Reading list

Neoplatonism

From Plato to Plotinus, Proclus and the Christian heirs of the One.

Advanced. 6 steps

Stage I: Plato

Text
Symposium
Plato, tr. Benjamin Jowett, 1871
Diotima’s ascent to Beauty itself, the model for every later ascent.
Text
The Republic
Plato, tr. Benjamin Jowett, 1871
The sun, the line and the cave, and the Good beyond being (books VI–VII).

Text
The Enneads
Plotinus, tr. Stephen MacKenna, 1917
Read I.6 on beauty, then V.1 on the three principles, then VI.9 on the One.
Concept
The One
How the One differs from being, and why it can be spoken of only by negation.

Text
The Elements of Theology
Proclus, tr. E. R. Dodds, 1933
The late systematic form of Neoplatonism, with Dodds’s indispensable commentary.

Text
Dionysius the Areopagite on the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, tr. C. E. Rolt, 1920
How Neoplatonism became Christian negative theology in the Mystical Theology.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “Neoplatonism.” Reading list. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/neoplatonism-reading-list.
Chicago (note): “Neoplatonism,” reading list, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/neoplatonism-reading-list.
MLA: “Neoplatonism.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/neoplatonism-reading-list.
BibTeX: @misc{reading-lists-neoplatonism-reading-list, title = {{Neoplatonism}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Reading list. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/reading-lists/neoplatonism-reading-list} }