Non-Theurgy: Iamblichus and Laruelle
Labyrinth September 20, 2018 Stanimir Panayotov
This text experiments with mysticism, theurgy, and non-philosophy by comparing Iamblichus' theurgy, Laruelle's non-philosophy, and the notion of the Vision-in-One. It argues their convergence lies in a shared allegiance to the theory of the One from Plato's Unwritten Doctrines. Both Iamblichus and Laruelle treat the One with a similar procedural gesture: the procession from the noematic to the aesthetic realm. They reject the idea that the soul's descent from the One to the visible world is a degeneration of the Nous. Laruelle's Vision-in-One, akin to theurgy, aims to think from the One rather than of the One, materializing the disembodied fate of the noema against realistic skepticism.