IX. Four points of view from which every great philosophical system may be considered, 334—Inferiority of Neo-Platonism to the older schools of Greek thought in absolute value, 335—Deserved neglect into which it has fallen, 336—In combining the metaphysics of Plato and Aristotle with Stoicism, Plotinus eliminates the elements of truth and utility which they severally contain, 336—High aesthetic value of Neo-Platonism, 338—Purity and unworldliness of Plotinus, 339—Complete self-absorption of thought which he represents, 340. X. Neo-Platonism not a product of Oriental tendencies, 341—Nor of the religious revival of the empire, 342—Nor a mystical reaction against Scepticism, 343—Independent attitude of Plotinus towards the old religion, 344—His views on immortality, 345—His relation to pantheism, 346—His attack on the Gnostics, 347—Plotinus on the relation between religion and morality, 348—Neo-Platonism a part of the great classical revival, 349. XI. The place of Plotinus in the history of philosophy, 350—The triumph of spiritualism due to his teaching, 350—He secures the supremacy of Plato and Aristotle during the Middle Ages, 351—His interpretation of Plato universally accepted until a recent date, 352—The pantheistic direction of modern metaphysics largely determined by Plotinus, 353—Neo-Platonic derivation of the Unknowable, 353—Atavism in philosophy, 355. XII. History of Neo-Platonism after Plotinus, 355—Its alliance with the old religion, 356—Continued vitality of polytheism, 357—Increased study of the classic philosophers, 358—Proclus and his system, 358—The schools of Athens closed by Justinian, 360—The Greek professors in Persia, 361—Final extinction of pagan philosophy, 362. CHAPTER VI. GREEK PHILOSOPHY AND MODERN THOUGHT pages 363-430 I. Continuity in the history of thought, 363—The triumph of spiritualism followed by a breach between the two spiritualistic schools, 364—Importance of the Realistic controversy, 365—Why Realism was at first favoured by the Church, 366—Revolution effected by the introduction of Aristotle’s complete works into the West, 367—Platonic reaction of the Renaissance, 368—Its influence on literature, 369—Shakspeare a Platonist, 370—Renewed ascendency of Aristotle in science, 371. II. Bacon as an Aristotelian, 372—History the matter of science, 373—Bacon’s method of arrangement taken from Aristotle, 374—Origin of his confusion between Form and Law, 375—The superinduction of Forms and the atomic theory, 376—Relation of the _Novum Organum_ to the _Topics_, 377—The method of negative instances, 378—The Lord Chancellor and Nature, 379—The utilisation of natural forces brought about by a method opposed to Bacon’s, 380—Association of the formal philosophy of Aristotle and Bacon with the geocentric astronomy, 381.