Neoplatonic Virtue: Iamblichus' Curriculum and Proclus' Philosophical Nature
In this session of the Neoplatonic Virtue course, we explore Iamblichus’ curriculum for reading Plato as preserved in the Anonymous Prolegomena to the Platonic Dialogues, a glimpse into the pedagogical order of Neoplatonic training.
We then begin reading Marinus’ Life of Proclus (Proclus, or On Happiness), focusing on his reflections on Proclus’ natural virtues. These opening sections offer a unique perspective on how theurgic Platonism placed a new value opn the body and bodily qualities that are not found, for isntance, in Porphyry's Life of Plotinus.
📚 Topics covered include:
The Neoplatonic canon of Platonic dialogues
The correspondence between kinds of virtue and platonic dialogues
The way the Sophist and the Satesman are about natural philosophy and the Phaedrus and the Symposium about theology
The four bodily forms of the virtues
The meaning of physical beauty
The advantages of being a naive nerd for Platonists
Transcript
No transcript is available for this video.