Select works of Porphyry : Containing his four books on abstinence from animal…
"Select works of Porphyry : Containing his four books on abstinence from animal…." by Porphyry is a collection of philosophical treatises written in the 3rd century. It gathers his ethical case for abstaining from animal food, an allegorical interpretation of Homer’s Cave of the Nymphs, and brief auxiliaries for understanding intelligible realities, here presented in English with scholarly framing. The focus is Neoplatonic ethics and metaphysics aimed at a contemplative, purified life,
with a translator’s appendix elaborating the Odyssey’s allegory. The opening of the volume presents a translator’s introduction that sketches Porphyry’s life, his role in transmitting and clarifying Platonism, and outlines the contents and aims of the included works. Then Book I of On Abstinence begins as a letter rebuking a friend (Firmus) for returning to meat-eating; Porphyry announces that he will answer the strongest objections—from Stoics, Peripatetics, Epicureans, and a polemicist named Clodius—and he summarizes their claims about justice, utility, law, sacrifice, medicine, population, and transmigration. He then marks off his true audience—those seeking a contemplative life—and argues that happiness is living according to intellect, which requires withdrawing from the senses and passions (especially those inflamed by diet), cultivating solitude and moderation, and choosing light, simple foods so the soul loosens its bond to the body and turns upward to intelligible being. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Porphyry, 234?-305? |
|---|---|
| Translator | Taylor, Thomas, 1758-1835 |
| Title | Select works of Porphyry : Containing his four books on abstinence from animal food; his treatise on the Homeric cave of the nymphs; and his Auxiliaries to the perception of intelligible natures. With an appendix, explaining the allegory of the wandering of Ulysses |
| Original Publication | London: Thomas Rodd, 1823. |
| Credits | The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion |
| Subject | Odysseus, King of Ithaca (Mythological character) |
| Subject | Soul -- Early works to 1800 |
| Subject | Mind and body -- Early works to 1800 |
| Subject | Vegetarianism -- Early works to 1800 |
| Subject | Neoplatonism -- Early works to 1800 |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77014 |
| Release Date | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 636 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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