Medieval Platonism: Between Metaphysics and Deconstruction

Stephen Gersh is a medievalist who is a former Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and current Professor of Medieval Studies and Philosophy at Notre Dame.

His books include Kinesis Akinetos. A Study of Spiritual Motion in the Philosophy of Proclus (1973), From Iamblichus to Eriugena. An Investigation of the Prehistory and Evolution of the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition (1978), Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism, The Latin Tradition, 2 vols. (1986, Revised Italian edition 2010), Concord in Discourse. Harmonics and Semiotics in Late Ancient and Early Medieval Platonism (1996).

In this lecture, Gersh discusses Platonic influences upon the Middle Ages, focusing on questions that are basic to scholars of medieval philosophy, history, and literature: What was the influence of Plato’s philosophy during the Middle Ages? Is it correct to consider earlier medieval philosophy as Platonic? How do Platonism and Neoplatonism differ? What do Platonic and Neoplatonic modes of thought have to do with Plato?

Image: Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame