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Iamblichus

c.245–345 · Syria (Apamea)
Iamblichus

Description

Iamblichus was a Syrian Arab Neoplatonic philosopher who determined a direction later taken by Neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of the Greek mystic, philosopher, and mathematician Pythagoras. In addition to his philosophical contributions, his Protrepticus is important for the study of the sophists because it preserved about ten pages of an otherwise unknown sophist, whose name is not mentioned and who is currently known as "Anonymus Iamblichi".

Facts

Bornc. 245, Chalcis ad Belum, Coele Syria, Roman Empire
Diedc. 325 (aged c. 80)
Other namesIamblichus Chalcidensis, Iamblichus of Chalcis, Iamblichus of Apamea
Academic advisorsAnatolius of Laodicea, Porphyry
EraAncient philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolNeoplatonism
Notable studentsAedesius, Dexippus, Sopater of Apamea, Theodorus of Asine
Main interestsMetaphysics, philosophical cosmology
Notable worksOn the Egyptian Mysteries
Notable ideasTheurgy

Life & work in brief

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Work / contributionSignificance
LifeAccording to the Suda and Iamblichus's biographer, Eunapius, Iamblichus was born in Chalcis (later called Qinnašrīn) in Coele Syria, now in northwest Syria.
PhilosophyIamblichus detailed Plotinus's Neoplatonic formal divisions, applied Pythagorean number symbolism more systematically, and (influenced by other Asian systems) interpreted Neoplatonic concepts mythically.
ReceptionIamblichus was praised by his followers, and contemporaries credited him with miraculous powers.
WorksOnly a fraction of Iamblichus's books have survived; knowledge of his system is preserved in fragments of writings preserved by Stobaeus and others: notes by his successors (especially Proclus), his five extant books and sections of his work on Pythagoreanism.