What is the philosophy of Plotinus?

Plotinus’ doctrine that the soul is composed of a higher and a lower part — the higher part being unchangeable and divine (and aloof from the lower part, yet providing the lower part with life), while the lower part is the seat of the personality (and hence the passions and vices) — led him to neglect an ethics of the …

What is Plotinus theory of emanation?

Emanationism is a cosmological theory which asserts that all things “flow” from an underlying principle or reality, usually called the Absolute or Godhead. The traditional view is summed in the doctrine of emanation formulated by Plotinus.

What is intellect according to Plotinus?

Intellect comes second in Plotinus’ hierarchical model of reality, after the One, which is an unknowable first cause of everything. Intellect is also the sphere of being, the Platonic Ideas, which exist as its thoughts. Plotinus’ position here seems to amount to a form of idealism, a claim that is explored in the book.

Is neoplatonism Gnostic?

Neoplatonism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century, based on the teachings of Plato and some of his early followers. While Gnosticism was influenced by Middle Platonism, neoplatonists from the third century onward rejected Gnosticism.

Why is Plotinus important?

Plotinus (204/5 – 270 C.E.), is generally regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism. He is one of the most influential philosophers in antiquity after Plato and Aristotle. The first was in trying to say what Plato meant on the basis of what he wrote or said or what others reported him to have said.

Does Plotinus believe in God?

Superficially considered, Plotinus seems to offer an alternative to the orthodox Christian notion of creation ex nihilo (out of nothing), although Plotinus never mentions Christianity in any of his works.

What did Plotinus write?

Plotinus must thus be regarded as the first Neoplatonist, and his collected works, the Enneads (from the Greek enneas, “set of nine”—six sets of nine treatises each, arranged by his disciple Porphyry), are the first and greatest collection of Neoplatonic writings.

Was Cicero a Platonist?

Cicero was not a Platonist. He was not a Stoic, either. But Plato, the writer and thinker himself, was a presence of the greatest importance in Cicero’s own writing and thinking; and Stoic ethics mattered a good deal to him too.

What do neo platonists believe?

Neoplatonists believed human perfection and happiness were attainable in this world, without awaiting an afterlife. Perfection and happiness—seen as synonymous—could be achieved through philosophical contemplation. All people return to the One, from which they emanated.

Was Seneca a Stoic?

Seneca is a major philosophical figure of the Roman Imperial Period. As a Stoic philosopher writing in Latin, Seneca makes a lasting contribution to Stoicism. He occupies a central place in the literature on Stoicism at the time, and shapes the understanding of Stoic thought that later generations were to have.

How did Plotinus view the human person?

Human Psychology and Ethics The drama of human life is viewed by Plotinus against the axis of Good and evil outlined above. The human person is essentially a soul employing a body as an instrument of its temporary embodied life (see I 1). Thus, Plotinus distinguishes between the person and the composite of soul and body.

What happened to Plotinus in the year 270?

Plotinus thereupon seems to have abandoned his plans, making his way to Rome in 245. There he remained until his death in 270 or 271. Porphyry informs us that during the first ten years of his time in Rome, Plotinus lectured exclusively on the philosophy of Ammonius. During this time he also wrote nothing.

Who edited Plotinus’writings?

Plotinus’ writings were edited by Porphyry (there was perhaps another edition by Plotinus’ physician, Eustochius, though all traces of it are lost). It is to Porphyry that we owe the somewhat artificial division of the writings into six groups of nine (hence the name Enneads from the Greek word for ‘nine’).

What is the best podcast about Plotinus?

The Life and Works of Plotinus , a short podcast by Peter Adamson introducing Plotinus (King’s College London and LMU Munich). The International Society for Neoplatonic Studies.