On the existence of evils Proclus ; translated by Jan Opsomer & Carlos Steel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Proclus, approximately 410-485, author.

Contributor:

Opsomer, Jan, editor.

Steel, Carlos G., editor.

Series:

Ancient commentators on Aristotle

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Good and evil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (160 pages).

Place of Publication:

London Bloomsbury Academic 2013.

Summary:

"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."--Bloomsbury Publishing

Contents:

Preface

Introduction

Textual Emendations

TRANSLATION

Notes

Bibliography English-Greek

Glossary Greek-English Index

Index of Passages Cited

Subject

Index

Notes:

First published in 2003 by Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd

Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Electronic reproduction. London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement

ISBN:

9781472552136

OCLC:

1138655403