Nicholas Weeks
Bodhicitta
Proclus - An Introduction by Radek Chlup is a recent book I admire for making Proclus' works more clear. Here is a bit from his Introduction:
"Late Neoplatonism is one of the most complex metaphysical systems ever
produced in the West. In spite of this, of all the areas of ancient thought
it remains possibly the least familiar. While the founder of Neoplatonism,
Plotinus, has already gained his place among the classics of philosophy,
and his treatises are studied even by those who do not specialize in ancient
thought, late Neoplatonists are still known to j ust a handful of experts,
general philosophical awareness of them being minimal. Nowhere is this
more obvious than in the case of Proclus of Lycia (AD 412-85). While not
an entirely original thinker, Proclus produced the most systematic version
of late Neoplatonic philosophy, and his position within the Neoplatonic
tradition may perhaps be compared to that of Thomas Aquinas within
scholasticism. His impact on later thought was considerable: he influence d
Byzantine philosophy as well as Western scholasticism, was widely studied
in the Renaissance, and left a deep impression on German idealism. In
terms of the quantity of preserved works, he ranks among the top five of
ancient philosophers. Yet few of these are regularly studied nowadays.
The reasons for this neglect lie in the enormous intricacy of Proclus'
system, as well as his predilection for technical terminology, which makes
the reading of his treatises extremely difficult for beginners...
It is the task of this book to remedy this state of affairs and provide
easier access to the world of late Neoplatonism. My aim is to introduce
Proclus to those who are generally interested in philosophy but have no
knowledge of Neoplatonism, or indeed of ancient philosophy as such
beyond its very basics. I take special care not to just summarize Proclus'
ideas, but to bring them to life and show them as sophisticated answers
to relevant philosophical problems. While many of ProcIus' conceptions
must necessarily appear as bizarre today, I still strive to present them as a
meaningful way of looking at the universe and finding one's way about it.
To what extent I have achieved this is for the critical reader to judge."
To my mind he has done a wonderful job, with many diagrams to assist in fathoming Proclus' system of thought.
"Late Neoplatonism is one of the most complex metaphysical systems ever
produced in the West. In spite of this, of all the areas of ancient thought
it remains possibly the least familiar. While the founder of Neoplatonism,
Plotinus, has already gained his place among the classics of philosophy,
and his treatises are studied even by those who do not specialize in ancient
thought, late Neoplatonists are still known to j ust a handful of experts,
general philosophical awareness of them being minimal. Nowhere is this
more obvious than in the case of Proclus of Lycia (AD 412-85). While not
an entirely original thinker, Proclus produced the most systematic version
of late Neoplatonic philosophy, and his position within the Neoplatonic
tradition may perhaps be compared to that of Thomas Aquinas within
scholasticism. His impact on later thought was considerable: he influence d
Byzantine philosophy as well as Western scholasticism, was widely studied
in the Renaissance, and left a deep impression on German idealism. In
terms of the quantity of preserved works, he ranks among the top five of
ancient philosophers. Yet few of these are regularly studied nowadays.
The reasons for this neglect lie in the enormous intricacy of Proclus'
system, as well as his predilection for technical terminology, which makes
the reading of his treatises extremely difficult for beginners...
It is the task of this book to remedy this state of affairs and provide
easier access to the world of late Neoplatonism. My aim is to introduce
Proclus to those who are generally interested in philosophy but have no
knowledge of Neoplatonism, or indeed of ancient philosophy as such
beyond its very basics. I take special care not to just summarize Proclus'
ideas, but to bring them to life and show them as sophisticated answers
to relevant philosophical problems. While many of ProcIus' conceptions
must necessarily appear as bizarre today, I still strive to present them as a
meaningful way of looking at the universe and finding one's way about it.
To what extent I have achieved this is for the critical reader to judge."
To my mind he has done a wonderful job, with many diagrams to assist in fathoming Proclus' system of thought.
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