A Quick Note on Proclus

[sdi]

I was whining a few weeks ago about how trying to build a metaphysical system is stupid, since any given system cannot be powerful enough to prove itself, let alone more powerful systems: that is, metaphysics, being more powerful than physics by definition, can't be apprehended physically. In particular, I expressed frustration with modern commentators who criticized the Neoplatonists for failing to build a system or indeed assuming that's what they were up to. Since those commentators usually pointed to Proclus' Elements of Theology, I wondered whether Proclus himself considered that the goal.

I dug a little ways into the Elements to see for myself, and it seems obvious to me that Proclus was to teach rather than prove. One who wants to prove works bottom-up, from irrefutable axioms rooted in everyday experience; but the one who wants to teach works top-down, from simple to complex. That Proclus has borrowed the form of Euclid's Elements doesn't mean he has borrowed the means; his references to prior propositions seem to me to be an aid to the student, rather than a mathematical demonstration.

I keep getting frustrated with all the mistakes I make in trying to understand Plotinus—perhaps Proclus will be illuminating, when I get there.

Comments

[emmanuelg]

Hmm! So, to paraphrase and shamelessly borrow from others--
'The metaphysics that can be put into a metaphysical system is not the real metaphysics,'
And also-- "the teachings of Proclus are meant to train the mind, not to inform it." ;-)

[sdi]

Right :)

You can't use the reason to grasp the irrational: at best it can merely point the way!

I've been reading Journey in Truth and Pathways of Philosophy by Manly P. Hall, and one of his essential points is the distinction between Plato (idealism) and Aristotle (realism). He is careful to say that neither is wrong, but they do have their respective domains, and he repeatedly discusses the sorts of disasters that can occur is one applies Aristotelian methods, like scientific inquiry, in domains for which it is not suited, like heaven.