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Proclus the Neoplatonic Philosopher

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The actual title of this volume is, "Two Treatises of Proclus the Neoplatonic Philosopher" which are, "Ten Doubts Concerning Providence and a Solution of those Doubts" and "On the Subsistence of Evil", translated by Thomas Taylor, presumably in the 1920's, but no original copyright for this reprint is given. The book itself reminds me of a workbook for school, since it is 8"x10.5", and the pages seem to be enlargements of a smaller old edition.I bought this as a companion for Pseudo-Dionysius, but at least as far as this edition goes, I'm in over my head. Not only is the translation done in an antique style, but the relatively sparse notes presume a knowledge of Latin and Greek, and are not geared to the general reader. Editorially, the reader is not given much help, in that the text is not subdivided except by occasional numbers, and no headings or other structural clues are given.All that being said, this difficult book let's me peek into a remote mind, struggling with concerns that are likewise remote from me, and wonder. It will definitely not be most readers' cup of tea, and it could be done better, but I'll keep it all the same.

The previous reviewer is mistaken about the date of this work. Taylor was an interesting figure in the history of English scholarship, he translated a large number of ancient works, including the complete works of Plato and Aristotle. He also had a great interest in the neo-platonic writers, such as Plotinus, and Proclus. (In a sense he was to the Romantics what Marsilio Ficino was to the writers of the Italian renaissance.) The Greek texts he worked from were often highly unsatisfactory, so his translations won't serve for modern scholarly work, but they're an interesting milestone in the "platonic" tradition of English thought, and Taylor himself had a deep personal understanding of the writers he worked on. His insights, implicit in his translations and explicit in his essays, are often of great interest to anyone seeking to understand these difficult ancient texts. Taylor's dates are 1758-1835. I remember reading once that he was a friend of William Blake's.