Book contents
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Concept in Early Greek Philosophy
- Chapter 2 The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry
- Chapter 3 Early Learning in Plato, Republic 7
- Chapter 4 Are Platonic Forms Concepts?
- Chapter 5 Do Forms Play the Role of Concepts in Late Plato?
- Chapter 6 Concepts and Concept Formation in Aristotle’s Logical Works
- Chapter 7 Concepts and Universals in Aristotle’s Metaphysical Thought
- Chapter 8 Aristotle on the Stages of Cognitive Development
- Chapter 9 Epicureans on Preconceptions and Other Concepts
- Chapter 10 The Stoics on Conceptions and Concepts
- Chapter 11 Doing Things with Concepts in Sextus Empiricus
- Chapter 12 Relative Concepts
- Chapter 13 Concepts in Greek Mathematics
- Chapter 14 Platonist Notions and Forms
- Chapter 15 Contested Concepts
- Chapter 16 Alexander of Aphrodisias on Concepts
- Chapter 17 Plotinus on Concepts
- Chapter 18 Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition
- Chapter 19 Early Christian Philosophers on Concepts
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 18 - Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2024
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Concept in Early Greek Philosophy
- Chapter 2 The Place of Concepts in Socratic Inquiry
- Chapter 3 Early Learning in Plato, Republic 7
- Chapter 4 Are Platonic Forms Concepts?
- Chapter 5 Do Forms Play the Role of Concepts in Late Plato?
- Chapter 6 Concepts and Concept Formation in Aristotle’s Logical Works
- Chapter 7 Concepts and Universals in Aristotle’s Metaphysical Thought
- Chapter 8 Aristotle on the Stages of Cognitive Development
- Chapter 9 Epicureans on Preconceptions and Other Concepts
- Chapter 10 The Stoics on Conceptions and Concepts
- Chapter 11 Doing Things with Concepts in Sextus Empiricus
- Chapter 12 Relative Concepts
- Chapter 13 Concepts in Greek Mathematics
- Chapter 14 Platonist Notions and Forms
- Chapter 15 Contested Concepts
- Chapter 16 Alexander of Aphrodisias on Concepts
- Chapter 17 Plotinus on Concepts
- Chapter 18 Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition
- Chapter 19 Early Christian Philosophers on Concepts
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Péter Lautner’s chapter ‘Concepts in the Neoplatonist Tradition’ expands the scope of the enquiry by discussing Platonist theories of concept formation in Late Antiquity. Generally speaking, the philosophers belonging to the so-called schools of Athens and Alexandria believe that the articulation of our rational capacity and the acquisition of knowledge somehow derives from the senses as well as the intellect, and they mostly agree that some elements of concept formation, notably generalisation, occur on the basis of sense-perception. They disagree, however, as to whether or not such generalisations are full-blown concepts. While all the philosophers under consideration endorse some version of the view that the main source of concepts is our intellect, which essentially contains fully fledged concepts, their accounts vary in respect of the intellect’s ability to project concepts onto the lower cognitive faculties. The problem of how the two kinds of concepts mentioned above are related to each other occupies the Platonists through the entire period under examination and constitutes the focus of Lautner’s analysis.
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- Conceptualising Concepts in Greek Philosophy , pp. 404 - 426Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024