Platonopolis: Platonic Political Philosophy in Late Antiquity

by Dominic J. O'Meara

Overview

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Platonist philosophers of Late Antiquity, from Plotinus (third century) to the sixth-century schools in Athens and Alexandria, neglected the political dimension of their Platonic heritage in their concentration on an otherworldly life. But Dominic O'Meara presents a revelatory reappraisal of these thinkers, arguing that their otherworldliness involved rather than excluded political ideas, and he reconstructs for the first time a coherent political philosophy of Late Platonism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199285532
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/03/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

University of Fribourg

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION1. The Two Functions of Political Philosophy2. Neoplatonist Philosophers in Time, Place, and Social ContextNEOPLATONIC POLITICAL THEORY RECONSTRUCTEDI. THE DIVINIZATION OF SOUL3. Divinization in Greek Philosophy4. The Scale of Virtues5. The Scale of Sciences6. The CurriculumII. THE DIVINIZATION OF STATE7. Philosopher-Kings and Queens8. Political Science: Legislative9. Political Science: Judicial10. The Political Function of Religion11. The Limits of Political ActionPLATONOPOLIS IN CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM12. Eusebius and Augustine13. Ideals of Church and State in the Sixth Century14. Platonopolis in Islam: Al-Farabi's Perfect StateConclusionAppendix I: Themistus and Neoplatonic Political PhilosophyAppendix II: Notes on a Platonist Rhetor: Sopatros 3BibliographyIndex