Causation and creation in late antiquity
By: edited by Anna Marmodoro and Brian D. Prince
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Language: eng
Number of pages: 299
ISBN-13: 9781107061538; 9781316236659
Subjects: Causation; Creation; Cosmology; Cosmogony; Kausalitet; Kausalität; Kosmogoni; Schöpfung; Philosophie; Kosmogonie
Description: "Written by a group of leading scholars, this unique collection of essays investigates the views of both pagan and Christian philosophers on causation and the creation of the cosmos. Structured in two parts, the volume first looks at divine agency and how late antique thinkers, including the Stoics, Plotinus, Porphyry, Simplicius, Philoponus and Gregory of Nyssa, tackled questions such as: is the cosmos eternal? Did it come from nothing or from something pre-existing? How was it caused to come into existence? Is it material or immaterial? The second part looks at questions concerning human agency and responsibility, including the problem of evil and the nature of will, considering thinkers such as Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and Augustine. Highlighting some of the most important and interesting aspects of these philosophical debates, the volume will be of great interest to upper-level students and scholars of philosophy, classics, theology and ancient history."--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-274) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: Two early Stoic theories of cosmogony / Ricardo Salles; title: Plotinus' account of demiurgic causation and its philosophical background / Riccardo Chiaradonna; title: Creation and divine providence in Plotinus / Christopher Isaac Noble and Nathan M. Powers; title: Waiting for Philoponus / Richard Sorabji; title: Gregory of Nyssa on the creation of the world / Anna Marmodoro; title: Simplicius on elements and causes in Greek philosophy : critical appraisal or philosophical synthesis? / Han Baltussen; title: Divine and human freedom : Plotinus' new understanding of creative agency / Kevin Corrigan; title: Consciousness and agency in Plotinus / D.M. Hutchinson; title: Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life / James Wilberding; title: Astrology and the will in Porphyry of Tyre / Aaron P. Johnson; title: Proclus on the ethics of self-constitution / Michael Griffin; title: Deficient causes : Augustine on creation and angels / Gillian Clark; title: Willed causes and causal willing in Augustine / Mark Edwards.