Proclus • on kinds of Soul
“But all habitude is produced through imitation and similitude; and hence temples imitate the heavens, but altars the earth; statues resemble life, and on this account they are similar to animals; and prayers imitate that which is intellectual; but characters, superior ineffable powers; herbs and stones resemble matter; and animals which are sacrificed, the irrational life of our souls.” - Proclus, Works of Proclus
As a Neoplatonist, Proclus believed that thoughts constitute reality, while concrete "things" are mere appearances, and recognized three fundamental levels of reality called 'hypostases': One, Intellect, and Soul.
These hypostases are also mentioned as ‘conditions of Being’.
Conditions of the One or En(-tity), and conditions of human beings.
ত He believed that souls are self-moving principles that represent the lowest level of entities that are capable of reverting upon itself. Souls are incorporeal, separable from bodies, and indestructible/immortal.
In his theories, Proclus speaks of 2 kinds of soul. The World Soul and the human soul.
ত In regards to the World Soul, he believed it infuses the sensible, temporal, divided, and material cosmos with unity and Forms ultimately deriving from the One and Intelligible Being. He saw the World Soul as a psychic life of the universe that resolves the problem of the co-presence of movement and unity by invoking a chain of continuity.
He believed that the World Soul is a self-moving principle that represents the lowest level of entities that are capable of reverting upon itself.Also, the World Soul is a necessary condition for the existence of the universe, as it allows for the lower entities to participate in the higher ones and for the universe to be a unified whole.
Regarding the rational human soul, throughout his works, Proclus used the concept of the rational soul to explain the nature of the self and the individual's relationship to the divine
He thought of the irational human soul as a self-moving principle that represents the lowest level of entities that are capable of reverting upon itself.
In addition, the human soul's attention, while inhabiting a body, is turned so far away from its origin in the intelligible world, and that we need to make use of bodily reminders of our spiritual origin.
These practices are part of what Proclus names ‘theurgy’ and implementing them to one’s life enhances their Methexis with the Source.
ত Lastly, Proclus distinguished the irrational powers of sensation and appetite from the rational human soul. He believed that these powers do not belong to the soul sensu stricto.
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