neoplatonism Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a system of philosophical and theological doctrines composed of elements of Platonism and Aristotelianism and oriental mysticism; its most distinctive doctrine holds that the first principle and source of reality transcends being and thought and is naturally unknowable
    • Neoplatonism was predominant in pagan Europe until the 6th century
    • Neoplatonism was a major influence on early Christian writers and on later medieval and Renaissance thought and on Islamic philosophy

WordNet

Ne`o*pla"to*nism noun
Etymology
Neo- + Platonism.
Definitions
  1. A pantheistic eclectic school of philosophy, of which Plotinus was the chief (A. D. 205-270), and which sought to reconcile the Platonic and Aristotelian systems with Oriental theosophy. It tended to mysticism and theurgy, and was the last product of Greek philosophy.

Webster 1913