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Chapter 4 - The World Soul Takes Command

The Doctrine of the World Soul in the Epinomis of Philip of Opus and in the Academy of Polemon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

By
John Dillon
Edited by
Ricardo Salles
Ricardo Salles
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
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Summary

This chapter sets out to explore the thesis that Plato, at least in his later years, in his efforts to identify the nature of his First Principle, was inclined to settle on the concept of a rational World Soul, with demiurgic functions, and that this was a doctrine that his faithful amanuensis in his last years, Philip of Opus, advanced on his own account, in the belief that in this he was developing the latest theories of his Master.

Keywords

demiurgegodself-motionastronomycosmos
Type
Chapter
Information
Cosmology and Biology in Ancient Philosophy
From Thales to Avicenna
 , pp. 72 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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