Platonism Pagan and Christian: Studies in Plotinus and Augustine (Variorum Collected Studies Series, 719) [Hardcover]

Gerard O'Daly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001 | ISBN-10: 0860788571 | ISBN-13: 978-0860788577

The 15 studies collected here reflect a prolonged interest in the Platonism of late antiquity, and most of them are concerned with its exploration of the themes of human identity and the nature of mind and soul. Modern philosophers call this kind of theorizing the philosophy of mind, and several psychological concepts and activities that feature regularly in work on the philosophy of mind - sense-perception, imagination, memory, our awareness of time - are discussed in this volume. Two figures dominate the collection, Plotinus and Augustine. The author's earliest research was undertaken to test claims that Plotinus was the first philosopher of Antiquity to identify concepts of consciousness and the self, and in particular to map his discourse about the self onto his scheme of three transcendental hypostases, and explore the ways in which these hypostases may be said to be "present" to us, whether in our rational activity or in mystical states of consciousness. From Plotinus he moved onto Augustine. One implicit conclusion of his studies is that their topics and concerns reflect, for the most part, not so much debates between pagan and Christian adversaries, as endeavours by participants in a common culture, that of the Roman world of late antiquity, to understand themselves and their environment.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Variorum (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860788571
• ISBN-13: 978-0860788577
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,479,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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