The Platonizing Sethian background of Plotinus's mysticism /

The Platonizing Sethian background of Plotinus's mysticism /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Mazur, Zeke, author.
Edition:	Revised edition
Imprint:	Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021] ©2021
Description:	xvii, 337 pages ; 25 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies, 0929-2470 ; volume 98 Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; 98.
Subject:	Plotinus. Platonists. Neoplatonism. Sethians. Mysticism. One (The One in philosophy)
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12417669

Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:	Platonizing Sethian Gnostic background of Plotinus' mysticism
Other authors / contributors:	Burns, Dylan M., editor. Corrigan, Kevin, editor. Miroshnikov, Ivan, 1986- editor. Rasimus, Tuomas, editor. Turner, John Douglas, editor.
ISBN:	9789004441675 9004441670 9789004441712
Notes:	Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Chicago, 2010, titled The Platonizing Sethian Gnostic background of Plotinus' mysticism. Includes bibliographical references (pages [319]-337).
Summary:	"In The Platonizing Sethian Background of Plotinus's Mysticism, Zeke Mazur offers a radical reconceptualization of Plotinus with reference to Gnostic thought and praxis. A crucial element in the thought of the third-century CE philosopher Plotinus-his conception of mystical union with the One-cannot be understood solely within the conventional history of philosophy, or as the product of a unique, sui generis psychological propensity. This monograph demonstrates that Plotinus tacitly patterned his mystical ascent to the One on a type of visionary ascent ritual that is first attested in Gnostic sources. These sources include the Platonizing Sethian tractates Zostrianos (NHC VIII,1) and Allogenes (NHC XI,3) of which we have Coptic translations from Nag Hammadi and whose Greek Vorlagen were known to have been read in Plotinus's school"--

Table of Contents:

Introduction : The gnostic background of Plotinus's mysticism
The structure of Plotinus' ascent to mystical union with the One
The identity of prenoetic and hypernoetic subjects in Plotinus
"The way of ascent is the way of descent" : the mechanism of transcendental apprehension in Platonizing Sethian Gnosticism
Conclusion: Dissolving boundaries.