Home > Catalogue > Lexis > Num. 39 (n.s.) – Dicembre 2021 – Fasc. 2 > Neoplatonic Hypermetaphysics

Lexis | Num. 39 (n.s.) – Dicembre 2021 – Fasc. 2

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Research Article

Neoplatonic Hypermetaphysics

Iamblichus as a Precursor of the Ineffable Principle above the One of Damascus’s De Principiis

Tiziano Ottobrini    Independent Scholar    

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abstract

The essay aims at pointing out the origins of Damascius’ ineffable principle. In Damascius’ De principiis the first principle is totally unknowable, since it is beyond One; this radical thesis is not similar to the speculation from Proclus to Plotinus but it has a close relationship only to Iamblichus, more than two centuries before Damascius. It will be argued that placing a principle beyond One was risky, because it rejects the henologic paradigm, traditional in the Neoplatonic system. Therefore Iamblichus did not fully develop his proposal and was resumed only by Damascus in his theoretical radicalism. As a result the passages in which Iamblichus spoke of an ineffable principle superior to One are preserved only by Damascius and are almost unknown to all the authors in the middle.

Published
Dec. 20, 2021
Accepted
June 15, 2021
Submitted
May 28, 2021
Language
IT

Keywords: Epekeina • Principle • Damascius • Iamblichus • Ineffable • One

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Lexis/2724-1564/2021/02/008

Copyright: © 2021 Tiziano Ottobrini. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.