Bøger i Studies in Platonism, Neoplato serien

Plato's doctrine of the soul, its immaterial nature, its parts or faculties, and its fate after death (and before birth) came to have an enormous influence on the great religious traditions that sprang up in late antiquity, beginning with Judaism (in the person of Philo of Alexandria), and continuing with Christianity, from St. Paul on through the Alexandrian and Cappadocian Fathers to Byzantium, and finally with Islamic thinkers from Al-kindi on. This volume, while not aspiring to completeness, attempts to provide insights into how members of each of these traditions adapted Platonist doctrines to their own particular needs, with varying degrees of creativity.

This monograph, exclusively dedicated to the analysis of Porphyry's On the Cave of Nymphs, provides his philosophical thoughts on the material world, relationship between soul and body and the salvation of the soul through the doctrines of Plato and Plotinus.

John J. Cleary (1949-2009) was an internationally recognised authority in ancient Greek philosophy. This volume of penetrating studies of Plato, Aristotle, and Proclus, philosophy of mathematics, and ancient theories of education, display Cleary's range of expertise and originality of approach.