Aesthetic Themes in Pagan and Christian Neoplatonism: From Plotinus to Gregory of Nyssa

Author:   Daniele Iozzia (University of Catania, Italy)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781350007932


Pages:   144
Publication Date:   22 September 2016
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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Aesthetic Themes in Pagan and Christian Neoplatonism: From Plotinus to Gregory of Nyssa


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Overview

Whilst aesthetics as a discipline did not exist before the modern age, ancient philosophers give many insights about beauty and art. In Late Antiquity Plotinus confronted the problem of beauty and the value of the arts. Plotinus’ reflections have an important role in the development of the concept of the value of artistic imagination during the Renaissance and the Romantic era, but he also influenced the artistic taste of his time. Aesthetic Themes in Pagan and Christian Neoplatonism reconstructs the aesthetic philosophical views of Late Antiquity, and their relation to artistic production of the time. By examining the resonance of Plotinus’ thought with contemporary artists and with Christian thinkers, including Gregory of Nyssa, the book demonstrates the importance of Plotinus’ treatise On Beauty for the development of late ancient aesthetics. The Cappadocian fathers’ interest in Plotinus is explored, as well as the consequent legacy of the pagan thinker’s philosophy within Christian thought, such as the concept of beauty and the narration of the contemplative experience. Uniquely utilising philological and philosophical insight, as well as exploring both pagan and Christian philosophy, Aesthetic Themes in Pagan and Christian Neoplatonism represents the first comprehensive synthesis of aesthetic thought of Late Antiquity.

Full Product Details

Author:   Daniele Iozzia (University of Catania, Italy)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 0.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.218kg
ISBN:  

9781350007932


ISBN 10:   1350007935
Pages:   144
Publication Date:   22 September 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations Acknowledgements Foreward, by Maria Di Pasquale Barbanti Preface Introduction 1.Rhetoric and Aesthetics in Plotinus 2.Philosophy and Culture of Gregory of Nyssa 3.Sculpting and Painting between Metaphor and Didacticism 4.Gold and Light 5.The Paradoxes of Beauty Conclusion: Aesthetics and the Ineffable Beauty Bibliography

Reviews

[A] short and welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship dealing with late Mediterranean antiquity in pagan and Christian circles. * British Journal for the History of Philosophy * This book displays expertise with respect to both the pagan and Christian traditions of late antiquity, and makes a convincing case for speaking of an aesthetics in this connection. The whole investigation is carried out with the sensitivity of an art-historian.


This book displays expertise with respect to both the pagan and Christian traditions of late antiquity, and makes a convincing case for speaking of an aesthetics in this connection. The whole investigation is carried out with the sensitivity of an art-historian. -- Stephen Gersh, Professor of Medieval Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA


Author Information

Daniele Iozzia is Research Fellow of History of Ancient Philosophy, Department of Humanities, University of Catania, Italy.

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