Neoplatonist
Late antiquity metaphysician
A Neoplatonist is someone who follows or studies Neoplatonism, a philosophical system that developed from Plato's ideas in the third century.
Neoplatonists hold that reality emanates from a single, transcendent source—the One—cascading down through levels of being into the material world.
The philosophy influenced early Christian theology and later Renaissance thinkers: Augustine was deeply shaped by Neoplatonist ideas.
Something that flows out
- henosisMystical absorption into ultimate reality
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
- unityWholeness through cohesion
intellect · contemplation · hierarchy · procession · return · multiplicity · theurgy · mystical union
Pursuit of divine union
- theurgyRitual invoking gods
- ritualCeremonial set of actions
- prayerAddress to deity
- purificationRemoval of contaminants
salvation · oracles · Chaldean · Christianity · Gnosticism · syncretism · polytheism · demiurge
Fourth-century church father
- Pseudo-DionysiusPseudonymous late-antique theologian
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- AvicennaMedieval Persian physician-philosopher
- SufismIslamic spiritual mysticism
Kabbalah · Christian mysticism · medieval · Aquinas · transmission · reception · revival · idealism
Egyptian Mediterranean port
- AthensGreece's capital city
- AcademyElite scholarly institution
- Roman EmpireAncient state from Augustus onward
- paganNon-mainstream religion follower
Hellenistic · commentaries · successor · Byzantine · transmission · school · tradition
emanation
Something that flows out
- henosisMystical absorption into ultimate reality
- metaphysicsPhilosophy of existence's nature
- transcendenceSurpassing usual limits
unity · intellect · contemplation · hierarchy · procession · return · multiplicity · theurgy · mystical union · ineffable
mysticism
Pursuit of divine union
purification · salvation · oracles · Chaldean · Christianity · Gnosticism · syncretism · polytheism · demiurge · angels
Augustine
Fourth-century church father
- Pseudo-DionysiusPseudonymous late-antique theologian
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- AvicennaMedieval Persian physician-philosopher
Sufism · Kabbalah · Christian mysticism · medieval · Aquinas · transmission · reception · revival · idealism · Romanticism
Alexandria
Egyptian Mediterranean port
- AthensGreece's capital city
- AcademyElite scholarly institution
- Roman EmpireAncient state from Augustus onward
pagan · Hellenistic · commentaries · successor · Byzantine · transmission · school · tradition
Neoplatonistmaterialist
Values physical over spiritual
atomist · naturalist · mechanist · nominalist · reductionist