February 12, 2024

Elements of Theology: the final descent of the soul and end of the coursewe discuss: - why do Platonist physics? - ET 209-211: Proclus on the descent of…

Elements of Theology: Protective and Other Godswe discuss ET 154-158, wrapping up 151-154 on the functional roles of the gods, and going over 155-158, on roles that are…

Elements of Theology: Unity, Cause of Causes and Being-Life-NousWe discuss propositions 100 to 102 of the Elements of Theology and go into: - How does Unity ground Self-constitution?…

Elements of Theology: Functions of the GodsWe start ET 151-158 on the different functions of the gods. In this class we cover 151, father gods; 152, generative/fertile gods…

Elements of Theology: The Structure of Divine OrdersIn this video we discuss prop. 146-150 of the Elements of Theology, which present the structure of Divine orders, that is,…

Elements of Theology: The Presence of the GodsWe discuss prop. 141-145, concentrating on 142, which discusses how the gods are present to all things. 143 uses this to…

Elements of Theology: Being as the Unity of the Godswe go over prop. 138-140, focusing on how being can be understood as the Unity of the many henads,…

Elements of Theology: Gods and their Primary Participantswe discuss ET 134-136, on the relationship between providence and nous, henads and beings and the order of henads and the…

Elements of Theology: Order of Divine Processionswe discuss propositions 130-133, which are theorems on the relationships between prior and posterior members of Divine orders and between the divine…

Elements of Theology: the Bodies of the GodsWe discuss prop. 127-129, on the simplicity, self-sufficiency and participants of the gods. We touch on: - Where does the divine…

Elements of Theology: Procession of the GodsWe discuss propositions 125-126, including: - the three different modes of divine presence - the notion of idiotes, individuality, and it's relation…

Elements of Theology: Divine Knowledge and ProvidenceWe discuss propositions 122-124, and before our discussion I present Proclus' full view of divine knowledge as akin to the self-knowledge of…

The Elements of Theology: The Gods as ValuesWe discuss prop. 119-122 of the Elements of Theology touching upon the way that each God is a goodness or a…

Elements of Theology: The Gods as UnitiesWe start discussing the nature of the gods considering prop. 113-118 of the Elements.

Elements of Theology: Overview of the System of OrdersWe kick off the discussion of Part 2 of the Elements by discussing prop. 108-112, which give the reader an…

Elements of Theology: All in All and AppendixWe discuss prop. 103, on how all things are contained in the metacausal principles Being, Life and Nous and go over…

Elements of Theology: Infinity and CausesWe take a look at propositions 95-99, wrapping up the subject of infinity and entering into the final propositions on Unity as the…

Elements of Theology: Limit, Infinity, Divine Nous and True BeingWe discuss ET 159-161 on how the orders of the gods are constituted by Limit and Infinity and on…

Elements of Theology: The Orders of the GodsWe finish the propositions on the gods, looking at ET 162-165 on the different groups of henads responsible for different orders…

Elements of Theology: on NousWe start the section on Nous with an overview of its meanings and translation difficulties and already go over propositions 166 and the beginning…

Elements of Theology: The Nature of NousWe go over ET 167-170 (beginning) 167: the nature of nous as what makes itself known 168: insight shows itself to be…

Elements of Theology: Unity and Multiplicity in NousWe look at Prop. 170 + 171 on the how each Nous is distinguished by being the knowledge of all things…

Elements of Theology: Causality of Nouswe discuss prop. 172-175, with a special focus on 174, which shows that Nous is just as much a cause of being as…