Alimento para el alma, cuerpos para la virtud. Sobre el vegetarianismo en Porfirio De Abstinentia

• Autor: Costero-Quiroga, Sonsoles
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2025
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Repositorio: PUCP-Institucional
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.pucp.edu.pe:20.500.14657/204013
• Enlace del recurso: https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/arete/article/view/31759/27811; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14657/204013; https://doi.org/10.18800/arete.202501.006
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Porphyry; Neoplatonism; Rituals; Vegetarianism; Animals; Porfirio; Neoplatonismo; Rituales; Vegetarianismo; Animales; https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#6.03.01

“Food for the Soul, Bodies for Virtue. On Porphyry’s Vegetarianism in De Abstinentia”. This paper examines the treatise De Abstinentia ab esu animalium by the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry, with a focus on the figure of the philosopher-priest. This figure is characterized as one who strives to attain an ascetic lifestyle through adherence to certain precepts, including the performance of humble sacrifices to the gods, abstention from animal-derived foods, the practice of austerity in all aspects of life, and the cultivation of that what is truly important: the purification (kátharsis) of the soul and the assimilation to the divine (homoíosis theôí). Furthermore, this article explores the arguments presented by Porphyry to promote a positive model for the individual subject. It also discusses how a choice of life based on dietary restrictions and an ethic of self-control can be seen not only as a path to divinity but also as a defining characteristic of the true philosopher—namely, one who establishes himself as a model worthy of emulation (theîos anér). This perspective highlights the role of the philosopher-priest as both an active follower and adherent of philosophy and a living example of virtue and wisdom, serving as an ethical reference point that inspires others to emulate this ideal and to reflect on our own daily practices.