Summary of Plotinus
[image error][image error]The first philosophy book I ever bought—above is the exact cover—was the The Essential Plotinus[image error]. Conversations with a friend in the summer before my first year of college in 1973 awoken me, as Hume did Kant, from my dogmatic slumber. At the time my friend was something of a devotee of Plotinus, having studied him in a metaphysics class. I eagerly bought the book and carried it around with me, although I didn’t really understand it. But I have fond memories of the book. It marked the beginning of a long intellectual journey for, unbeknownst to me at the time, the world of the mind was beckoning.
Plotinus (c. 204/5 – 270) was a major Greek-speaking philosopher of the ancient world. In his philosophy there are three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul.[1] He is generally regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism[2] and applied it to him and his philosophy which was influential in Late Antiquity. His metaphysical writings have inspired centuries of Pagan, Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics.
The One – Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent “One,” containing no division, multiplicity or distinction; the One is beyond all categories of being and non-being. The One is not a thing or a person; it is not the sum of all things; and it is not sentient or self-aware. But the One is the first principle; it is good; and nothing could exist without it. The One is the source of the world, but it doesn’t create the world by willful action. Instead reality emanates from the One, as an outpouring or overflowing of its nature in an ongoing temporal process.
Nous & The Soul – From the One emanates the second principle Nous (Divine Mind, Logos, Order, Thought, Reason.) This intelligence contemplates both the One, as well as its own thoughts, which Plotinus identifies with the Platonic Forms (eide). The next emanation brings the third principle, soul, the creative power which is divided into the upper aspect, World Soul, which remains in contact with Nous, and the lower aspect, identified with nature, which allows for individual human souls. Finally, matter is at the lowest level of being and thus the least perfected level of the cosmos.
Mystical Experience – To experience the One is to recognize our ecstatic union with it, a union Porphyry says that Plotinus achieved multiple times in his life. This union with the one is probably related to enlightenment, and other concepts of mystical union common to many Eastern and Western traditions.
Happiness – Human happiness for Plotinus is beyond anything physical, but attainable only within consciousness. The true self is the incorporeal contemplative capacity of the soul, so real human happiness must be found beyond the physical. If we truly achieve happiness we will not be bothered by pain or suffering, as we will have minds capable of focusing on eternal things. The happiness of the enlightened cannot be disturbed, for in their contemplation they experience total oneness. They find inner peace by retreating from the world and focusing on nous and the One.
Knowledge – Plotinus distinguished between: sense knowledge, which gives us little truth as it is about the changing physical world; reasoned cognition, which gives us knowledge of essences (Platonic forms); and ecstasy, which consists in intuition of, and connection with, the One. The climax of knowledge then consists in an ecstatic or intuitive mystical union with the One, something achieved by only a few.
Disclaimer – This is but an outline of Plotinus’ thinking, and I refer readers to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, or Wikipedia for more.
