A school of philosophy based on the teachings of Plato and, subsequently, Plotinus; it was the foundation for paganism.
Used in a Sentence
neoplatonism
Definition, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for neoplatonism.
Editorial note
It's so refreshing to hear of Neoplatonism and Hermetic Philosophy, not just for historical study but as a living stream of thought and inspiration.
Examples14
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
A school of philosophy based on the teachings of Plato and, subsequently, Plotinus; it was the foundation for paganism.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of neoplatonism gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for neoplatonism.
noun
A school of philosophy based on the teachings of Plato and, subsequently, Plotinus; it was the foundation for paganism.
Example sentences
It's so refreshing to hear of Neoplatonism and Hermetic Philosophy, not just for historical study but as a living stream of thought and inspiration.
Espoused by Augustine (and before him, Neoplatonism in general), and Aquinas.
Definitely, Neoplatonism was a big influence on Abrahamic philosophical thought.
The later influence of Neoplatonism flips it all back to a perfect form original and corrupted physical incarnation - the version of Gnosticism most well known today.
I recommend Vervaeke's meaning crisis series which draws connections between Buddhism, ancient Greek philosophy, Gnosticism, neoplatonism, etc.
I realize citing Wikipedia risks some serious error, but my impression is that by late antiquity (after AD 200), the main philosophical systems in the Roman world were Christianity and Neoplatonism (itself heavily influenced by Christianity) and to a lesser extent Stoicism.
Someone like Philio might not be widely read today, but the adoption of Plato's ideas into the dual creation of man in Genesis lives on today among Kabbalah much as Plotinus's contributions to Neoplatonism evolving alongside the Gnostics which in turn live on in everything from Scientology to The Matrix to Nick Bostrom.
Quote examples
Great thinkers, the "fathers", they really did a bang-up job merging Judaism and Greek Neoplatonism.
My interest in the magic metaphor stems from my interest in the historical use of magic in Neoplatonism, renaissance magic and specifically “natural magic.” This is a deep rabbit hole, but fascinating.
"Founder of Neoplatonism" might not say much to most people nowadays.
I meant "medieval" here to refer to any time between the beginning of neoplatonism and the industrial revolution: quite a large space, but it seems like those are the only two time periods people are generally aware of in the history of thought, since we teach kids that everything between then was the "dark ages."
Proper noun examples
The Stoics spoke of the logos spermatikos (the generative principle of the Universe) which foreshadows related concepts in Neoplatonism.
It's a Platonic solid found in Egypt, the epicenter of Neoplatonism.
Rather than accepting the inherent paradoxes in Christ's message, it attempts to shoehorn it together using the philosophical swiss army knife of the era, Neoplatonism.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use neoplatonism in a sentence?
It's so refreshing to hear of Neoplatonism and Hermetic Philosophy, not just for historical study but as a living stream of thought and inspiration.
What does neoplatonism mean?
A school of philosophy based on the teachings of Plato and, subsequently, Plotinus; it was the foundation for paganism.
What part of speech is neoplatonism?
neoplatonism is commonly used as noun.