John Finamore was a professor of Classics at The University of Iowa from 1983 to 2022. He was chair from 2002-2007 and 2012-2018. He taught courses in Greek and Roman Philosophy, Word Power, Greek, and Latin.

Professor Finamore is the author of Iamblichus and the Theory of the Vehicle of the Soul (1985), Iamblichus' De Anima: Text, Translation, and Commentary (with J.M. Dillon, 2002) and co-editor (with R. Berchman) of both Plato Redivivus: History of Platonism (New Orleans, 2005) and Metaphysical Patterns in Platonism: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern Times (New Orleans, 2007), and numerous articles on philosophy and literature. He is editor of The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition and president of the U.S. section of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies.

John Finamore conducts research in the area of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, especially the philosophy of the late Empire.  He has published articles on Plato, Aristotle, Middle Platonists (such as Apuleius and Plutarch), and Neoplatonists (such as Iamblichus and Proclus).  He has also published books on the Neoplatonic philosophers Iamblichus and Proclus and has edited several anthologies on Neoplatonic philosophy.  He is President of the U.S. section of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, editor of The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition, and co-editor of the book series Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition that is published by Brill.

Representative publications:

Books

• Proclus:  Commentary on Plato’s Republic, Vol. 2 (with D. Baltzly and G. Miles), (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming)
• Proclus:  Commentary on Plato’s Republic, Vol. 1 (with D. Baltzly and G. Miles), (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018)***
• Iamblichus' De Anima:  Text, Translation, and Commentary  (with J. M. Dillon), (Leiden:  Brill Press, 2002).***
• Iamblichus and the Theory of the Vehicle of the Soul, (Chico, CA:  Scholars Press, 1985).

Anthologies

• Plato in Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and Modern Times:  Selected Papers from the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (with M. Nyvlt).  Prometheus Trust Publishers, 2020.
• Platonic Interpretations:  Selected Papers from the Sixteenth Annual Conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (with E. Perl).  Prometheus Trust Publishers, 2019.
• Studies in Hermias’ Commentary on Plato’s Phaedrus (with C. Manolea and S. Wear).  Brill Publishers, 2019.

Articles and Book Chapters

• "Proclus interprets Hesiod: The Procline Philosophy of the Soul,” in C. Addey, D. Layne, and S. Ahbel-Rappe, Soul Matters in Plato and the Platonic Tradition (Society for Biblical Literature Press, forthcoming)
• “Ethics, Virtue, and Theurgy:  On Being a Good Person in Late-Neoplatonic Philosophy,” in A. Marmodoro and S. Xenophontos, The Reception of Greek Ethics in Late Antiquity and Byzantium (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press).
• “Proclus and the conjunction of soul and body,” in S. Slaveva-Griffin and I. Ramelli, Lovers of the Soul & Lovers of the Body:  Philosophical and Religious Perspectives in Late Antiquity (In press with Harvard University Press).
• “Reason and Irrationality:  Iamblichus on Divination Through Dreams,” in E. Pachoumi and M. Edwards, Praying and Contemplating: Religious and Philosophical Interactions in Late Antiquity, Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. (2019) 39-58.

Professor Finamore holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in Philosophy from Tufts, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics from Rutgers.