IM 



NKori.AToNlsM 



NEPAL 



Neoplatonist.s aimed at constructing a religion on 

 a basis nf dialectics. They -tune in attain a 

 knowledge of tin- lliglirl, and the way in which 

 they endeavoured tn accomplish this wan by assum- 

 ing tin- existence nl a capacity in man for pausing 

 l>eyonil the limit of hi- cin|iirical knowtadflV, ami 

 acquiring an intuitive knowledge of the absolute, 

 tin- true that which is Ix-vond and atnve the 

 fluctuations ami dubieties of 'opinion.' This im- 

 pci-onal facultv in called Kmlmi/. l!v mr.ui- of it 

 man -ceasing, however, to U- imliviiliml man can 

 identify himself with the Ab-oluie (ur Infinite). 

 Plolimis, in fact, Bet out from the belief that 

 ' philosophy ' in only possible through the identity 

 of the thinker, or rather of the subjective thought, 

 with tin- tiling thought of. or the objective thought. 

 Thi- intuitive group or vision ' of the Al>soliiie is 

 not constant; we can neither force nor retain it by 

 an effort of will ; it springs from a divine inspira- 

 tion ami enthusiasm higher '""I purer than that of 

 poet or prophet, and is the choicest 'gift "f Cud.' 



The god of I'lolinus and the other Alexandrians 

 is a mystical Trinity. The Divine Nature contains 

 within it three Hypostasex ( Sulwtauce- i ; its ha-i-. 

 if we may so s|>eak, is I'nity or Primitive Light. 

 This Unity is not it-elf any thing, but the principle 

 of all tiling- : it is absolute good, absolute per- 

 fection ; and, though it U utterly incapable of Ix-ing 

 conceived l>y the understanding, there is that in 

 man which a--mr- him that it the incompre- 

 hen-iblc. the ineil'alile M. From Unity, as the 

 primordial source of all tiling, emanate- Pure 

 Intelligence (A'oiw), it- reflection and image, that 

 l>y which it is intuitively apprehended ; from Pure 

 Intelligence, in turn, emanates the 'Soul of the 

 World," whose creative activity pi oil noes the sou Is of 

 men and animal-, anil ' Nature;' and finally, from 

 N Hire proceeds '.Matter,' which, however, is 

 subjected^ by Plotinus to such refinement of defini- 

 tion that it loses all its Crossness though he is 

 no finalist, and glories in the lieauty of the world. 

 1'nity, Pure Intelligence, and the World-Soul thus 

 constitute the Plotinian Triad, with which is 

 connected, as we have seen, the doctrine of an 

 eternal Emanation. Human souls, whose source 

 i- the Pure Intelligence, are by some mysterious 

 fate imprisoned here in |>uris)iable boities, and 

 the higher sort are ever striving to reascend to 

 their original home. 



The most distinguished pupil of Plotinus was 

 Porphyry, who mainly devoted himself to ex- 

 pounding and qualifying the philosophy of his 

 master. In him we see for the first time the 

 presence of a distinctively anti-Christian tendency. 

 S'eoplalom-ui, which can only lie properly under- 

 stood when we regard it a.s an attempt to place 

 Paganism on a philosophical basis to make the 

 k religion phihisopliieal, and Creek philosophy 

 religious did not i-i>n.\i-ii,n.i/i/ sot out ;i> the antag- 

 onist of Christianity. Neither . \miiionius Sacca.s 

 nor Plotinus a ailed the new faith : hut as the 

 latter continued to grow, and to attract many of 

 the most powerful intellects of the age into its 

 wrvice, this latent antipathy licgan to show it-ell. 

 Porphyry wrole against Christianity; lauililieliu-, 

 the most noted of his pupil-, did the same. The 

 latter also intioduccd a thciiigic or ' magical ' 

 element into Neoplatonisni, teaching, among other 

 thing-, tli.it certain mystical exercises and symliols 

 fxerci-cd a su|H>rnaturnl influence over thcdivini- 

 ties. Magic and spiritualism are always popular, 

 ami it i- therefore not wonderful that lambliohiis 

 should have bad numerous followers. .Kde-iu- 

 succeeded to hi- ma-tei's chair. From the SC|HK>| 

 of one of his ili-ciple-, Maximus, came the 

 Emperor Julian, whose patronage for a moment 

 sheii a gleam of splendour over Neoplatonisni, anil 

 seemed to promise it a universal victory. 



After a succession of able but not always con- 

 si-tent teachers, among \\honi is to lie reckoned the 

 noble Hypatia. we reach Pnx'lus, the last great 

 Neoplatonist, who Ix-longs to the 5th century, a 

 man of prodigious learning, and of an enthusiastic 

 tempeiament. in whom the pagan-religious, and 

 t-on-ei|iietitly anti-Chrisliaii. toiidenc\ ol the Neo 

 platonic philo-ophy culminated. Ills ontology 

 was lia-ed on the Triad of Plotinns, but was con 

 sideral.lv mixlifieil in detail; he exalted 'Faith' 

 alNive Science ' as a means of reaching the 

 Al-oluie I'nity ; wa- a lieliever in Theurgy, and so 

 naturally laid great sires- u]>on the ancient Chal- 

 dican oracles, Orjihic hymns, mysteries, >\c.. which 

 he regarded as divine revelations, and of which lie 

 considered himself -a-, indeed, lie was the la-i 

 great 'inter|iret<>r. ' Hi- hostility to the Christian 

 religion was keen ; in its success he saw only the 

 triumph of a vulgar |n>pular su|>erstitiim over the 

 relineil and iM-ailtifnl theories of philosophv ; it 

 was as if he beheld a horde of barbarians de/acing 

 the statues and records of the Pantheon. The 

 disciples of Proclns were numerous, but not re 

 markable for talent. Perhaps the ablest of lii- 

 successors was DanmsciiM, in whose time the 

 Kni|MMor .lustinian, by an arbitrary decree, closed 

 the schools of the heathen philosophers. Neo 

 platonism soon ceased to exist as a system : Inn it 

 -rived as a schoolmaster to bring the mediicval 

 thinkers to Plato and Aristotle, it served a- the 

 nurse of Christian mysticism, and it bad helped to 

 mould the mind of Augustine. From a -cientilic 

 ]H)int of view it was retrogressive, perver-e. absurd ; 

 \ct in the moral and religious sphere it niaintained 

 a high and holy ideal, and fostered a firm lieliet in 

 that which is above the empirical. 



See Xi-ller's Hittory of Grftk Philotopliy ; Ueberweg 

 and the otlu-r historians of philosophy ; Herzog-lMitt'- 

 RcalrnciiMopadie ; the church histories ; Kinimlvy '* 

 Alisituitriii and litr Nchools, and his Jly/iatia ; Bi|Q!'a 

 I'lirutian Platoniitt of Alijciimiria (ISHS); Simon. // 

 tairt dcVBcolt ifAlexandrit (1845); Vaclnr.it. // 

 rrilii/iii' <l< rfoule d'Altxandrit (1861) ; and the rtirlr- 

 hereiu on PLATO. Snuri-M. I'mm. (iHK;r:s. (isosTI- 

 C1SM, PlXJTINfs. I'dlirllVHV. lAMBLICHUS, PKOt'Ll s. 



\<>o-r>tlin".orc;illisill stood to Pythagoras 

 somewhat as Neoplatonisni did to Plato, and 

 was an Alexandrian development under oriental 

 influences. It originated in the first half of the 



century before Christ, and was accordingly the 

 predecessor of Neoplatonisni. Neo Pythagoreans 

 may ! divided into two groups, according as their 

 aims were mainlv practical the purification and 

 ennobling of life by asceticism, including theurgy, 

 or more modestly metaphysical basing their views 

 on the Pythagorean theory of number- < -re \'\ 1 11A- 

 <;m:AS). Of the former school Apolloniils (q.v.) of 

 Tyana is the most conspicuous example : of the 

 latter. MiMleratu- of Cades, Nicomachus of (Jerasa 

 r.'d century A.l>.). An-hytas (q.v.), and Sextius. 

 See the works cited at NEOIM.ATOMSM. 



Nrn/.oir I Cr.. ' new life '), a term introduced by 

 Edward l''orl>es to include all the strata from tin- 

 Trias to the most recent de|>osit8. Few geologists 

 have adopted the term ; the systems in question 

 being generally divided into t he groups of Secondary 

 fir Meso/oic, Tertiary or Caino/oic, and Quaternary 

 or Post-Tertiary. 



Nepnl. an independent kingdom of India, lying 

 on the southern face of the Himalayas, is bounded 

 on the N. by TiU-t, on the S. and W. by Bengal, 

 and on the K. by Sikkim. u protected state. Long. 

 -ii r, ss u' E. It is 512 miles in length, by 

 TII to l.'iO ill breadth. Area, 54, (KM) sq. in.: pop. 

 estimated by native authorities at more than 

 5,500,(KHl. though i.robably half that number is 

 nearer the mark. The northern part* of the state 

 embrace the main range of the Himalayas (q.v.), 



