Doctrine of illumination

Japanese: 照明説 - しょうめいせつ（英語表記）doctrine of illumination

An epistemological principle asserted especially in the Neoplatonic tradition. In the philosophies of Pythagoras and Parmenides before Plato, truth was considered to exist in itself, to be eternal and immortal, and to possess beauty, harmony, and logical clarity, and that this knowledge can only be obtained when the soul is freed from the congestion of the senses, becomes pure, and ascends to the world of light. This idea was used in Plato's theory of ideas and Plotinus' theory of nous (intellect), which taught the way of the purification and ascension of the soul, as well as the way in which the soul finds truth within itself through recollection.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

とくに新プラトン主義の伝統において主張された認識論上の原理。プラトン以前にもピタゴラスとパルメニデスの哲学では，真理はそれ自体で存在し，永遠不滅で美と調和と論理的透明さをもつものとされ，これの認識は霊魂が感覚の混雑を離れて純一となり，光の世界に昇ったときに初めて起こるとされた。この考えはプラトンのイデア説とプロティノスのヌース(知性)説に生かされ，霊魂の純化と上昇の道を教えるとともに，霊魂が想起によって自己のうちに真理を見いだすことも説かれた。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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