Chapter I - DUALISM IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Part I discusses Roman Epicureanism, especially the position of Lucretius; § 2a states that he was a dualist.

Part II is about the Roman Stoics. The positions of Seneca and Epictetus are described, with the question of whether they were dualists.

Part IIII is about Roman Neopythagoreanism. Since the original Pythagoreanism displayed strong dualistic tendencies, it must be expected that Roman Pythagoreanism did the same. This is especially true of the philosophy of Numenius.

Part IV describes Middleplatonism. Its principal representants, Plutarch and Atticus, were dualists.

Part V is about Neoplatonism, with the last great philosophers of the ancient world, Porphyry, Iamblichus, Proclus, and above all, Plotinus. All of them were dualists, with their separation of body and soul, and a celestial world and a physical one. (Length of this chapter with notes, = 120 pp.)

Chapter II - DUALISM IN THE RELIGIONS OF LATE ANTIQUITY

The slow demise of the official Graeco-Roman religion with its state cult opened the road to new religions, all of them coming from the East and promising redemption. These new pagan cults were all dualistic.

Part I is about the cult of Dionyus-Bacchus, of which the Roman authorities were very much afraid.

Part II describes the very popular cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Part III is about an another very popular oriental cult, that of Mithras, which was thoroughly dualistic.

Part IV explains why this chapter is called `enemies of the Roman order'. These religions, as well as the Roman philosophers, just as Judaism and Christianity, rejected and denied the basic tenets of Roman ideology. (Length of this chapter, with notes, = 45 pp.)

Chapter III - ATTITUDES TO THE BODY AND SEXUALITY IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD

After an introduction on the subject of `naturalness', Part II discusses the pagan attitudes. They are described as `benevolent dualism': without being strongly moralistic, pagan authors on the whole did not think that sex is an unmitigated blessing. Their attitude is: handle with care, sex can be dangerous.

Part III discusses the Christian attitude, as found in the Fathers of the Church. The questions of why women cannot become priests and why priests may not marry, are discussed. The Fathers knew only too well that chastity was not highly appreciated in the pagan world; they were always cautious about the subject of sex. The position of Augustine, whomis supposed to have influence the medieval world, is amply discussed. (Length of this chapter, with notes = 71 pp.)

Chapter IV - CHRISTIANITY AND CHRISTIAN CULTURE : REJECTION OR ACCEPTANCE?

Since classical culture was naturally pagan, some Christian authors pleaded for its total rejection, particularly Tertullian. Later there was a change towards the positive, so that many important aspects of classical culture were accepted by the Christian world. (Length of this chapter, with notes, = 18 pp.)

This volume has a Manual, a Bibliography and a General Index.

With Volume XIV the treatment of the dualistic themes in Antiquity is completed.

Published in 1999 by J.C. Gieben, Publisher.
ISBN 90 5063 148 7