ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Péri Archôn by Damascius simultaneously represents, beyond the intention of the author, the implosion of neoplatonic metaphysics and the most thorough and wrenching attempt to keep it alive and to assert the systematic explanation of reality. In this line, the text is driven by a double movement: on the one hand, postulating the uncoordinated Absolute (the Ineffable) and, on the other hand, postulating some kind of coordination with the whole of reality. Based on a comparison with some of E. Lévinas’ theses, I will argue that Damascius, endowed with a consciousness surpassing that of his predecessors, perceived the danger of postulating the Ineffable as absolutely uncoordinated and unrelated: it leads to the radical unfoundation of reality. To avoid this, Damascius had to retrace his steps and relate the Ineffable in some way.
Keywords:
Absolute; Damascius; Ineffable; Neoplatonism; One