Time’s Causal Power : Proclus and the Natural Theology of Time

"This is the first monograph dedicated entirely to Proclus' theory of time, showing the roots of his obscure claim that time is a god and a cause in his reception of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Plotinus. Proclus' theory of time appears as a natural theology, a reasoned ascent to divine principles starting from natural phenomena (in particular, from natural cycles and their synchronization). This theological approach to time develops the pioneering psychological approach of Proclus' predecessor Plotinus, anchoring time not in the world soul, but in the divine unchanging source of the world soul's life."-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Scope and Aims of the Book Distinctive Characteristics of Proclus’ Philosophy of Time Structure of the Book Chapter 1 Sources of Proclus’ Philosophy of Time in Plato 1.1 Plato’s Timaeus as a Source: The Engineering of Time 1.1.1 Time as a Product of the Cosmic Engineer, Intelligence 1.1.2 Time as a Product of the World’s Paradigm, the Eternal Living Being 1.1.3 Time, Soul and the Celestial Bodies between Eternity and Change 1.1.4 Time, Eternity and Tense 1.2 Plato’s Republic as a Source: The Cycles of Time Chapter 2 The Aristotelian Element: The Order of Time as Number and as Intelligence 2.1 Factors in Proclus’ Reception of Aristotle 2.2 Aristotle on Time as the Number Counted in Change 2.3 Proclus’ Absorption of Aristotle’s Grounding of Change in the Philosophy of Time 2.3.1 Aristotle and Proclus on Time and Unchanging Agents of Change 2.3.2 Aristotle and Proclus on Time and Infinitely Powerful Agents of Change 2.3.3 Aristotle and Proclus on Time and Intelligence as the Primary Agent of Change 2.4 Time as the World’s Specific Kind of Intelligence Chapter 3 The Stoic Element: A Biology of the World as a Whole 3.1 Plato and Aristotle on the Omnipresence of Time’s Passage 3.2 The Stoic Biology of the Universe and the Unity of Change 3.3 The Biology of the World in Plotinus’ Theory of Time 3.4 Proclus’ Biology of the World Chapter 4 The Plotinian Element: The Flow of Time as the Life of the World Soul 4.1 Platonic Sources and Aristotelian Objections to Time’s Uniform Flow 4.2 Time’s Flow as the Soul’s Engineering of the World in Plotinus 4.2.1 Eternal Activity, Change Itself and the Engineering of the World in Plotinus 4.2.2 Plotinus on Time: Time Is the Activity of Engineering of the World Soul 4.2.3 Two Corollaries: Time Is Not a Measure and the Soul Is Not in Time 4.3 Time’s Flow as the Contemplative Activity of the World Soul in Proclus 4.3.1 Metaphysical Background: Activity and Process in Proclus 4.3.2 Time’s Flow Is the Contemplative Activity of the World Soul 4.3.3 Proclus on Time in the Soul and Time as a Number 4.4 A Tension in Proclus’ Description of Time’s Flow Conclusion The Natural Theology of Time in Proclus Bibliography Texts, Abbreviations and Citation Practices Translations Modern Scholarship Index Locorum Name Index Subject Index Alphabetical