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The Plotinus Reader
The Plotinus Reader provides a generous selection of translations from the fifty-four treatises that together make up the Enneads of Plotinus, a central work in the history of philosophy. They were prepared by a team of specialists in ancient philosophy and edited by Lloyd P. Gerson. Based on the definitive critical edition of the Greek along with decades of additional textual criticism by many scholars, these translations aim to provide a readable, accurate rendering of Plotinus’s often very difficult language. Included are extensive references to Plotinus’s sources, scores of cross-references, and an extensive glossary of technical terms.
312 pages, Paperback
Published July 17, 2020
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About the author
Plotinus
387 books310 followersEgyptian-born Roman philosopher Plotinus and his successors in the 3rd century at Alexandria founded and developed Neoplatonism, a philosophical system, which, based on Platonism with elements of mysticism and some Judaic and Christian concepts, posits a single source from which all existence emanates and with which one mystically can unite an individual soul;
The Enneads
collects his writings.
Saint Thomas Aquinas combined elements of this system and other philosophy within a context of Christian thought.
People widely consider this major of the ancient world alongside Ammonius Saccas, his teacher.
He influenced in late antiquity. Much of our biographical information about Plotinus comes from preface of Porphyry to his edition. His metaphysical writings inspired centuries of pagan, Islamic, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinus
Saint Thomas Aquinas combined elements of this system and other philosophy within a context of Christian thought.
People widely consider this major of the ancient world alongside Ammonius Saccas, his teacher.
He influenced in late antiquity. Much of our biographical information about Plotinus comes from preface of Porphyry to his edition. His metaphysical writings inspired centuries of pagan, Islamic, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinus
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 10, 2025
Some Time With Plotinus
I have been spending time with Plotinus through this new book, "The Plotinus Reader" (2020) edited by Lloyd Gerson, a renowned scholar of Neoplatonism and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Time spent with Plotinus is time well spent even though the text makes for notoriously slow and difficult reading. I have been interested in Neoplatonism for a long time. but it is always a challenge to read Plotinus himself. The publisher and the American Philosophical Association made this book available for free download during this time of pandemic. I couldn't resist the opportunity to revisit Plotinus. I have been reading the French philosopher, Henri Bergson, in an online study group, and Bergson was influenced greatly by Plotinus. His early book, "Time and Free Will" is framed by an epigraph from Plotinus which I found again in working through "The Plotinus Reader": "If a man were to inquire of Nature the reason of her creative activity, and if she were willing to give ear and answer, she would say Ask me not, but understand in silence, even as I am silent and am not wont to speak."
I have also been reading the African American mystical theologian and philosopher, Howard Thurman, (1899 -- 1981) whose work shows an even more deeply Neoplatonic cast than Bergson's. In his book, "The Centering Moment" (p. 23), Thurman offered the following meditation on Plotinus.
"The world, the cosmos, my little life, are contained in God, and if I keep the roadway open, even as I live, doing my thing in the world of things, I can keep journeying back home to be recentered, renewed, recreated, redeemed, over and over again, as long as I live and beyond."
Thurman continues with a prayer recognizing the universality of Plotinus' spiritual teachings.
"For the assurance, our Father, of the movement of Thy spirit in the heart and mind and life of one whose language and whose culture and faith differed in so many crucial ways from our own but whose truth belongs to us even as it belongs to Thee, we give uncluttered praise and thanksgiving. Walk beside us and in us; surrounding us with Thy love, that the way we take may bring us safely to Thee, who is the source of all there is, the delight of our spirits, the God of our salvation."
"The Plotinus Reader" offers the opportunity to struggle with and be inspired by Plotinus with Gerson as a guide. The heart of the book consists of eighteen key texts from the "Enneads" in recent scholarly translations. A short introduction by Gerson precedes each text. Gerson also offers a summary of the key concepts in each paragraph of the text to help the reader along. Gerson's footnotes offer further explanatory material together with references to the many works from Greek philosophy from which Plotinus drew. The supportive material is helpful for working through texts which must remain daunting.
The last third of the book consists of additional supportive material. Gerson presents sections of the works of earlier philosophers, including the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and others whom Plotinus discusses. The interested reader thus will have many sources to hand for consultation. I also found it inspiring simply to be reminded of these works. And the book concludes with a glossary of some of the technical terms that Plotinus uses in the texts in the book.
Plotinus is not a philosopher for quick reading. But one can get a sense of his teaching and his philosophical/religious spirituality from the works in this book. Of the works in this volume, the final selection "On the Good or the One" probably offers the clearest summation of Plotinus' teachings on the whole. It also would be useful to read this book together with some secondary source material on Plotinus. I recommend Pierre Hadot's book, "Plotinus or the Simplicity of Vision".
I was grateful for the ability to spend time with Plotinus during this period of pandemic and to think about how his thoughts, in themselves and through others, have been over the years a source of inspiration to me.
Robin Friedman
I have been spending time with Plotinus through this new book, "The Plotinus Reader" (2020) edited by Lloyd Gerson, a renowned scholar of Neoplatonism and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Time spent with Plotinus is time well spent even though the text makes for notoriously slow and difficult reading. I have been interested in Neoplatonism for a long time. but it is always a challenge to read Plotinus himself. The publisher and the American Philosophical Association made this book available for free download during this time of pandemic. I couldn't resist the opportunity to revisit Plotinus. I have been reading the French philosopher, Henri Bergson, in an online study group, and Bergson was influenced greatly by Plotinus. His early book, "Time and Free Will" is framed by an epigraph from Plotinus which I found again in working through "The Plotinus Reader": "If a man were to inquire of Nature the reason of her creative activity, and if she were willing to give ear and answer, she would say Ask me not, but understand in silence, even as I am silent and am not wont to speak."
I have also been reading the African American mystical theologian and philosopher, Howard Thurman, (1899 -- 1981) whose work shows an even more deeply Neoplatonic cast than Bergson's. In his book, "The Centering Moment" (p. 23), Thurman offered the following meditation on Plotinus.
"The world, the cosmos, my little life, are contained in God, and if I keep the roadway open, even as I live, doing my thing in the world of things, I can keep journeying back home to be recentered, renewed, recreated, redeemed, over and over again, as long as I live and beyond."
Thurman continues with a prayer recognizing the universality of Plotinus' spiritual teachings.
"For the assurance, our Father, of the movement of Thy spirit in the heart and mind and life of one whose language and whose culture and faith differed in so many crucial ways from our own but whose truth belongs to us even as it belongs to Thee, we give uncluttered praise and thanksgiving. Walk beside us and in us; surrounding us with Thy love, that the way we take may bring us safely to Thee, who is the source of all there is, the delight of our spirits, the God of our salvation."
"The Plotinus Reader" offers the opportunity to struggle with and be inspired by Plotinus with Gerson as a guide. The heart of the book consists of eighteen key texts from the "Enneads" in recent scholarly translations. A short introduction by Gerson precedes each text. Gerson also offers a summary of the key concepts in each paragraph of the text to help the reader along. Gerson's footnotes offer further explanatory material together with references to the many works from Greek philosophy from which Plotinus drew. The supportive material is helpful for working through texts which must remain daunting.
The last third of the book consists of additional supportive material. Gerson presents sections of the works of earlier philosophers, including the Pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and others whom Plotinus discusses. The interested reader thus will have many sources to hand for consultation. I also found it inspiring simply to be reminded of these works. And the book concludes with a glossary of some of the technical terms that Plotinus uses in the texts in the book.
Plotinus is not a philosopher for quick reading. But one can get a sense of his teaching and his philosophical/religious spirituality from the works in this book. Of the works in this volume, the final selection "On the Good or the One" probably offers the clearest summation of Plotinus' teachings on the whole. It also would be useful to read this book together with some secondary source material on Plotinus. I recommend Pierre Hadot's book, "Plotinus or the Simplicity of Vision".
I was grateful for the ability to spend time with Plotinus during this period of pandemic and to think about how his thoughts, in themselves and through others, have been over the years a source of inspiration to me.
Robin Friedman
March 13, 2025
4 stars: full of important, influential, 5-star ideas...with a very difficult, 2 or 3 star writing style.
Plotinus combines ideas from Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic thought into a single, thorough, cohesive philosophical framework that has come to be called Neoplatonism. I deeply respect and admire this accomplishment.
And yet. I think this is the hardest thing I have ever read. Plotinus is systematic like Aristotle, but stylistically expresses himself in multiple meandering essays like Plato. It is a tough combination.
A note on this edition: The translations seemed especially dense. The selections were good; these are the enneads you want to read. There was little editorial content to orient or guide the reader. Peter Adamson's philosophy podcast was my best friend in this reading endeavor.
Plotinus combines ideas from Platonic, Aristotelian, and Stoic thought into a single, thorough, cohesive philosophical framework that has come to be called Neoplatonism. I deeply respect and admire this accomplishment.
And yet. I think this is the hardest thing I have ever read. Plotinus is systematic like Aristotle, but stylistically expresses himself in multiple meandering essays like Plato. It is a tough combination.
A note on this edition: The translations seemed especially dense. The selections were good; these are the enneads you want to read. There was little editorial content to orient or guide the reader. Peter Adamson's philosophy podcast was my best friend in this reading endeavor.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews