Like the great 3rd-century Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus, Proclus taught the existence of an ultimate, indescribable reality, the One, from which lesser realities, including humanity and the material universe, are produced by a process of emanation. According to this tradition, the task of philosophy is to transcend the limitations of the human senses and intellect and thus to point the way to a mystical reunion of the individual with the One. This "negative theology" is, in essence, a religious interpretation of Plato's thought.
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