Papers by David D Butorac
Proclus and his legacy, 2017
I contend that Proclus’ conception of the soul is, in a certain respect, closer to Plotinus’ than... more I contend that Proclus’ conception of the soul is, in a certain respect, closer to Plotinus’ than he, himself, would allow. However, to see this similarity one has to grasp the common epistemological and ontological problems shared by Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus. Of course, there is a certain systematic coherence within Proclus’ account of the soul as descended, but there also remain fundamental problems or ambiguities, which Proclus in fact shares with all of his predecessors. Proclus develops what I will call a robust soul where not only is the soul descended, but, in that descended state as a soul, Proclus aims to imbue it with an inherent capacity to engage both in mathematical sciences and the like and in metaphysics / theology / highest dialectic. Yet insofar as the soul is robust and descended, it opens Proclus up to problems where the soul must precisely stop being soul - and here he merely recasts Plotinus' double soul in his own key. However, in this, we only see the common problem and tension within all pagan Neoplatonism and which Damascius goes some way to resolve.
Felsefede Yöntem (Method in Philosophy), 2016
My argument is that Plato uses each of the main characters to present an account and a criticism ... more My argument is that Plato uses each of the main characters to present an account and a criticism of each part of the Platonic Line, which proceeds by means in an interior critique. So for example, Phaedrus' account is both a presentation of sensation and contains elements at variance with this position; Pausanius' position incorporates those problematic elements in his presentation of opinion and it has problems that conflict with his principles. Eryximachus' does the same but from a dianoetic standpoint, which assumes a relation between human and divine. Aristophanes and Agathon's speech are the exception to this pattern, for each examines dianoia one-sidedly. Socrates / Diotima's speech unites the previous two speeches, which is essentially composed of seeing the necessary connection between the divine and human. With Diotima's speech we conclude the encomia on Eros, leaving Alcibiades' observation of his Eros for Socrates. Alcibiades, who was not present for the speeches, who cannot see the necessity of each part of the Line, and thus who cannot see the necessary relation of the divine and human, is a distorted mirror of Socrates, who can see and is thereby able to embody that necessity and relation. In other words, the dialogue form with Plato's manipulation of characters is itself a philosophical method, which he uses to explain central parts of his philosophical system (the Line), and is one with, as we see in the context and content of the dialogue, the flowering of Athenian intellectual life in comedy and tragedy, and, in this case, the necessity for a philosophy which sees the necessity of and relation between the divine and human.
ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΗ IN PROCLUS’ IN PARMENIDEM: A CORRECTION OF THE BUDÉ EDITION, May 2015
Proclus’ Interpretation of the "Parmenides", Dialectic and the Wandering of the Soul
An analysis of the concept of matter in three different Platonic thinkers, Philo Judaeus of Alexa... more An analysis of the concept of matter in three different Platonic thinkers, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Plotinus and Gregory of Nyssa.
Talks by David D Butorac
A recording of the paper I gave at Christ Church College, Oxford University in 2015.
Aristotle's ... more A recording of the paper I gave at Christ Church College, Oxford University in 2015.
Aristotle's Prior Analytics I 27 is a part of that work has, to put it mildly, not undergone intense scrutiny, whether in antiquity, the middle ages (Latin, Byzantinian or Arabic) and in contempory scholarship. We do possess Alexander Aphrodisias' commentary on it, as well as that of John Philoponus, purportedly based on lectures of Ammonius, who had in turn attended lectures by Proclus on the Analytics. However, there is one other ancient interpretation of this part of the work, which belongs to Proclus. Instead of being in the midst of a commentary on Aristotle, it is, unexpectedly, in the middle of his long commentary on Plato's Parmenides, and more unexpectedly still, Proclus claims that Aristotle copied the dialectical method of the Parmenides. This lecture will focus on the genesis of Proclus' interpretation in Alexander, and then use Philoponus to further undertand how Proclus used a part of Aristotle's Analytics to interpret, of all things, the theological dialectic par excellence.
From Parmenides onwards, the universe is often conceived of as a perfect sphere. Additionally, fr... more From Parmenides onwards, the universe is often conceived of as a perfect sphere. Additionally, from Pythagoras onwards, more often than not, the planets and stars were each understood to have a musical pitch. Plato unites these two traditions in his Timaeus and his account of the universe becomes the dominant, though not the only, explanation for the structure of the universe for the next 1800 years. All of nature and the cosmos was understood to be possessed of some essence, some soul or life, even the planets.
One of the most notable and influential syntheses of this tradition belongs to Boethius in his Consolation of Philosophy. There we find Lady Philosophy use all the arts to nurture the despondent Boethius back to spiritual and intellectual health. Throughout the work, we find Lady Philosophy make constant reference to the spheres and how Boethius must turn away from gazing at the dirt of his prison cell, away from the earth, and ascend through the planets towards the heavenly empyrean. It is only through this imaginative ascent that Boethius can gain his true consolation and freedom in the contemplation of the unmoved creator of the universe.
However, with the advent of modern cosmology, the status of the cosmos radically changes. Thus in one way of looking at it, the universe goes from being laden with beauty and value to res extensa. Descartes observes that the moon is just a rock. Further, with these changes in cosmology came radical changes in aesthetics, philosophy and morality. As John Donne (1572-1631), an Anglican poet and clergyman, observed, “The worlds beauty is decai’d… Loth to goe up the hill, or labour thus / To goe to heaven, we make heaven come to us” (An anatomy of the world. The first anniversary).
I will argue that this change in cosmology, rather than corrupting the morality or the beauty of the world, both places the human subject more deeply in the world and transforms our experience of it in a positive way as we can witness in baroque art and music.
Book Reviews by David D Butorac
Review of Fosca MARIANI ZINI, La Pensée de Ficin, Itinéraires néoplatoniciens, Paris, Vrin, coll.... more Review of Fosca MARIANI ZINI, La Pensée de Ficin, Itinéraires néoplatoniciens, Paris, Vrin, coll. « Bibliothèque d'histoire de la philosophie », 2014, 304 p.
The Classical Review (New Series), Jan 1, 2012
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Papers by David D Butorac
Talks by David D Butorac
Aristotle's Prior Analytics I 27 is a part of that work has, to put it mildly, not undergone intense scrutiny, whether in antiquity, the middle ages (Latin, Byzantinian or Arabic) and in contempory scholarship. We do possess Alexander Aphrodisias' commentary on it, as well as that of John Philoponus, purportedly based on lectures of Ammonius, who had in turn attended lectures by Proclus on the Analytics. However, there is one other ancient interpretation of this part of the work, which belongs to Proclus. Instead of being in the midst of a commentary on Aristotle, it is, unexpectedly, in the middle of his long commentary on Plato's Parmenides, and more unexpectedly still, Proclus claims that Aristotle copied the dialectical method of the Parmenides. This lecture will focus on the genesis of Proclus' interpretation in Alexander, and then use Philoponus to further undertand how Proclus used a part of Aristotle's Analytics to interpret, of all things, the theological dialectic par excellence.
One of the most notable and influential syntheses of this tradition belongs to Boethius in his Consolation of Philosophy. There we find Lady Philosophy use all the arts to nurture the despondent Boethius back to spiritual and intellectual health. Throughout the work, we find Lady Philosophy make constant reference to the spheres and how Boethius must turn away from gazing at the dirt of his prison cell, away from the earth, and ascend through the planets towards the heavenly empyrean. It is only through this imaginative ascent that Boethius can gain his true consolation and freedom in the contemplation of the unmoved creator of the universe.
However, with the advent of modern cosmology, the status of the cosmos radically changes. Thus in one way of looking at it, the universe goes from being laden with beauty and value to res extensa. Descartes observes that the moon is just a rock. Further, with these changes in cosmology came radical changes in aesthetics, philosophy and morality. As John Donne (1572-1631), an Anglican poet and clergyman, observed, “The worlds beauty is decai’d… Loth to goe up the hill, or labour thus / To goe to heaven, we make heaven come to us” (An anatomy of the world. The first anniversary).
I will argue that this change in cosmology, rather than corrupting the morality or the beauty of the world, both places the human subject more deeply in the world and transforms our experience of it in a positive way as we can witness in baroque art and music.
Book Reviews by David D Butorac
Aristotle's Prior Analytics I 27 is a part of that work has, to put it mildly, not undergone intense scrutiny, whether in antiquity, the middle ages (Latin, Byzantinian or Arabic) and in contempory scholarship. We do possess Alexander Aphrodisias' commentary on it, as well as that of John Philoponus, purportedly based on lectures of Ammonius, who had in turn attended lectures by Proclus on the Analytics. However, there is one other ancient interpretation of this part of the work, which belongs to Proclus. Instead of being in the midst of a commentary on Aristotle, it is, unexpectedly, in the middle of his long commentary on Plato's Parmenides, and more unexpectedly still, Proclus claims that Aristotle copied the dialectical method of the Parmenides. This lecture will focus on the genesis of Proclus' interpretation in Alexander, and then use Philoponus to further undertand how Proclus used a part of Aristotle's Analytics to interpret, of all things, the theological dialectic par excellence.
One of the most notable and influential syntheses of this tradition belongs to Boethius in his Consolation of Philosophy. There we find Lady Philosophy use all the arts to nurture the despondent Boethius back to spiritual and intellectual health. Throughout the work, we find Lady Philosophy make constant reference to the spheres and how Boethius must turn away from gazing at the dirt of his prison cell, away from the earth, and ascend through the planets towards the heavenly empyrean. It is only through this imaginative ascent that Boethius can gain his true consolation and freedom in the contemplation of the unmoved creator of the universe.
However, with the advent of modern cosmology, the status of the cosmos radically changes. Thus in one way of looking at it, the universe goes from being laden with beauty and value to res extensa. Descartes observes that the moon is just a rock. Further, with these changes in cosmology came radical changes in aesthetics, philosophy and morality. As John Donne (1572-1631), an Anglican poet and clergyman, observed, “The worlds beauty is decai’d… Loth to goe up the hill, or labour thus / To goe to heaven, we make heaven come to us” (An anatomy of the world. The first anniversary).
I will argue that this change in cosmology, rather than corrupting the morality or the beauty of the world, both places the human subject more deeply in the world and transforms our experience of it in a positive way as we can witness in baroque art and music.