Also known as:
German: Numenios von Apamea;
Greek: Νουμήνιος ὁ ἐξ Ἀπαμείας;
French: Numénius d'Apamée;
Latin: Numenius Apameensis
NUMENIUS OF APAMEA. - Philosopher of the 2nd century AD, born in Apamea (Syria), author of important works (On the Divergence of the Academics from Plato; On the Secret Doctrines in Plato; On the Good, etc.), of which only fragments remain.
N. draws his inspiration from Plato and Pythagoras and is to be regarded as the immediate precursor of Neoplatonism (v.).
He bases his ontology on the Platonic concept that true existence does not belong to mutable matter, but rather to what is eternal and immutable. He distinguishes a supreme God, devoid of activity (βασιλεός ἀργός), and a second God, inferior to the first, that is, the δημιουργός θεός, creator of the world; and he then regards the world itself as a third God: whence one can find in him a prelude to the Neoplatonic trinity. In eternal and uncreated matter lies the principle of evil; in man there exist two conflicting ψυχαί, one rational and one irrational (an affinity with Persian dualism). Besides Plato and Pythagoras, N. was in reality inspired by Oriental doctrines, and he extended this syncretism also to the Jewish religion, regarding, for example, Plato as an "Atticizing Moses."
Bibliography4 worksedd.: the Fragmenta, in K. S. Guthrie (ed. and trans.), Lazac 1929; in A. Leemans, N. con A., Brussels 1937. On N., K. S. Guthrie, N. of A.,
BIBL.: edd.: the Fragmenta, in K. S. Guthrie (ed. and trans.), Lazac 1929; in A. Leemans, N. con A., Brussels 1937. On N., K. S. Guthrie, N. of A., the father of Neo-Platonism, London 1917; Überweg, I, p. 520 ff. (bibl.); further indications in W. Ziegenfuss, Philosophen-Lexikon, II, Berlin 1950, pp. 222-223.
Del, Re Raffaello. “Numenio di Apamea.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, coll. 1993–1994. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/numenio-di-apamea.
MLA
Del, Re Raffaello. “Numenio di Apamea.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. VIII, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, coll. 1993–1994. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/numenio-di-apamea.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec8_numenio_di_apamea,
author = {Del, Re Raffaello},
title = {Numenio di Apamea},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {VIII},
pages = {1993--1994},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/numenio-di-apamea}
}
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