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Porphyrian trees by three authors: Purchotius (1730), Boethius (6th century), and Ramon Llull (ca. 1305). In philosophy (particularly the theory of categories), the Porphyrian tree or Tree of Porphyry is a classic device for illustrating a "scale of being" (Latin: scala praedicamentalis), attributed to the 3rd-century CE Greek neoplatonist philosopher and logician Porphyry, and revived through ...
The term neoplatonism implies that Plotinus' interpretation of Plato was so distinct from those of his predecessors that it should be thought to introduce a new period in the history of Platonism. Some contemporary scholars, however, have taken issue with this assumption and have doubted that neoplatonism constitutes a useful label. They claim ...
Paracelsus' view of the world soul extended to his understanding of the macrocosm and microcosm, where the human body (microcosm) is a reflection of the larger universe (macrocosm). By studying the world soul's manifestations in nature, Paracelsus believed that alchemists and physicians could uncover the secrets of health and transformation.
1579 drawing of the Great Chain of Being from Didacus Valades , Rhetorica Christiana. The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals. [1] [2] [3]
Plotinus (/ p l ɒ ˈ t aɪ n ə s /; Ancient Greek: Πλωτῖνος, Plōtînos; c. 204/5 – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt.Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism.
The exact origins of the Chaldean Oracles are unknown, but are usually attributed to Julian the Theurgist and/or his father, Julian the Chaldean. [2] Chaldea is the classical Greek term for Babylon, transliterating Assyrian Kaldū, which referred to an area southeast of Babylonia near the Persian Gulf.
Neoplatonism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century, based on the teachings of Plato and some of his early followers. While Gnosticism was influenced by Middle Platonism , neoplatonists from the third century onward rejected Gnosticism.
The idea of a perennial philosophy originated with a number of Renaissance theologians who took inspiration from neo-Platonism and from the theory of Forms. Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) argued that there is an underlying unity to the world, the soul or love, which has a counterpart in the realm of ideas. [2]