Three exemplary Deaths at the End of the Ancient World: Plotinus, Julian, Augustine.

Journal title RIVISTA DI STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA
Author/s Riccardo Chiaradonna
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/1 Language Italian
Pages 15 P. 25-39 File size 147 KB
DOI 10.3280/SF2023-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The present article focuses on three exemplary deaths in Late Antiquity: Plotinus (see Porphyry, Vita Plotini, 2);; the Emperor Julian (see Ammianus Marcellinus, XXV, 3, 22-­23);; Augustine (see Possidius, Vita Augustini, 28 and 31). It is argued that the three reports point to different philosophical and cultural backgrounds. Plotinus’ and Julian’s deaths mirror Socrates’ example recorded in Plato’s Phaedo. Their analogies notwithstanding, some interesting differences emerge. Plotinus is a sage who has attained a complete knowledge of reality through the conjunction of his embodied mind to his higher and purely intellectual self. Julian dies as philosopher-­king who is fully aware that his earthly performance has commended his soul to the heavenly sphere of the stars. Augustine dies as a Christian Saint who is tragically aware of his infirmity vis-­à-­vis God.

Keywords: Philosophical death, Plotinus, Emperor Julian, Augustine, Late Antiquity.

  1. -­ Agosti, Bianconi 2019: Gianfranco Agosti, Daniele Bianconi (a cura di), Pratiche didattiche tra centro e periferia nel Mediterraneo tardoantico, Fondazione CISAM, Spoleto 2019.
  2. -­ Alonso Nuñez 1976: José Miguel Alonso Nuñez, El último discurso del emperador Juliano según Ammiano Marcelino, «Hispania antiqua», 6 (1976), pp. 233-­238.
  3. -­ Bonazzi 2016: Mauro Bonazzi, Plotino: Sulla felicità, Introduzione, traduzione e note, Einaudi, Torino 2016.
  4. -­ Casaglia et al. 1997: Mario Casaglia, Chiara Guidelli, Alessandro Linguiti, Fausto Moriani, Enneadi di Plotino, traduzione e note, 2 voll., UTET, Torino 1997.
  5. -­ Célérier 2013: Pascal Célérier, L’ombre de l’empereur Julien: Le destin des écrits de Julien chez les auteurs païens et chrétiens du IVe au VIe siècle, Presses Universitaires de Paris Ouest, Paris 2013.
  6. -­ Chiaradonna 2019a: Riccardo Chiaradonna, Plotino e l’etica di Aristotele: Teoria, praxis, ragionamento deliberativo, in Masi et al. 2019, pp. 387-­401.
  7. -­ Chiaradonna 2019b: Riccardo Chiaradonna, Pratiche d’insegnamento filosofico nel IV secolo d.C. Intorno alla cosiddetta “Scuola di Pergamo”, in Agosti, Bianconi 2019, pp. 69-­89.
  8. -­ Corti 1983: Maria Corti, La felicità mentale. Nuove prospettive per Cavalcanti e Dante, Einaudi, Torino 2003.
  9. -­ D’Ancona 2002: Cristina D’Ancona, “To Bring Back the Divine in Us to the Divine in the All”, VP 2, 26-­27 Once Again, in Kobusch, Erler 2002, pp. 517-­565.
  10. -­ De Vita 2015: Maria Carmen De Vita, Giuliano e l’arte della “nobile menzogna” (Or. 7, Contro il Cinico Eraclio), in Marcone 2015, pp. 119-­148.
  11. -­ Den Boeft et al. 2005: Jan den Boeft, Jan Willem Drijvers, Daniël den Hengst, Hans
  12. C. Teitler, Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus XXV, Brill, Leiden-­Boston 2005.
  13. -­ Emilsson 2007: Eyjólfur K. Emilsson, Plotinus on Intellect, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2007.
  14. -­ Henry 1934: Paul Henry, Plotin et l’Occident: Firmicus Maternus, Marius Victorinus, Saint Augustin et Macrobe, Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, Louvain 1934.
  15. -­ Henry 1953: Paul Henry, La dernière parole de Plotin, «Studi Classici e Orientali», 2 (1953), pp. 116-­120.
  16. -­ Henry, Schwyzer 1964: Paul Henry, Hans-­Rudolph Schwyzer (ed.), Plotini Opera, t. I, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1964 (editio minor).
  17. -­ Hermanowicz 2008: Erika T. Hermanowicz, Possidius of Calama: A Study of the North African Episcopate at the Time of Augustine, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008.
  18. -­ Kalligas: Paul Kalligas, The Enneads of Plotinus. A Commentary, vol. 1, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2014.
  19. -­ Kobusch, Erler 2002: Theo Kobusch, Michael Erler (Hrsgg.), Metaphysik und Reli-­ gion. Zur Signatur des spätantiken Denkens, Saur, München-­Leipzig 2002.
  20. -­ Marcone 2015: Arnaldo Marcone (a cura di), L’imperatore Giuliano. Realtà storica e rappresentazione, Le Monnier, Firenze 2015.
  21. -­ Masi et al. 2019: Francesca Masi, Stefano Maso, Cristina Viano (a cura di), Êthikê Theôria. Studi sull’Etica Nicomachea in onore di Carlo Natali, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma 2019.
  22. -­ Mazza 1986: Mario Mazza, Le maschere del potere. Cultura e politica nella Tarda Antichità, Jovene, Napoli 1988.
  23. -­ Mohrmann et al. 1975: Christine Mohrmann, Antoon A.R. Bastiaensen, Luca Canali, Carlo Carena (a cura di), Vita di Cipriano, Vita di Ambrogio, Vita di Agostino, Mon-­ dadori, Milano 1975.
  24. -­ Most 2003: Glenn Most, Plotinus’ Last Words, «The Classical Quarterly», 53 (2003), pp. 576-­587.
  25. -­ O’Donnell 1999: James J. O’Donnell, The Next Life of Augustine, in Klingshirn, Vessey 1999, pp. 215-­231.
  26. -­ Riedweg 2019: Christoph Riedweg (Hrsg.), Philosophie für die Polis, De Gruyter, Berlin-­Boston 2019.
  27. -­ Schramm 2019: Michael Schramm, Politische Theologie und Religionspolitik bei Kaiser Julian, in Riedweg 2019, pp. 439-­460.
  28. -­ Tanaseanu-­Döbler 2008: Ilinca Tanaseanu-­Döbler, Konversion zur Philosophie in der Spätantike: Kaiser Julian und Synesios von Kyrene, Steiner, Stuttgart 2008.
  29. -­ Tanaseanu-­Döbler 2013: Ilinca Tanaseanu-­Döbler, Theurgy in Late Antiquity: The Invention of a Ritual Tradition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013.
  30. -­ William E. Klingshirn, Mark Vessey (eds.), The Limits of Ancient Christianity: Es-­ says on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1999.

Riccardo Chiaradonna, Tre morti esemplari alla fine del mondo antico: Plotino, Giuliano, Agostino in "RIVISTA DI STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA" 1/2023, pp 25-39, DOI: 10.3280/SF2023-001003