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This book explores ancient thinking about causation and creation, considering the perspectives of key Christian and pagan thinkers.
List of contents
Introduction Anna Marmodoro and Brian D. Prince; Part I. The Origin of the Cosmos: 1. Two early Stoic theories of cosmogony Ricardo Salles; 2. Plotinus' account of demiurgic causation and its philosophical background Riccardo Chiaradonna; 3. Creation and divine providence in Plotinus Christopher Isaac Noble and Nathan M. Powers; 4. Waiting for Philoponus Richard Sorabji; 5. Gregory of Nyssa on the creation of the world Anna Marmodoro; 6. Simplicius on elements and causes in Greek philosophy: critical appraisal or philosophical synthesis? Han Baltussen; Part II. The Origins of Human Agency: 7. Divine and human freedom: Plotinus' new understanding of creative agency Kevin Corrigan; 8. Consciousness and agency in Plotinus D. M. Hutchinson; 9. Neoplatonists on the causes of vegetative life James Wilberding; 10. Astrology and the will in Porphyry of Tyre Aaron P. Johnson; 11. Proclus on the ethics of self-constitution Michael Griffin; 12. Deficient causes: Augustine on creation and angels Gillian Clark; 13. Willed causes and causal willing in Augustine Mark Edwards; References; Index locorum; General index.
About the author
Anna Marmodoro is an Official Fellow in Philosophy at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. She is the author of Aristotle on Perceiving Objects (2014), and editor of a number of volumes including The Author's Voice in Classical and Late Antiquity (co-edited with Jonathan Hill, 2013) and The Metaphysics of Powers: Their Grounding and their Manifestations (2010).Brian D. Prince is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford. He has published articles in journals including Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science and Plato: The Internet Journal of the International Plato Society.
Summary
This volume is a unique collection of essays by an international team of leading scholars investigating the views of pagan and Christian philosophers on causation and creation in late antiquity. The book will be of interest to upper-level students and scholars of philosophy, classics, ancient history and theology.
