Plotinus' Cosmology: A Study Of Ennead II 1 (40) Text, Translation, And Commentary Hardcover

James Wilberding

In Ennead II.1 (40) Plotinus is primarily concerned to argue for the everlastingness of the universe, the heavens, and the heavenly bodies as individual substances. Here he must grapple both with the philosophical issue of personal identity through time and with the rich tradition of cosmology which pitted the Platonists against the Aristotelians and Stoics. What results is a historically informed cosmological sketch explaining the constitution of the heavens as well as sublunar and celestial motion. This book contains an extensive introduction aimed at providing the necessary background in Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic cosmology, the text itself, and a line-by-line commentary designed to elucidate its philosophical, philological and historical details.

9780199277261

English

Oxford University Press

15 June 2006

288

James Wilberding is Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Williams College.

a book that displays remarkable erudition, solid proficiency in both classical and contemporary languages. * Ermanno Bencivenga, Mind Journal * Wilberding happily does not get drowned en detail, but masters it and subordinates it to lucid questions and transparent historical perspectives. A praiseworthy trait of Wilberding English-written commentary is his acquaintance with and his judicious use of secondary literature written not only in English, but also in German and French or even modern Greek. * Filip Karfik, Rhizai *