author
Porphyry
A major voice in late ancient philosophy, this Neoplatonist thinker is remembered for shaping how later readers encountered Plotinus and Aristotle. His writings on logic, metaphysics, and religion influenced centuries of debate in both the Greek East and the Latin West.
1 Audiobook
Arguments of Celsus, Porphyry, and the Emperor Julian, Against the Christians
by active 180 Celsus (Platonic philosopher), Siculus Diodorus, Flavius Josephus, Emperor of Rome Julian, Porphyry, Cornelius Tacitus
About the author
Born in Tyre around 234 CE, Porphyry became one of the most important philosophers of late antiquity. He studied with Plotinus in Rome and later edited Plotinus's writings into the collection known as the Enneads, helping preserve one of the central texts of Neoplatonism.
He wrote widely on philosophy, religion, and interpretation. Among his best-known works is the Isagoge, an introduction to Aristotle's Categories that became hugely influential in medieval logic, as well as the Life of Plotinus, an essential source for understanding his teacher and their intellectual world.
Porphyry was also a sharp and sometimes controversial critic of religious belief and ritual, and his work sparked strong responses in later Christian thought. Even so, his influence reached far beyond a single tradition, shaping discussions of logic, metaphysics, and the classification of knowledge for many centuries.