Neoplatonism

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Neoplatonism \Ne`o*pla"to*nism\, n. [Neo- + Platonism.]
     A pantheistic eclectic school of philosophy, of which
     Plotinus was the chief (a. d. 205-270), and which sought to
     reconcile the Platonic and Aristotelian systems with Oriental
     theosophy. It tended to mysticism and theurgy, and was the
     last product of Greek philosophy.


     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Neoplatonism
       n : a system of philosophical and religious doctrines composed
           of elements of Platonism and Aristotelianism and oriental
           mysticism; its most distinctive doctrine holds that the
           First Principle and source of reality transcends being
           and thought and is naturally unknowable; "Neoplatonism
           was predominant in pagan Europe until the 6th century";
           "Neoplatonism was a major influence on early Christian
           writers and on later medieval and Renaissance thought and
           on Islamic philosophy"