Neoplatonism is traditionally considered a mystical philosophy; on the contrary the aim of this book is to show the importance of a logical and epistemological approach for the understanding of Neoplatonic basic ontological problems. In doing that, Lloyd considers a very wide range of philosophers from Plotinus up to Byzantine Neoplatonists. After a preliminary discussion of how the Neoplatonic semantics and logical concepts are a result of their understanding of previous philosophers (in particular Aristotle), Lloyd introduces the key point of the book, i.e. his theory of the P‐series. A P‐se ... More

Neoplatonism is traditionally considered a mystical philosophy; on the contrary the aim of this book is to show the importance of a logical and epistemological approach for the understanding of Neoplatonic basic ontological problems. In doing that, Lloyd considers a very wide range of philosophers from Plotinus up to Byzantine Neoplatonists. After a preliminary discussion of how the Neoplatonic semantics and logical concepts are a result of their understanding of previous philosophers (in particular Aristotle), Lloyd introduces the key point of the book, i.e. his theory of the P‐series. A P‐series is a group of terms ordered according to priority a posteriority in which the first term is universal and common to all the others. This logical theory is applied to explain how the reality is structured (procession and emanation from the One) and how knowledge is constituted. The book ends with an analysis of how mystical apprehension differs from the union with the One.