Neoplatonic Virtue: Porphyry on Contemplation and Paradigms of Virtue
In this second session on Porphyry’s Sentence 32, we explore the Neoplatonic hierarchy of virtues in greater depth, focusing on the dynamic relations between the levels.
We begin by asking: why is it evil for the soul to turn toward what is inferior? What does this tell us about Neoplatonic theories of providence and the soul’s task of self-elevation? From there, we examine how political virtue is necessary for purificatory virtue—and how purificatory virtue, in turn, relies on the contemplative.
We then map out the contemplative virtues, distinguishing them clearly from the purificatory ones, and we conclude with the paradigmatic virtues, which serve not as images but as causes and standards of all virtue.
A key point of discussion is how the four cardinal virtues—prudence, courage, moderation, and justice—are expressed at each level, and how only the contemplative and paradigmatic virtues fully actualize the soul’s assimilation to the divine.