Great list, The Rodent. Socrates is also a hero of mine. But a question: Does neoplatonism believe in a supreme being or force behind the world's creation? I assume that philosophy took a great hit during the medieval ages, which centered around religion, as compared to the Greeks who exalted Man rather than God.
Well, a number of religious bases are derived from a relationship with Neoplatonism.
Neoplatonism itself could be considered a religion and quite often is.
Esotericism is similar but studies the basis of outward intelligence and a similar thinking known as Nous. Nous is basically logic and intelligence... sometimes referred to as
The Mind's Eye.
Plato was one of the first to research and reveal Esotericism... and Homer was a pioneer of Nous... which led other Philosophers down their paths to discover something called Prisca Theologia.
Esoteric religions include anything from early Christianity to Taoism and even Neoplatonism itself.
The type of thinking mentioned a moment ago called Prisca Theologia uses a lot of logic (Nous) and scientific research to understand the meaning behind why there are so many religions and the similarities between them.
Prisca Theologia, which was worked on by three of the names I mentioned: Hermes Trismegistus, Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola... are related to Hermeticism, Esotericism and... Neoplatonism...
Simple terms for Neoplatonism: Platonism with a capital 'P' is the study of Plato's teachings and the mindset of learning and developing those teachings. Using logic and intelligence to understand stuff.
The basic name for this is Neoplatonism.
platonism with a small 'p' is the use of Plato's teachings and the mindset of those teachings, basically logic, to understand and learn about
outward intelligences, third realm existences and so on... like God for instance... however platonists (small p) don't
have to use the logical side of Neoplatonic Philosophies as a lot of the time logic and science tends to discredit God and a third realm, spirituality and so on, but they can use Plato's teachings and Nous if they wish... and quite often do too.
All these things are connected through various means, but yes... some people who believe in Neoplatonic Philosophies believe in a God... or at least a God like "entity" that is behind all existence and use logic and science, namely Nous, to theorise and study how this illogical existence could work.
I'm one of them.
Another simpler term for it is
Perennial Philosophy. The Philosophy of Religion.