Abstract:

This article portrays the complex ways in which theurgy, or ritual practice, and philosophy, relate to each other in Late Antique post-plotinian Platonism, particularly Proclus’s case (V.), one of the most outstandig Hellenic philosophers. Being the activity of a divine eros, theurgy operates according to philosophical principles; it’s seen as an ethical tool. Also, it is linked with what Plato called the mania o sacred madness. And it is related too with the mantike, the hieratike techne and the telestike. The main objective of this article is to point towards a necessary modification of the still predominant view regarding the platonic philosophy of this period, as well as to signal the link between theurgy and fields of knowledge commonly seen as independent inside philosophy itself, resulting in a much more complete interpretation regarding the complex philosophical practice developed by the late Platonists.