War Philosophy in Late Antiquity: The Neoplatonic Tradition

Authors

  • Luis Roger Castillo Universidad de Jaén

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i22.849

Keywords:

War Philosophy, Neoplatonism, Ethics, Late Antiquity, Justice

Abstract

The nature of war philosophy in Late Antiquitiy remains largely unexplored. Nevertheless, the analysis of warfare and the military constitutes a philosophical constant since Plato. For instance, in The Republic and The Laws Plato examines extensively the military establishment, its training, education and the composition of the army. Perhaps the greatest philosopher in Middle Platonism is Onesander, known for his military treatise Strategikos, where he takes a close look at the characteristics and knowledge a good general should possess. This philosophical tradition of analyzing the theoretical and practical aspects of warfare was taken up in Late Antiquity by the Neoplatonic philosophers. They explored the nature of war, what its goal, features and properties are; its ethical and behavioral aspects, focusing on the related virtues, its link with state rulers and whether or not it functions as a governing tool and how it differs from peace. War tends to be defined cosmologically as a manifestation on the political plane of the tension and conflict between opposites elements of the world. It is also conceived as an intervention meant to restore the previous, now-lost balance. In later works it has even been explored in terms of substrates, with each competing element attempting to occupy the opposing substrates. Hence, starting from the classical precedents of Plato and Onesander, these aspects in primary sources by Porphyry, Proclus, Olympiodorus and Themistius, among other contributions, will be analyzed in relation with Platonism's own tradition in order to reconstruct the philosophical approach to warfare during Late Antiquity.

 

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Author Biography

Luis Roger Castillo, Universidad de Jaén

Licenciado en Derecho (Universidad de Granada), Graduado en Teología (Facultad de Teología de Granada), Graduado en Filosofía (UNED) y Doctor en Filosofía (Universidad de Granada). Ejerce la docencia en el la Universidad de Jaén y en la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. Es editor de la revista académica International Journal of Religion in Society y presidente de la red Religion in Society Research Network. Sus principales campos de investigación son cultura y pensamiento en la Antigüedad Tardía, neoplatonismo, religiones comparadas y símbolos.

References

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OLIMPIODORO: Life of Plato and On Plato First Alcibiades 1-9, Londres, Bloomsbury, 2015.

ONESANDRO: Aeneas Tacticus, Asclepiodotus, Onasander, Londres, The Loeb Classical Library, 1923.

PROCLO: Alcibiades I, La Haya, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 1971.

SIRIANO: On Aristotle Metaphysics, Londres, Bloomsbury, 2006.

TEMISTIO, Discursos políticos, Gredos, Madrid, 2000.

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Published

2022-07-26

How to Cite

Roger Castillo, L. (2022). War Philosophy in Late Antiquity: The Neoplatonic Tradition. Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 11(22), 16–39. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v11i22.849

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 22 (2022): Bárbaros y santos: La guerra en la Antigüedad Tardía

Section

Dossier

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