The Platonizing Sethian background of Plotinus's mysticism / / by Alexander J. Mazur ; revised edition by Dylan M. Burns, with Kevin Corrigan [and three others].

• Superior document: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; Volume 98
• VerfasserIn: Mazur, Zeke,
• TeilnehmendeR: Burns, Dylan M.,; Corrigan, Kevin,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; Volume 98.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

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.