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Women and the Female in Neoplatonism
Series:
Sosipatra, Hypatia, Macrina: some of the most famous female philosophers of antiquity were connected to Neoplatonism. But what does it mean to be a woman philosopher in late antiquity? How is the inclusive nature of the Neoplatonic schools connected to their ethical, political, and metaphysical ideas? What role does the religious dimension of late Neoplatonism and the role of women as priestesses play in understanding Neoplatonic women philosophers?
This book offers thirteen essays that examine women and the female in Neoplatonism from a variety of perspectives, paying particular attention to the interactions between the metaphysics, psychology, and ethics.
This book offers thirteen essays that examine women and the female in Neoplatonism from a variety of perspectives, paying particular attention to the interactions between the metaphysics, psychology, and ethics.
Jana Schultz, Ph.D. (2016), Ruhr-University Bochum, held a position as a researcher at the Ruhr-University in Bochum from 2016 until 2018, and at the Humboldt University in Berlin from 2018 until 2021. She published
Formung und Umwendung der Seele. Eine Rechtfertigung ambivalenter Darstellungen in der Literatur im Rahmen von Platons Politeia (Lang 2017), and articles on Platonism and Neoplatonism.
James Wilberding, Ph.D. (2003), University of Chicago, is Professor of Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy at the Humboldt University Berlin. He is author of Plotinus’ Cosmology: A Study of Ennead 2.1 (2006) and Forms, Souls and Embryos: Neoplatonists on Human Reproduction (2017), and editor of World Soul: A History of the Concept (2021).
James Wilberding, Ph.D. (2003), University of Chicago, is Professor of Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy at the Humboldt University Berlin. He is author of Plotinus’ Cosmology: A Study of Ennead 2.1 (2006) and Forms, Souls and Embryos: Neoplatonists on Human Reproduction (2017), and editor of World Soul: A History of the Concept (2021).
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Jana Schultz and James Wilberding
1 Diotima, Sosipatra and Hypatia: Methodological Reflections on the Study of Female Philosophers in the Platonic Tradition
Crystal Addey
2 Women in Plotinus
James Wilberding
3 Marcella and Porphyry
Luc Brisson
4 On the Equality of Women and Men in Late Antique Platonism: Proclus, Julian and Philip the Philosopher
Dominic O’Meara
5 Theodorus of Asine on the Equality of the Sexes: Traces of a Rhetorical Trope in the Fourth Century CE
John Dillon
6 The Myth of Er and Female Guardians in Proclus’ Republic Commentary
Dirk Baltzly
7 Damascius on the Virtue of Women and Their Relation to Men
Jana Schultz
8 Femininity in Porphyry’s On Abstinence
Miira Tuominen
9 A Match Made in Heaven: The Metaphysics of Aphrodite in Neoplatonic Thinkers
Marije Martijn
10 Neoplatonic Motives in Emperor Julian’s Hymn to the Mother of the Gods
Christoph Helmig
11 Otherwise Than the Father: Night and the Maternal Causes in Proclus’ Theological Metaphysics
Danielle Layne
12 Macrina’s Method: Reason and Reasoning in Gregory of Nyssa’s On Soul and Resurrection
Peter Adamson
13 What Did Michael Psellos Say about Women in the 11th Century AD?
Denis Walter
Index Locorum
Index of Names and Subjects
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Jana Schultz and James Wilberding
Part 1 The Historical Presence of Women in Neoplatonic Schools
1 Diotima, Sosipatra and Hypatia: Methodological Reflections on the Study of Female Philosophers in the Platonic Tradition
Crystal Addey
Part 2 The Status of Women in Neoplatonic Socio-political Theory
2 Women in Plotinus
James Wilberding
3 Marcella and Porphyry
Luc Brisson
4 On the Equality of Women and Men in Late Antique Platonism: Proclus, Julian and Philip the Philosopher
Dominic O’Meara
5 Theodorus of Asine on the Equality of the Sexes: Traces of a Rhetorical Trope in the Fourth Century CE
John Dillon
6 The Myth of Er and Female Guardians in Proclus’ Republic Commentary
Dirk Baltzly
7 Damascius on the Virtue of Women and Their Relation to Men
Jana Schultz
Part 3 Female Principles in Neoplatonic Metaphysics and Science
8 Femininity in Porphyry’s On Abstinence
Miira Tuominen
9 A Match Made in Heaven: The Metaphysics of Aphrodite in Neoplatonic Thinkers
Marije Martijn
10 Neoplatonic Motives in Emperor Julian’s Hymn to the Mother of the Gods
Christoph Helmig
11 Otherwise Than the Father: Night and the Maternal Causes in Proclus’ Theological Metaphysics
Danielle Layne
Part 4 A Concluding Look at Two Christian Neoplatonists
12 Macrina’s Method: Reason and Reasoning in Gregory of Nyssa’s On Soul and Resurrection
Peter Adamson
13 What Did Michael Psellos Say about Women in the 11th Century AD?
Denis Walter
Index Locorum
Index of Names and Subjects
This book is of special interest for researchers and students in the fields of classics or philosophy who are interested in Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy, feministic philosophy and late antiquity.