Interpreting Proclus: From Antiquity to the Renaissance

422 Pages·2014·2.03 MB·English

by  Stephen Gersh

INTERPRETING PROCLUS
ThisisthefirstbooktoprovideanaccountoftheinfluenceofProclus,
amemberofthe“AthenianNeoplatonicSchool,”duringmorethan
one thousand years of European history (c. 500–1600). Proclus was
themostimportantphilosopheroflateantiquity,adominant(albeit
controversial)voiceinByzantinethought,thesecondmostinfluential
GreekphilosopherinthelaterwesternMiddleAges(afterAristotle),
and a major figure (together with Plotinus) in the revival of Greek
philosophy in the Renaissance. Proclus was also intensively studied
in the Islamic world of the Middle Ages and was a major influence
onthethoughtofmedievalGeorgia.Thevolumebeginswithasub-
stantialessaybytheeditorsummarizingtheentirehistoryofProclus’
reception.Thisisfollowedbychaptersbymorethanadozenofthe
world’sleadingauthoritiesinthevariousspecificareascovered.
stephen gersh isProfessorofMedievalStudiesandConcurrent
ProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofNotreDame.Specializing
inthePlatonictradition,heistheauthorofnumerousmonographson
ancient,medieval,andmodernphilosophyofwhichthemostrecent
are Reading Plato Tracing Plato (2005); Neoplatonism after Derrida:
Parallelograms (2006); and Being Different: More Neoplatonism after
Derrida (2014). He has edited, among other books, Medieval and
RenaissanceHumanism:Realism,Representation,andReform(withBert
Roest,2003);andEriugena,Berkeley,andtheIdealistTradition(with
DermotMoran,2006).

INTERPRETING PROCLUS
From Antiquity to the Renaissance
edited by
STEPHEN GERSH
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InterpretingProclus:fromantiquitytotherenaissance/editedbyStephenGersh.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-19849-3(hardback)
1.Proclus,approximately410–485. I.Gersh,Stephen.
b701.z7i58 2014
186(cid:2).4–dc23 2014009559
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Contents
Listofcontributors pagevii
NoteoneditionsandtranslationsofProclus’works viii
OnethousandyearsofProclus:anintroductiontohisreception 1
StephenGersh
part i proclus 31
1 Proclus’life,works,andeducationofthesoul 33
LucasSiorvanes
2 Proclusasexegete 57
AnneSheppard
3 Proclusastheologian 80
StephenGersh
part ii the influence of proclus 109
ii.1 Lateantiquity
4 “DionysiustheAreopagite” 111
JohnM.Dillon
Excursus4a DamasciusandBoethius 125
StephenGersh
ii.2 MedievalIslamicphilosophy
5 TheLiberdecausis 137
CristinaD’Ancona
v
vi Contents
ii.3 MedievalByzantinephilosophy
6 MichaelPsellos 165
DominicJ.O’Meara
7 Eleventh-totwelfth-centuryByzantium 182
MicheleTrizio
Excursus7a GeorgeGemistosPlethon 216
StephenGersh
ii.4 MedievalGeorgianphilosophy
8 IoanePetritsi 229
LelaAlexidze
ii.5 MedievalWesternphilosophy
9 WilliamofMoerbeke,translatorofProclus 247
CarlosSteel
10 TheUniversityofParisinthethirteenthcentury 264
PasqualePorro
11 DietrichofFreibergandBertholdofMoosburg 299
MarkusFu¨hrerandStephenGersh
12 NicholasofCusa 318
StephenGersh
ii.6 TheRenaissance
13 MarsilioFicino 353
MichaelJ.B.Allen
14 FrancescoPatrizi 380
ThomasLeinkauf
Indexofnames 403
Indexofsubjects 407
Contributors
lela alexidze, IvaneJavakhishviliTbilisiStateUniversity,Georgia
michael j. b. allen, UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles
cristina d’ancona, Universita`degliStudidiPisa
john m. dillon, TrinityCollegeDublin
markus fu¨hrer, AugsburgCollege
stephen gersh, UniversityofNotreDame
thomas leinkauf, Westfa¨lischeWilhelms-Universita¨tMu¨nster
dominic j. o’meara, UniversityofFribourg
pasquale porro, Universite´deParis-Sorbonne
anne sheppard, RoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondon
lucas siorvanes, King’sCollegeLondon
carlos steel, KatholiekeUniversiteitLeuven,Belgium
michele trizio, Universita`degliStudidiBari
vii
Note on editions and translations of Proclus’ works
In thisvolume, the writingsof Proclus are citedaccording totheeditions
andusingtheabbreviationsnotedinthefollowinglist.Thislistalsonotes
theEnglishtranslationsthatarecurrentlyavailable.Itemsmarkedwithan
asterisk*includetranslationsintoFrench.
De aeternitate mundi, fragments in Philoponus, De aeternitate mundi contra
Proclum,editedbyH.Rabe,Leipzig1899.
On the Eternity of the World, introduction, translation, and commentary by
H.S.LangandA.D.Macro,BerkeleyandLosAngeles2001.
Deartesacrificali,inCataloguedesmanuscritsalchimiquesgrecs,vol.vi,editedby
J.Bidez,Brussels1928(=Deartesacr.).
On the Priestly Art according to the Greeks, translated by B. Copenhaver, in
I.MerkelandA.G.Debus(eds.),HermeticismandtheRenaissance,Intellectual
HistoryandtheOccultinEarlyModernEurope,Washington,DCandLondon
1988,103–105.
De philosophia chaldaica (Eclogae) in *Oracles chalda¨ıques, avec un choix de com-
mentaires anciens, edited by E´. des Places, Paris 1971, 205–212 (= De phil.
chald.).
Elementatiotheologica,TheElementsofTheology,ARevisedTextwithTranslation,
Introduction,andCommentary,editedbyE.R.Dodds,Oxford1933;second
edition,Oxford1963(=El.theol.).
Hymni,editedbyE.Vogt,Wiesbaden1957(=Hymn.).
Translated by R. M. van den Berg, in Proclus’ Hymns, Essays, Translations,
Commentary,Leiden2001.
*InprimumAlcibiadem,editedbyA.-Ph.Segonds,2vols.,Paris1985–1986(=In
Alc.).
Proclus, Alcibiades I, translation and commentary by W. O’Neill, The Hague
1965.
In Platonis Cratylum commentaria, edited by G. Pasquali, Leipzig 1908 (= In
Crat.).
OnPlato’sCratylus,translatedbyB.M.Duvick,Ithaca,NY2007.
In primum Euclidis Elementorum librum commentarii, edited by G. Friedlein,
Leipzig1873(=InEucl.).
viii