Iamblichus’ Path to the Ineffable

Abstract

Iamblichus of Chalcis postulated theurgy on metaphysical grounds as the only means of communion with the supreme principle of everything that exists. Iamblichus set this principle as a completely transcendent reality, unattainable by reason, and, at the same time, differs from Plotinus, who postulated absolute withdrawal from everything and conceived union with the One as an escape in solitude to the solitary. Iamblichus conceives matter as an instrument for the soul’s ascent to that principle and explicitly proposes a mysticism of solidarity with the cosmos and with other souls.