From Iamblichus To Eriugena: An Investigation Of The Prehistory And Evolution Of The Pseudo-dionysian Tradition

Between these covers lies the outcome of much reflection and research during the years 1969-76. At the beginning of this period, circumstances enabled me to devote special attention to the pagan Neoplatonic thought of Iamblichus and his successors and to the philosophy of the ninth century Latin writer Iohannes Scottus Eriugena. The similarities and dissimilarities between these two varieties of Neoplatonism (separated by a period of approximately five centuries and by that cultural shift of gravity manifested in the embracement of Christianity by all serious thinkers) were immediately apparent. However, the reasons for precisely those similarities and those dissimilarities were less obvious. I therefore embarked upon an investigation of the various phases through which the one mode of thought was progressively transformed into the other. My conclusionsーsome expected and some unexpectedーare summarized in the pages which follow.