Neoplatonic Theory of Virtues

Neoplatonic Virtue: Love, Ritual, Crafts and Wholeness We close Hermias of Alexandria's theoretical introduction to the four divine madnesses and begin his word-by-word commentary on the Phaedrus text.…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Four Derivations of the Theia Mania In this session we continue reading Hermias of Alexandria's preliminary theōria on the four divine madnesses in his commentary on…

Neoplatonic Virtue (Open Class): Purification as the Way to God A Commentary of Damascius on The Phaedo I paragraphs 119-124: You can download the text here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mZ8dlW0NBhbEt4XV0CF3aIJIt-t5hMg4/view?usp=sharing Transcript…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Unity of Inspiration We discuss the unity of the four kinds of inspiration or divine madness in Hermias and also start reading his account of…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Hermeias on Madness I We start reading Hermeias' commentary on the four kinds of divine madness discussed in the Phaedrus. Transcript No transcript is available for…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Philosophy and Initiation We come to the end of the section on virtue from Damascius' Commentary on the Phaedo, reading his comments on the proximity between…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Gods and Courage We Continue Damascius' account of treu virtue, focussing on the nature of philosophical courage and the presence of virtue amongst the gods. Transcript…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Paradigmatic, Hieratic and True Virtue We discuss the highest levels of virtue, the paradigmatic and the hieratic, which occurs at every level of moral development. Additionally…

Neoplatonic Virtue: From Natural to Contemplative Virtue We discuss Damascius' short descriptions of the different levels of virtue, with some curious digressions: natural virtue leads us to talk…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Steps of Purification Damascius on the Phaedo: Hope, Purification, and the Three Moments of Embodiment In this session we read Damascius' commentary on Phaedo 67b-68c,…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The True Philosophers We discuss various points of detail in Damascius' description of the true philosophers Transcript No transcript is available for this video.

Neoplatonic Virtue: Knowing the Forms and Perfect Death We continue our reading, finishing the discourse on detachment and starting on the reflections of the true philosophers. Transcript No…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Grades of Knowledge In this class we discuss the argument that the philosopher should detach himself from the body because true knowledge is to be…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Despising Pleasures We start Damascius' discussion of Socrates' discourse on detachment, covering his first point, that the philosophy is indifferent to pleasures. We go into particular…

Neoplatonic Virtue: How Does the Philosopher Die? We continue reading Damascius' commentary on the Phaedo, including discussing the interruprtion by the jailor and the beginning of Socrates' defense…

Neoplatonic Virtue: It's Good to be a God's Slave In this class, we discuss Simmias' and Cebes' objections to the philosophical will to die, based on Socrates' exoteric…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Exoteric Argument against Suicide In this class we go over Damascius' commnents on the exoteric argument against suicide: That the young gods produce our bodies…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Does the Sun Rule the World? In this lesson, we turn to paragraph 14 of Damascius' Commentary on the Phaedo, where we find opposing opinions between…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Punishment of the Titans and the Esoteric Argument against Suicide We continue reading Damascius' Commentary on Plato's Phaedo, going through paragraphs 3-13, where he discusses…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Suicide, Dionysos and the Two Demiurgies In order to understand the esoteric argument against suicide in the Phaedo ("according to the language of the mysteries, we…

Neoplatonic Virtue: Proclus' Socratic Death In this class, we see how Marinus presents Proclus as a Socratic philosopher, setting up a series of parallels between the death of…

Neoplatonic Virtue: The Fulfillment of Proclus' Life In this week’s Neoplatonic Virtue class, Yitzchok and I finish our reading of The Life of Proclus (paragraphs 33–38), reflecting on…