| Proclus: On the Existence of Evils Contributor(s): Steel, Carlos (Author), Opsomer, Jan (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1472557395 ISBN-13: 9781472557391 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC OUR PRICE: $51.43 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2014 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | Free Will & Determinism - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical - Philosophy | Good & Evil |
| Dewey: 123 |
| Series: Ancient Commentators on Aristotle |
| Physical Information: 0.36" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (0.54 lbs) 256 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Italy |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Proclus' On the Existence of Evils is not a commentary, but helps to compensate for the dearth of Neoplatonist ethical commentaries. The central question addressed in the work is: how can there be evil in a providential world? Neoplatonists agree that it cannot be caused by higher and worthier beings. Plotinus had said that evil is matter, which, unlike Aristotle, he collapsed into mere privation or lack, thus reducing its reality. He also protected higher causes from responsibility by saying that evil may result from a combination of goods. Proclus objects: evil is real, and not a privation. Rather, it is a parasite feeding off good. Parasites have no proper cause, and higher beings are thus vindicated as being the causes only of the good off which evil feeds. |