Porphyry
Porphyry
234-circa 305 c.e.
Neoplatonic philosopher
Devoted Student. Probably of Syrian background and originally named Malchus, Porphyry was likely born in Tyre. He studied with Plotinus in Rome in the 260s and attempted to integrate systematic Aristotelian logic with Plotinus’s new interpretation of Plato. He wrote commentaries on the works of Plato and Aristotle and saw to the posthumous publication of Plotinus’s Enneads. He was critical of the Christians and wrote a work against them. He was, however, respectful of traditional forms of religious ritual and belief.
Sources
John J. O’Meara, Porphyry’s Philosophy from Oracles in Augustine (Paris: Etudes Augustiniennes, 1959).
Andrew Smith, Porphyry’s Place in the Neoplatonic Tradition: A Study in PostPlotinian Neoplatonism (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1974).