BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH: THE HUMAN BEING IN PORPHYRY’S CONCEPTION
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH: THE HUMAN BEING IN PORPHYRY’S CONCEPTION
Author(s): Adriana NeacşuSubject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: human being; superior beings; Absolute Being; soul; body; god; animal; spiritual life; irrational life; happiness; Porphyry; Plotinus
Summary/Abstract: For Porphyry, the human being is a compound of soul, its divine and immortal part, which represents the essence of man, and body, its perishable part, that is only the im-age of the soul, its headquarters and sensitive instrument. Man can achieve happiness only by a spiritual life, according to its nature, a life free of physical needs as much as it is possible. The methods used in this sense imply the weakening of the link between mind and body. In this way the soul of man returns to the sky, meaning the sphere of God, which is its native country.
Journal: Dialogue and Universalism
- Issue Year: 2015
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 45-56
- Page Count: 12
- Language: English