By the fifth century,Greek philosophy was in decline.
The rise of Christianity and the steady collapse of
political institutions contributed to this deterioration,
and Greece was no longer producing thinkers
such as PLATO and ARISTOTLE. The last major movement
within pagan Greek philosophy, which took
place during this time, was known as Neoplatonism,
which had been expounded by the philosophers
PLOTINUS and PORPHYRY. Among those who promoted
Neoplatonism was Proclus, who was born in
Constantinople (now Istanbul) sometime in the
early fifth century. Little is known of his life.He lived
and worked in the city of Athens, which remained an
intellectual center despite the fact that its political
and economic importance had long since faded.
Proclus, who became head of the Platonic Academy
in Athens, was the author of several works concerning
Neoplatonism, including On Platonic
Theology, Elements of Platonic Theology, and Commentary
on the Timaeus. In these works, he describes
the most important aspect of Neoplatonism
as the separation of the body and the mind, through
which Proclus and most Neoplatonists believed that
people could transcend physical limitations to reach
a mystical union with the “One.”Christian thinkers
later adopted this and other aspects of Neoplatonic
philosophy in developing their theology. One such
person was the theologian Dionysius the Areopagite
(ca. 500), whose The Celestial Hierarchy and The Divine
Names (treatises of mystical and speculative
theology) greatly affected the intellectual development
of medieval Europe.
Proclus was not as influential as other Greek
philosophers. His major achievement was to develop
and extend the Neoplatonic theories articulated
by Porphyry. Through his work on spreading
the philosophy of Neoplatonism through the
Greek-speaking world, Proclus contributed to the
development of Christian theology.
English Versions of Works by Proclus
Fragments that Remain of the Lost Writings of Proclus.
Translated by Thomas Taylor.Whitefish, Mont.:
Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Proclus of Constantinople and the Cult of the Virgin in
the Late Antiquity: Homilies 1–5, Texts and Translations.
Translated by Nicholas Constas. Leiden,
Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003.
Works about Proclus
Bos, Egbert P. and P. A.Meijer, eds. On Proclus and His
Influence in Medieval Philosophy. Leiden, Netherlands:
Brill Academic Publishers, 1991.
Edwards,Mark J., trans. Neoplatonic Saints: The Lives
of Plotinus and Proclus by Their Students. Liverpool,
U.K.: Liverpool University Press, 2001.
Siorvanes, Lucas. Proclus: Neo-Platonic Philosophy
and Science. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 1996.