theoria (θεωρια)

(Language: Greek)

Short Description: contemplation, theory

Long Description: contemplation, theory; the contemplative virtue is called theoretike; like the beholding of festivals of the gods and their epiphanies, philosophy introduces the beholding of the well ordered cosmos, still called by the same word, theoria; in Neoplatonism, the creative power of the cosmos is contemplation ( theoria) and intellection (noesis), therefore divine praxis is theoria; for Plotinus, on every level of reality creation is the result of the energy produced by contemplation (Enn.8.3-4); every intellect contemplates directly itself; contemplation may be compared to the mystery-rites (teletai).

Sources: The Golden Chain: An Anthology of Platonic and Pythagorean Philosophy, by Dr. Algis Uždavinys