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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
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[The Enneads]; Volume 1 (Hardcover)
Plotinus Enneades English; Created by Ca 234-Ca 305 Porphyry; McKenna Stephen 1872-1934
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R840
Discovery Miles 8 400
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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The Syriac treatise published in the present volume is in many
respects a unique text. Though it has been preserved anonymously,
there remains little doubt that it belongs to Porphyry of Tyre.
Accordingly, it enlarges our knowledge of the views of the most
famous disciple of Plotinus. The text is an important witness to
Platonist discussions on First Principles and on Plato's concept of
Prime Matter in the Timaeus. It contains extensive quotations from
Atticus, Severus, and Boethus. This text thus provides us with new
textual witnesses to these philosophers, whose legacy remains very
poorly attested and little known. Additionally, the treatise is a
rare example of a Platonist work preserved in the Syriac language.
The Syriac reception of Plato and Platonic teachings has left
rather sparse textual traces, and the question of what precisely
Syriac Christians knew about Plato and his philosophy remains a
debated issue. The treatise provides evidence for the close
acquaintance of Syriac scholars with Platonic cosmology and with
philosophical commentaries on Plato's Timaeus.
Concerning embryos, Porphyry takes an original view on issues that
had been left undecided by his teacher Plotinus and earlier by the
doctor Galen. What role is played in the development of the embryo
by the souls or the natures of the father, of the mother, of the
embryo, or of the whole world? Porphyry's detailed answer, in
contrast to Aristotle's, gives a significant role to the soul and
to the nature of the mother, without, however, abandoning
Aristotle's view that the mother supplies no seed. In the fragments
of On What is in Our Power, "Porphyry" discusses Plato's idea that
we choose each of our incarnations, and so are responsible for what
happens in our lives. This volume contains an English translation
of the two commentaries, as well as extensive notes, an
introduction and a bibliography.
Throughout its first three centuries, the growing Christian
religion was subjected not only to official persecution but to the
attacks of pagan intellectuals, who looked upon the new sect as a
band of fanatics bent on worldwide domination even as they
professed to despise the things of this world. Prominent among
these pagan critics was Porphyry of Tyre (ca. 232-ca. 305 C.E.),
scholar, philosopher, and student of religions. His book Against
the Christians (Kata Christianon), was condemned to be burned by
the imperial Church in 448. It survives only in fragments preserved
by the cleric and teacher Macarius Magnes.
This new translation of the remains of Against the Christians, by
renowned biblical scholar R. Joseph Hoffmann, reveals a work of
deft historical and literary criticism. Porphyry's trenchant
comments extend to key figures, beliefs, and doctrines of
Christianity as he roundly attacks the divinity of Jesus, the
integrity of the apostles, the Christian concept of God, and the
Resurrection. Porphyry dismisses the gospels as the work of
charlatans and Jesus himself as a criminal and failure. In short,
the gospels, as a collective account of the life and deeds of
Jesus, are hardly worth the reverence with which an increasing
number of Christian converts of Porphyry's own day have begun
treating them.
Critical notes by the translator provide a running commentary to
the text. A lively introduction and comprehensive epilogue describe
the "buildup" to the pagan critique of Christianity, and help put
Porphyry's work in historical perspective.
Accessible to the general reader, and a valuable scholarly tool as
well, this new translation of Against the Christians proves a
worthy addition to both classical and patristic studies.
Porphyry's On Abstinence from Killing Animals is one of the most
interesting books from Greek antiquity for both philosophers and
historians. In it, Porphyry relates the arguments for eating or
sacrificing animals and then goes on to argue that an understanding
of humans and gods shows such sacrifice to be inappropriate, that
an understanding of animals shows it to be unjust, and that a
knowledge of non-Greeks shows it to be unnecessary. There are no
Neoplatonist commentaries on Aristotle's Ethics from the period AD
250-600. Thus, although this work is not a commentary on Aristotle,
it fills a gap in this series by going to the heart of ethical
debates among Neoplatonists around AD 300, and revealing one
ascetic Neoplatonist's view of the ideal way of life. It also
records rival positions taken on the treatment of animals by Greek
philosophers over the previous six hundred years.
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