Cosmic Sympathy in Neoplatonism

Wider research context/theoretical framework
There is so far no extensive, book-length study devoted to cosmic sympathy in Neoplatonism, although the concept is central to Neoplatonic thought and influenced also later philosophical views shaped by Neoplatonism. It is an important gap the applicant intends to fill through this research.
Hypotheses/research questions/objectives
This project seeks to analyze the paradigm of cosmic sympathy in Neoplatonism, and more particularly in Plotinus, Iamblichus, and Proclus. What does the idea of the universe considered as a single living being imply when it comes to the limits between the divine and the non-divine, the sacred and the profane? To what extent should nature be considered as divine according to the Neoplatonists? What role do metaphysical feminine principles such as the World Soul, chôra, Physis and the goddess Aphrodite identified with Harmony play in Neoplatonic cosmic sympathy (henceforth ‘NCS’)? The candidate will demonstrate that : 1) nature is part of the divine in Neoplatonic cosmic sympathy, 2) NCS calls for vitalism and hence vegetarianism 3)
feminine principles are at the heart of NCS.
Approch/methods
This research proposes a synchronic approach, that considers and compares Plotinus' Enneads, Iamblichus' De Mysteriis and Proclus' Commentaries on the Timaeus and the Republic, as well as the Chaldean Oracles and the Corpus Hermeticum. The applicant will analyze the concepts arising from Neoplatonic cosmic sympathy in order to reconstruct its philosophical and theological frameworks.
Level of originality/innovation
The candidate will produce the first systematic and extensive study entirely devoted to cosmic sympathy in late antique Neoplatonism. This research will fill the gap regarding Neoplatonic cosmology and provide the first work of reference on the topic to scholars of the field, and more broadly to philosophers, historians of religion and philologists. It will also build a valuable bridge between late antique Philosophy and Environmental Philosophy and demonstrate that NCS is a key philosophical tool for a better understanding the current ecological crisis.
Primary researchers involved
The candidate completed her PhD at Paris Sorbonne on Neoplatonism. She is the editor in chief of Initiatic Religious Experience in Neoplatonism: from Late Antiquity to the
Renaissance (Mimesis Edizioni, 2023) and has published several studies in both international peer reviewed journals and collective volumes. Her contribution to field is also recognized by her membership in the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism, in Centre Léon Robin and in the Foro di Studi Avanzati Gaetano Massa.