideas seem oddly naive and unscientific to people living in thetwentieth century. They seem at odds with the common conception of thephysical world. Common sense says that the universe is made of tealobjects that persist in time. Furthermore, the behavior of these objects isreasonable, logical, and predictable. The belief that the univetse is understandablevia logic and reason harkens back to Newton’s mechanical viewof the universe and has provided one of the basic underpinnings ofscience for centuries. Although most people believe that the world is accutatelydescribed by this sort of mechanical model, the appropriatenessof such a model has been called into question by recent scientificadvances, and in particular, by quantum theory. This theory implies thatthe physical world is actually very different from what a mechanicalmodel would predit.Quantum theory seeks to explain the nature of physical entities andthe way that they interact. It atose in the early part of the twentieth centuryin response to new scientific data that could not be incorporated successfullyinto the ptevailing mechanical view of the universe. Due largely ...

scholarly journals Konsep Islam Wasathiyah Sebagai Wujud Islam Rahmatan lil ‘alamin: Peran Nu dan Muhammadiyah dalam Mewujudkan Islam Damai di Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-106
Author(s):  
Zainun Wafiqatun Niam
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
The World ◽  
Great Support ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe

The one of anxieties facing Muslims is about acts of violence in the name of Islam. Qur'an has mentioned that the Prophet was sent on earth as a mercy (rahmah) to the universe, and then the “rahmah” in question is to be implemented as such? Indonesia as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world is famous for Islam that is able to merge with the diversity of race, religion and culture. One of the things that influenced one of them is the existence of the largest Islamic organization in Indonesia NU and Muhammadiyah who always try to show Islam wasathiyah and rahmah. The existence of NU and Muahammadiyah is believed to be a great support to the peace of Indonesia with all its diversity. This paper is intended to further explore the concept of wasathiyah NU and Muhammadiyah in an effort to realize a peaceful Islam in Indonesia. The research method used is literature research using resources such as books, journal articles and mass media to analyze the concept of Islamic organization NU and Muhammadiyah. The results show that NU and Muhammadiyah carry the same concept to show the peaceful face of Islam that can unite with the differences. This is evidenced by the concept brought by each of both Islam Nusantara and Islam berkemajuan.

Sons of the Earth: Are the Stoics Metaphysical Brutes?

Phronesis ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Maria Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Study ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Way

AbstractIn this paper, it is argued the Stoics develop an account of corporeals that allows their theory of bodies to be, at the same time, a theory of causation, agency, and reason. The paper aims to shed new light on the Stoics' engagement with Plato's Sophist. It is argued that the Stoics are Sons of the Earth insofar as, for them, the study of corporeals – rather than the study of being – is the most fundamental study of reality. However, they are sophisticated Sons of the Earth by developing a complex notion of corporeals. A crucial component of this account is that ordinary bodies are individuated by the way in which the corporeal god pervades them. The corporeal god is the one cause of all movements and actions in the universe.

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

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal Robinson
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Inner Experience ◽  
Divine Essence ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Creation ◽  
One And Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Southeast Spain ◽  
The Way

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 Plotinus. He was born in Murcia (in southeast Spain) in AH 560/ad 1164, and died in Damascus in AH 638/ad 1240. Of several hundred works attributed to him the most famous are al-Futuhat al-makkiyya (The Meccan Illuminations) and Fusus al-hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom). The Futuhat is an encyclopedic discussion of Islamic lore viewed from the perspective of the stages of the mystic path. It exists in two editions, both completed in Damascus – one in AH 629/ad 1231 and the other in AH 636/ad 1238 – but the work was conceived in Mecca many years earlier, in the course of a vision which Ibn al-‘Arabi experienced near the Kaaba, the cube-shaped House of God which Muslims visit on pilgrimage. Because of its length, this work has been relatively neglected. The Fusus, which is much shorter, comprises twenty-seven chapters named after prophets who epitomize different spiritual types. Ibn al-‘Arabi claimed that he received it directly from Muhammad, who appeared to him in Damascus in AH 627/ad 1229. It has been the subject of over forty commentaries. Although Ibn al-‘Arabi was primarily a mystic who believed that he possessed superior divinely-bestowed knowledge, his work is of interest to the philosopher because of the way in which he used philosophical terminology in an attempt to explain his inner experience. He held that whereas the divine Essence is absolutely unknowable, the cosmos as a whole is the locus of manifestation of all God’s attributes. Moreover, since these attributes require the creation for their expression, the One is continually driven to transform itself into Many. The goal of spiritual realization is therefore to penetrate beyond the exterior multiplicity of phenomena to a consciousness of what subsequent writers have termed the ‘unity of existence’. This entails the abolition of the ego or ‘passing away from self’ (fana’) in which one becomes aware of absolute unity, followed by ‘perpetuation’ (baqa’) in which one sees the world as at once One and Many, and one is able to see God in the creature and the creature in God.

scholarly journals An Inquiry into the Semiotic Thought of Laozi

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Dong Zhu ◽  
Wei Ren
Keyword(s):  
Social Stability ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Tao Te Ching ◽  
The World ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Natural Life ◽  
Origin Of The Universe ◽  
The Way

Abstract Tao Te Ching, the masterpiece of Laozi the renowned philosopher of Pre-Imperial China, plays an important role in Chinese history. Laozi’s philosophy centres on such concepts as ming (names), li (rituals), and dao (the way). Ming, originally developed as a result of human beings’ endeavours to understand the world in which they live and to bring order to their society, has degenerated into the sources of evils and the reason for turbulence when people stop at nothing for fame and fortune; Li, an effective and efficient means for the kings of West Zhou Dynasty to maintain social stability, has become but a collection of empty sign vehicles with the disintegration of rituals and music; Dao concerns Laozi’s metaphysical reflection on the origin of the universe and its ultimate laws. Ming and li are but artificial restraints imposed on human intelligence whereas dao provides the way out. Therefore, to lead a simple and natural life, it is advisable to eliminate ming and li, and worship dao. In semiotic terms, this means that desemiotisation is the solution to the crisis.

The Attributed to Aristotle

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina D'Ancona
Keyword(s):  
Causal Chain ◽  
First Principle ◽  
The World ◽  
Great Chain Of Being ◽  
First Cause ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

The pseudo-Theology of Aristotle is the most important example of the exposure of the cultivated Arab readership to Neoplatonism in Aristotle’s garb. Plotinus’s doctrines are construed as the exposition genuinely made by Aristotle himself. Plotinus’s One and Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover merge, and the Plotinian principles Intellect and Soul are endowed with the task of letting the power of the First Cause expand until it reaches the world of coming-to-be and passing away. The great chain of being has its beginning in the First Principle: the One, the Pure Being, and Pure Good: every degree depends on it, and its power reaches the sublunar beings through the medium of Intellect and Soul. This causal chain is dominated by the pattern of the double journey of the soul, the way down along the necessary declension of the degrees of being, and the way back toward its homeland.

scholarly journals Some Remarks on the Islamic and the Secular Paradigms of Knowledge

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Taha J. Al Alwani
Keyword(s):  
Driving Force ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
The West ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
The World ◽  
The Universe ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Way

By the time secularist thought had succeeded, at an intellectuallevel, in challenging the authority of the Church, its roots had alreadytaken firm hold in western soil. Later, when western political and economicsystems began to prevail throughout the world, it was only naturalthat secularism, as the driving force behind these systems, shouldgain ascendency worldwide. In time, and with varying degrees of success,the paradigm of positivism gradually displaced traditional andreligious modes of thinking, with the result that generations of thirdworld thinkers grew up convinced that the only way to “progress” andreform their societies was the way of the secular West. Moreover, sincethe experience of the West was that it began to progress politically,economically, and intellectually only after the influence of the Churchhad been marginalized, people in the colonies believed that they wouldhave to marginalize the influence of their particular religions in orderto achieve a similar degree of progress. Under the terms of the newparadigm, turning to religion for solutions to contemporary issues is anabsurdity, for religion is viewed as something from humanity’s formativeyears, from a “dark” age of superstition and myth whose time hasnow passed. As such, religion has no relevance to the present, and allattempts to revive it are doomed to failure and are a waste of time.Many have supposed that it is possible to accept the westernmodel of a secular paradigm while maintaining religious practices andbeliefs. They reason that such an acceptance has no negative impactupon their daily lives so long as it does not destroy their places ofworship or curtail their right to religious freedom. Thus, there remainshardly a contemporary community that has not fallen under the swayof this paradigm. Moreover, it is this paradigm that has had the greatestinfluence on the way different peoples perceive life, the universe,and the role of humanity as well as providing them with an alternativeset of beliefs (if needed) and suggesting answers to the ultimate questions ...

scholarly journals 2012: Ideas Mayas Acerca De La Renovación Cí­clica Del Universo

Xihmai ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Alberto Morales Damián
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe

2012:  IDEAS  MAYAS  ACERCA  DE  LA  RENOVACIÓN CíCLICA DEL UNIVERSO. 2012:                MAYA‟S    CIVILIZATION     IDEAS   ABOUT    THE CYCLIC RENEWAL OF THE UNIVERSE.       Resumen El pensamiento maya con respecto a la astronomí­a y el calendario poseen una gran originalidad y corresponden a una forma de entender la realidad completamente  diferente  a  la  del  pensamiento  occidental.  Los  mayas conciben que el tiempo está sujeto a recurrencias cí­clicas (dí­a-noche, año solar, perí­odos de 52 años), cada una de las cuales supone la destrucción y renovación del cosmos. Por otra parte, las supuestas profecí­as mayas acerca de un evento astronómico el próximo 21 de diciembre de 2012, en realidad no son acordes a la cosmovisión maya prehispánica, coinciden sin embargo con temores milenaristas propios del pensamiento occidental que se agudizan en una época de crisis global.   Palabras Clave: Mayas, religión, astronomí­a, profecí­as del 2012.   Abstract Mayan  thought  in  respect  to  astronomy  and  the  calendar  have  a  great originality and correspond to a way of understanding a complete different reality to the one of the western thought. Mayan people conceive that time is subject to cycle recurrences (day-night, solar year, and periods of 52 years), each one supposes destruction and renovation of cosmos. On the other hand, the supposed Mayan prophecies about an astronomical event next December 21st  2012, do not in fact agree with the view of the world of the pre Hispanic Mayans, however they coincide with millennial fear proper of the western thought that worsen in this times of global crisis.   Key words: Mayans, religion, astronomy, 2012 prophecies.      

scholarly journals Ibn-Sina (Avicenna). Al-Isharat wa-t-tanbihat [on metaphysics]. Part three

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-116
Author(s):  
T. Ibrahim ◽  
N. V. Efremova
Keyword(s):  
Ibn Sina ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Universe

Abstract: it is a continuation of the translation into Russian of Ibn-Sina’s treatise al-Isharat wa-t-Tanbihat (“Remarks and Admonitions”). The present chapter deals with the origination of the world from the One / Necessary Existent. Divine creation is described as an act of intellection. The cosmogonic scheme is constructed through the synthesis of Neoplatonian emanationism with the Aristotelian-Ptolemy model of the Universe.

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