Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Neoplatonism
/ˌniːəʊˈpleɪtənɪzəm/noun
The late-antique philosophy of Plotinus and his successors, built on a single source from which all reality flows.
The Greek roots
νέος
néos
new, young
Πλάτων
Plátōn
Plato, the broad one
Literally: “new Platonism”
The story of the word
Nobody in the school called it that. Plotinus in the third century took himself to be teaching plain Platonism, and Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus after him agreed; the νέος was bolted on by German scholars in the nineteenth century who wanted the late system kept clear of the dialogues. Πλάτων is itself a nickname meaning broad, reportedly earned by the philosopher's build or his forehead, his birth name having been Aristocles.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → German scholarly coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
neologismneophyteplatonicneon
In a sentence
Augustine read the Neoplatonists before he read Paul, and it shows.
Renaissance Florence took its Neoplatonism from Ficino's translations.