PlotinusRezensionen

the soul is a meteor / a blossom of light / burned by harsh skies. so influential it is the skeleton key to Christian thought and Renaissance Painting, a primary text alike the Timaeus, the Vedas, the Nikayas (which all happen to rhyme), and an indispensable guide to the mystic on how to become One with the Void. scaling up the Ennead of Parmenides 8 1 affirmative/negative to eventually reach the Top, an ineffable meta-principle. the circle of emanation and return is the ultimate story of the stuttering of the One, recoils of shots in the War in Heaven that sparked between the logos and the void that took place before the Fiat Lux, the war was not fought with missiles and spears but axioms of being, propositions and proofs in the vacuum. and God won through reflexion: in the Nothing only the tautology of identity is self-supporting. the One is the ultimate meta-tautology, Atum masturbating ouroborically, a self-study in henosis. the main concepts are the arborescent hierarchy of the One-Being-Intellect triad. this fractalizes and is responsible for spirit's descent into matter which one must eventually escape by tracing back up the emanationist ladder one has tragically fell down from. oneness is goodness because individuation commits an object to being an intelligible unity. there can be no distinction between inside and outside within the One, being and center as a dimensionless point, God's being is his centrality and yet also this flickering as its own emanationist contraction and expansion in all its quasi-gnostic contours with theses like the badness of Nature but doesn't quite reach finality. finality as gnosis cannot be voiced or even thematized, yet even a deeper truth is the apophatic non-conceptualization of a negative/unknowable God is yet another capture mechanism, the inclusion of its own negation within the meta-logic in the Game with Being as an internal production of the One, that black hole brain structure you see from time to time: the Demiurge is a donut. the annular repetition of the torus coinciding and retroactively refuting yet clarifying Campbell's monomyth: the Hero's Journey is really an immanentized Spirit's journey. somewhere Plotinus says that the Odyssey is the eternal story of the Journey of the Spirit. spirit always has a story to tell precisely because it's there to tell it, because its being and its telling are one and the same. the One's overflow is the jouissance that fissions into Two. there is no room for a positive Evil in Plotinus only privations just as the monists before him, the Nous for him is Good. the Gnostic co-opts it as the origin of Evil, determination: the Demiurge. the je ne sais quoi, things best left unsaid, the black square as an art piece, or better, a black Sphere. man as a creator is himself co-operating in demiurgy, his art and ornament distractions or reminders to re-member your true Self, like how re-membering the limbs of Osiris is akin to restructuring the estranged Self. Plotinus thought the world-soul was something like a star that radiates Light (internality) everywhere and "adheres" only in that substance given to adhere to it and this mutual relation between ground and issue became the principle of non-contradiction. the One neither is one, nor is. the hierarchy of Spirit is the only hierarchy climbed by its recognition: it is hierarchy as such, of which all others participate in only formally. the chain of being as it should be. symbols speak in rhizomatic bursts of signification. there will come a time you'll read in color. the One overflows because it overflows, yet this statement seems more like an evasion than anything else and perhaps even neoplatonism is yet another root in this meta-intellectual fingertrap of the Demiurge, which is the God creating this material world easily demonized to a being of affect, terror, sense and horror. one question resounds and echoes after all the mysticalization: why did the One plunge himself into nescience?

he who is self-luminous is his own shadow

My primary interest in reading the Enneads was finding the foundation for neo-platonic theurgy, therefore a practical interest in post—Plotinian thought in ceremonial Theion Ergon seduced me to read the foundational philosophy. For how, after all should I understand a system without grasping its roots? Although the system stemming from the Chaldean Oracles is somewhat different from neo-platonic philosophy, it has its motherly embrace there. Here, in the Enneads there is a major-work of a religion (religere - to delimit, after Macrobius) that has simple tenets at its structural approach and an in-depth elucidation for many cases that may trouble the neoplatonic follower. The hypothesis are well-weighted and they are balanced in a clear way, attempting to arrive at faith by reason, not by blind faith. There is not one area of life that may not be read through the lenses of the Enneads, yet the system remains open and compatible with scientific undertakings. Farah Godredj enumerated “three hermeneutic moments” when encountering literature: “Understanding, representation and relational relevance”, in relation to Plotinus, the first is understanding or incorporation that is existential hermeneutics, internalizing the text, giving it a broad setting in the topos, the second is attempting not to “totalitarize” the text keeping relativity in mind, and a multi-faceted approach to the narrative, the last one in short is an approach in building a philosophical ontology of the whole metaphysics, a certain angle of reading. I may add my own: “Explicit act”, that is practiced aretology, practicing beauty and awe, practicing the deification - which is the golden way to theurgy. Exchanging perspective, I put full thrust into the belief-mechanisms of the text and without stripping if of deep metaphysics I fully arrived at understanding a separate, whole, and intricate system of self-referential open ground for interpreting the Divine into it, often-wise I engage the text that produced interesting comparative grounds with my discoveries in theurgy, astrology, other religious systems, sometimes I ignored the more technical parts of it (I read them, but they didn’t appeal to me). Now, I haven’t fully grasped it with a major masterly mind that could recite the dynamics of the system in a flash, that requires years of practice and studies, and I never will, as I would have to be Plotinus and move “with his mind”, but by conversing with his mind via the text I may fully agree that the theology and interpretation that he created via clustered “generalizations” into the particular is beautiful, “arete-ical”, and provides ground for training beautiful men and women, in the ensouled, teological (goal oriented) manner. What gives good fruit in effects is a worthy enterprise.

> Plotin : A la recherche du Beau, In: Revue 3e millénaire, n°108, Eté 2013 (pp. 63-65)

Neoplatonism is credited with having its roots in the mystic philosopher Plotinus. He felt that throughout his life, he had repeatedly attained unity with the Supreme Principle, also known as the One. According to his idea, the Intellect, the Soul, and mankind were all manifestations of the One, as were all other material creatures and things. In his worldview, people should strive to achieve union (or reunion) with the One in order to escape the limitations of material reality. Plotinus was a well-known instructor who delivered lectures on this philosophy. One of his pupils, Porphyry of Tyre, eventually organized these lectures into six books with nine chapters each, which he termed Enneads. This book contains a selection from those lectures.

Plotinus’s interpretation of Platonic philosophy centers on his conception of the One, the creator-being. The One is that which makes all things possible; thus he claimed that the One is the penultimate element. It is made up of everything else, yet it remains in the purest form. Plotinus calls this state “the light before the light.” As this purest form, it cannot be described or discussed; living beings can only hope to realize that even with a sense of perfection in meditation, they must be aware that there is a greater perfection that exists.

The One is known only by what it is not; it is not comprehensible, but it is the source of both the intelligence and the soul. These three entities form a trinity that is hierarchical and to a great extent ineffable. The intelligence remind one of the forms of Plato's thought. In addition to clear connections to Platonic philosophy there are resonances with both the thought of Aristotle and the writings of Paul in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.

Plotinus' thought is paradoxical, yet through contemplation it appears to form a natural hierarchical structure that leads from the sentient world to the ultimate source of everything.

What a chore. Wait until the NeoPlatonists learn about evolution though.

12/6/21

My primary interest in reading the Enneads was finding the foundation for neo-platonic theurgy, therefore a practical interest in post—Plotinian thought in ceremonial Theion Ergon seduced me to read the foundational philosophy. For how, after all should I understand a system without grasping its roots? Although the system stemming from the Chaldean Oracles is somewhat different from neo-platonic philosophy, it has its motherly embrace there. Here, in the Enneads there is a major-work of a religion (religere - to delimit, after Macrobius) that has simple tenets at its structural approach and an in-depth elucidation for many cases that may trouble the neoplatonic follower. The hypothesis are well-weighted and they are balanced in a clear way, attempting to arrive at faith by reason, not by blind faith. There is not one area of life that may not be read through the lenses of the Enneads, yet the system remains open and compatible with scientific undertakings. Farah Godredj enumerated “three hermeneutic moments” when encountering literature: “Understanding, representation and relational relevance”, in relation to Plotinus, the first is understanding or incorporation that is existential hermeneutics, internalizing the text, giving it a broad setting in the topos, the second is attempting not to “totalitarize” the text keeping relativity in mind, and a multi-faceted approach to the narrative, the last one in short is an approach in building a philosophical ontology of the whole metaphysics, a certain angle of reading. I may add my own: “Explicit act”, that is practiced aretology, practicing beauty and awe, practicing the deification - which is the golden way to theurgy. Exchanging perspective, I put full thrust into the belief-mechanisms of the text and without stripping if of deep metaphysics I fully arrived at understanding a separate, whole, and intricate system of self-referential open ground for interpreting the Divine into it, often-wise I engage the text that produced interesting comparative grounds with my discoveries in theurgy, astrology, other religious systems, sometimes I ignored the more technical parts of it (I read them, but they didn’t appeal to me). Now, I haven’t fully grasped it with a major masterly mind that could recite the dynamics of the system in a flash, that requires years of practice and studies, and I never will, as I would have to be Plotinus and move “with his mind”, but by conversing with his mind via the text I may fully agree that the theology and interpretation that he created via clustered “generalizations” into the particular is beautiful, “arete-ical”, and provides ground for training beautiful men and women, in the ensouled, teological (goal oriented) manner. What gives good fruit in effects is a worthy enterprise.

> Delcourt Marie. Plotin : Ennéades IV.
In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 7, fasc. 4, 1928. pp. 1517-1520. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_1928_num_7_4_6571_t1_1517_0000_2

Building on the teachings of Plato and with his profound impact on the Christian contemplative tradition, Plotinus is one of the most influential philosophers in the Western tradition. If you would like to begin studying Plotinus, this little book of selections translated by Elmer O’Brien is a great place to start – clear, crisp, accessible language with helpful introductory remarks and guiding editorial notes.

Rather than making general remarks about Plotinus’s ideas on such topics as the One or the Good, for the purposes of this review and to provide a small taste of the great philosopher’s mysticism, I will focus on the first chapter of O’Brien’s translation: Beauty. And within this critical topic and its application to our lives, I will share some personal observations based on my own practice of meditation and contemplation.

The treatise begins with the following words: “Chiefly beauty is visual. Yet in word patterns and in music (for cadences and rhythms are beautiful) it addresses itself to the hearing as well. Dedicated living, achievements, character, intellectual pursuits are beautiful to those who rise above the realm of the senses; to such ones the virtues, to, are beautiful.” So, right from the start, beauty for Plotinus is centrally the beauty we can see using our eyes and also the beauty of words and music and sounds we can hear using our ears.

Further on in this chapter, Plotinus urges spiritual seekers to transform themselves into works of beauty and pure light: “Withdraw into yourself and look. If you do not as yet see beauty within you, do as does the sculptor of a statue that is to be beautified: he cuts away here, he smooths it there, he makes this line lighter, this other one purer, until he disengages beautiful lineaments in the marble. Do you this, too. Never cease “working at the statue” until there shines out upon you from it the divine sheen of virtue, until you see perfect “goodness firmly established in stainless shrine.” Have you become like this? Do you see yourself, abiding within yourself, in pure solitude? Does nothing remain to shatter that interior unity, nor anything external cling to your authentic self? Are you entirely that sole true light, which is not contained by space, not confined to any circumscribed form, not diffused as something without term, but ever unmeasurable as something greater than all measure and something more than all quantity?” ---------- If you find this passage inspiring, congratulations! You are most definitely a candidate for the mystical, spiritual path elucidated by Plotinus.

Keeping in mind how beauty, for Plotinus, as noted above, is principally visual and secondarily audial, here is a quote from Tarthang Tulku, a contemporary Buddhist teacher from Tibet, on our working with our feelings, our senses and our body as a way to experience beauty: “The more we explore the intensifying of the senses, the more we find a great depth within our feelings. Sensations become richer, textured with subtle nuances, more deeply joyful. We can explore the creamy texture of our deeper feelings, and contact an ever subtler level of beauty within our bodies and our senses. Within the open space of meditation we can find infinite joy and perfect bliss. Once we discover that spirit of vitality, which is the essence of awareness, we find that our bodies, actually become a channel through which we are capable of contacting a higher level of awareness within ourselves.”

I cite the above quote as a point of contrast to the Western contemplative tradition. You can read and study Plotinus and hundreds of works in Western philosophy and religion going back to Plato and Aristotle and on to such thinkers as Augustine and Aquinas, but you will not find anything in any of those ancient and medieval texts like this quote from Tarthang Tulku.

And why am I including this in a review of Plotinus? Because, from my own experience, anyone on the spiritual path who attempts to minimize or discount the body does so at their own peril. With his emphasis on the intellect and the experience of beauty via seeing and hearing as a way of spiritual growth, Plotinus is nothing short of illuminating. However, one would be wise to also include a daily practice of working directly with the body through such disciplines as yoga, meditation, pranayama, tai-chi or qugong.

Returning to Plotinus, one last quote, a source of inspiration for us all: “We must close our eyes and invoke a new manner of seeing, a wakefulness that is the birthright of us all, though few put it to use.”

EL ALMA, LA BELLEZA Y LA CONTEMPLACIÓN

ADVERTENCIA

La filosofía de Plotino es sin duda una de las mánricas y llenas de vitalidad de la filosofía griega. Después de Aristóteles y de Platón es sin duda alguna Plotino el más profundo de los filósofos helénicos; y en algunos
aspectos más elevado y más humano que ellos. Sin embargo la gran figura de Plotino no es suficientemente conocida, a pesar del elevado concepto de que goza entre los especialistas.

Es curioso que hasta ahora (noviembre de 1947) no haya tenido Piotino traducciones a nuestra lengua. He aquí lo que nos ha animado a llevar a cabo esta selección, que dará acceso fácil a los lectores de habla castellana a la obra profunda y admihablemente humana de Plotino.

En nuestra selección nos ha guiado el criterio de captar el núcleo de la metafísica y de la mística de Plotino.

Desde ese núcleo los problemas particulares de su filosofía van recibiendo una solución coherente. Por eso el lector familiarizado con los tratados que en este volumen reunimos, podrá fácilmente adivinar las proyec-
ciones totales de su filosofía, y sus aplicaciones a otros problemas particulares.

Después de un tratado que podríamos llamar introductorio sobre la dialéctica, hemos escogido tres temas básicos: el alma, la belleza y la contemplación. Sobre cada uno de ellos encontrará el lector uno o varios tra-
tados de las Enéadas. Todos los tratados son completos excepto el tratado sobre las dificultades relativas al alma, del que solo publicamos la primera parte, por ser excesivamente largo y porque la segunda parte descien-
de a dificultades más particulares.

Nuestro anhelo ha sido reflejar ante todo fielmente el pensamiento de Plotino. No es empresa fácil. El estilo de Plotino es tan concentrado que a veces con dos adverbios o con dos pronombres o con dos adjetivos ....

ENÉADAS, V - VI

V 1 (10) SOBRE LAS TRES HIPÓSTASIS PRINCIPALES

INTRODUCCIÓN

En el orden cronológico de las obras de Plotino establecido
por Porfirio, el tratado presente ocupa el número diez, después del
gran tratado sobre el Uno. Tenemos aquí una clara muestra de
cómo Plotino une firmemente el pensamiento metafísico y la vida
espiritual personal. Como muy bien indica su título, el tratado se
ocupa de las tres realidades que Plotino 1lama hipóstasis principales: el
Alma, la Inteligencia y el Uno, en orden ascendente. Las
observaciones de Plotino pretenden señalar las diferencias y relaciones
entre unas y otras, aunque a veces sus rasgos aparezcan un tanto
oscuros. No se trata tanto de unos apuntes de clase para la
comprensión de un sistema filosófico, sino más bien de una auténtica
muestra del camino de la mente hacia Dios, que exige una aceptación
de su verdadera naturaleza y de su dignidad. Es sencillamente
una guía para el estudioso en su ascenso hacia su último fin. Con una
fuerza que no se alcanza en ningún otro lugar de las Enéadas,
Plotino explica en los dos primeros capítulos con rasgos espectaculares
la alienación del alma y el olvido de si misma aquí abajo.
Después se muestra cómo al volver al verdadero conocimiento de su
naturaleza como alma, la encontramos transcendiendo la Inteligencia
y el Uno o Bien, y vemos así cómo el Bien tiene que transcender
y engendrar a la Inteligencia. Los capítulos 8 y 9 son...

ENÉADAS. III-IV

III 1 (3) SOBRE LA FATALIDAD

INTRODUCCIÓN

En este tratado escolar y primerizo, el tercero cronológicamente
da 4, 26), el autor se enfrenta con el determinismo en sus diversas
modalidades: el físico-mecánico de los atomistas y de Empédocles, el
astrológico, tan en boga en su tiempo, y el psicofísico de los estoicos:
este último en dos versiones: el radical de Zenón y el mitigado de
Crisipo, que intentaba conciliar la existencia de la fatalidad con la
del albedrio. Además de los argumentos especificos que Plotino esgri
me contra cada una de estas concepciones, la objeción que opone en
común contra todas ellas es que, al desconocer la existencia del libre
albedrío o al no explicarlo satisfactoriamente, anulan al hombre
reduciéndolo a un autómata, un mero conglomerado de átomos,
una marioneta de los astros o, en el mejor de los casos, un ser
natural y animado pero irracional. Plotino, por su parte, admite la existencia de la
fatalidad, la concatenación causal, la adivinación por los astros y, con las
debidas reservas, el influjo astral. Pero se niega a identificar la fatalidad
con el alma, que es un principio transcendente, no sólo la del
cosmos, sino también la individual. En total, pues, tres causas que,
tomadas conjuntamente, explican la totalidad de los eventos cósmicos:
el Alma del cosmos como responsable de la providencia y
coordinadora general, el alma individual como sede del libre
albedrío, y la fatalidad concebida como la suma de todos los
factores causales extrapsiquicos. En este tratado, sin
embargo, la primera de estas tres causas,
el Alma del cosmos, permanece en la penumbra, quedándose
para tratados posteriores la exposičión detallada de la actividad providente.
El interés del autor en los tres últimos capítulos de III 1 se centra...

PLOTINOS (V.1): COMPLETE WORKS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, GROUPED IN FOUR PERIODS

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Building on the teachings of Plato and with his profound impact on the Christian contemplative tradition, Plotinus is one of the most influential philosophers in the Western tradition. If you would like to begin studying Plotinus, this little book of selections translated by Elmer O’Brien is a great place to start – clear, crisp, accessible language with helpful introductory remarks and guiding editorial notes.

Rather than making general remarks about Plotinus’s ideas on such topics as the One or the Good, for the purposes of this review and to provide a small taste of the great philosopher’s mysticism, I will focus on the first chapter of O’Brien’s translation: ‘Beauty’. And within the subject of ‘Beauty’ I will share some personal observations based on my own practice of study, meditation and contemplation.

The treatise on Beauty begins with the following words: “Chiefly beauty is visual. Yet in word patterns and in music (for cadences and rhythms are beautiful) it addresses itself to the hearing as well. Dedicated living, achievements, character, intellectual pursuits are beautiful to those who rise above the realm of the senses; to such ones the virtues, to, are beautiful.” So, right from the start, beauty for Plotinus is centrally the beauty we can see using our eyes and also the beauty of words and music and sounds we can hear using our ears.

Further on in this chapter, Plotinus urges spiritual seekers to transform themselves into works of beauty and pure light in the following passage: “Withdraw into yourself and look. If you do not as yet see beauty within you, do as does the sculptor of a statue that is to be beautified: he cuts away here, he smooths it there, he makes this line lighter, this other one purer, until he disengages beautiful lineaments in the marble. Do you this, too. . . . Never cease “working at the statue” until there shines out upon you from it the divine sheen of virtue, until you see perfect “goodness firmly established in stainless shrine.” Have you become like this? Do you see yourself, abiding within yourself, in pure solitude? Does nothing remain to shatter that interior unity, nor anything external cling to your authentic self? Are you entirely that sole true light, which is not contained by space, not confined to any circumscribed form, not diffused as something without term, but ever unmeasurable as something greater than all measure and something more than all quantity?” ---- If you find this passage inspiring, then you are, on some level, a candidate for the mystical, spiritual path elucidated by Plotinus.

Keeping in mind how beauty, for Plotinus, as noted above, is principally visual and secondarily audial, here is a quote from Tarthang Tulku, a contemporary Buddhist teacher from Tibet, on our working with our feelings, our senses and our body as a way to experience beauty: “The more we explore the intensifying of the senses, the more we find a great depth within our feelings. Sensations become richer, textured with subtle nuances, more deeply joyful. . . . We can explore the creamy texture of our deeper feelings, and contact an ever subtler level of beauty within our bodies and our senses. Within the open space of meditation we can find infinite joy and perfect bliss. . . . Once we discover that spirit of vitality, which is the essence of awareness, we find that our bodies, actually become a channel through which we are capable of contacting a higher level of awareness within ourselves.”

I cite the above quote as a point of contrast to the Western contemplative tradition. You can read and study Plotinus and hundreds of works in Western philosophy and religion going back to Plato and Aristotle and on to such thinkers as Augustine and Aquinas, but you will not find anything in any of those ancient and medieval texts like this quote from Tarthang Tulku. And why am I including this in a review of Plotinus? Because, from my own experience, anyone on the spiritual path who attempts to minimize or discount the body does so at their own peril. With his emphasis on the intellect and the experience of beauty via seeing and hearing as a way of spiritual growth, Plotinus is nothing short of illuminating. However, one would be wise to also include a daily practice of working directly with the body through such disciplines as yoga, meditation, pranayama, tai-chi or qugong.

Returning to Plotinus, here is one last quote that could serve as a source of inspiration: “We must close our eyes and invoke a new manner of seeing, a wakefulness that is the birthright of us all, though few put it to use.”

Definitely a good book and it was high time I read Plotinus. Obviously, while there are some things in Platonism and Neoplatonism that parallel Christian theology, there are definitely things that are NOT compatible within a Christian framework. Plotinus espouses reincarnation and a division between "Being" and "the One"; in Christianity the former is rejected, while the latter is held to be one and the same; albeit possibly distinct in a Trinitarian framework. Plotinus' notion that the One is transcendent, while Psuche (Soul) and Nous (intelligence) is not, seems very problematic, given that numerics must stand for something, not nothing. Also, Platonism and Neoplatonism both espouse theurgy, and that, in a pagan and pantheistic framework. Other than the preceding, there are many things in here that support certain aspects of Christian theology. One can also see much here that influenced later philosophical movements, especially German idealism. A very good read. I will probably pick up his complete works at some point in the future.

La Enéada IV me animó bastante. Trata sobre el alma y me pareció que se acercaba a los seres humanos. Pero el resto vuelve a las alturas. Es comprensible. Para Plotino lo importante es la metafísica, lo que las cosas son o, mejor, el Uno que es el origen de todo y que está en todo. Del Uno inmóvil, identificado con el Bien y con la Belleza, surge la Inteligencia, principio activo que da origen a las diferentes almas, que luego se despliegan en las almas de seres concretos que se ven obligadas a fundirse con los respectivos cuerpos. Cada paso en esta evolución es una degradación, de suerte que todos los seres aspiran a volverse a su verdadero Ser, es decir, al Uno. Por eso, dedicarse a las cosas de por aquí es perder el tiempo miserablemente.

El texto se dedica a las muchísimas cuestiones que pueden plantearse a partir de este esquema general, pero sin perderlo nunca de vista. Así que todo el sistema aparece bastante sólido, bien trabado. Pero como no se trata de tratados sistemáticos, sino de una ordenación y recopilación posterior de textos, fácilmente me he perdido en muchas ocasiones. Supongo que esto acaba aburriendo. Al final, es cierto que se aprecia la fuerza de un sistema filosófico bien orientado y que pretende explicarlo todo utilizando exclusivamente la razón, pero también uno no puede menos que recordar la frase ya tópica: "el sueño de la razón produce monstruos".

Por cierto, que las erratas se disparan (dentro de un orden, claro; esta es una edición magnífica) hacia el final, señal de que el corrector ya estaba también algo harto.

Plotino es el neoplatonismo, pero mucho más difícil de entender que el propio Platón. Empezando porque el autor romano parece estar mucho más interesado en los últimos diálogos que en los primeros, lo que tampoco carece de lógica si consideramos que los diálogos platónicos tempranos reflejan, en realidad, la filosofía de Sócrates. Pero trata de conjugar a Platón con Aristóteles y el resultado es demasiado complejo para mis cortas entendederas, aunque en algunas ocasiones incurre en contradicciones e incoherencias. El complejo sistema de procedencias desde el Uno inmutable hasta el mundo sensible, pasando por la Inteligencia, las diversas Almas y no sé cuántas cosas más se me antoja demasiado alambicado.

Parte de la responsabilidad puede tenerla la transmisión de sus obras. Plotino se decidió a escribir ya muy mayor, y lo hizo un poco al buen tuntún, escribiendo textos de mayor o menor extensión sobre lo que la iba pareciendo en cada momento. Cercano a la muerte, encargó a su discípulo Porfirio que recopilase y ordenase sus escritos, y este lo hizo agrupándolos en seis libros de nueve textos cada uno, las "Enéadas", por orden temático, si bien conocemos el orden cronológico de composición. Estas tres primeras enéadas se ocupan de cuestiones de ética y de física, es decir, de lo más cercano a nosotros, pero sin dejar de aludir y explicar el complejísimo mundo extrasensible que imaginó Plotino.

Sin embargo, me ha gustado el lenguaje. No porque sea especialmente elegante, sino porque he encontrado aquí muchos de los referentes semánticos que han utilizado los primeros cristianos para intentar encajar las enseñanzas de Jesucristo en la filosofía clásica. Plotino no era cristiano, pero ha hecho por el cristianismo más que algunos santos (en el plano intelectual, quiero decir).

Las ediciones de Plotino, como esta, suelen complementarse con la "Vida de Plotino" escrita por Porfirio, que resulta necesaria para entender las propias obras del maestro.½

A major philosopher of the ancient world in the tradition of Plato. He developed a system of belief based on three principles: The One, The Intellect and The Soul. The composite of these principles is easily to prove the existence of God to most Christians, but it is unlikely that Plotinus meant any such thing - even though our concept of the Trinity seems to borrow an awful lot from him. A very difficult read.

Aesthetics from a late neo-Platonist. Important in that it influenced mediaeval European thought.

Plotin est la figure majeure du néoplatonisme, ce courant de pensée inspiré de Platon, mais soumis à des influences orientales, qui se développe du IIIe au VIe siècle de notre ère dans l'école d'Alexandrie, puis à Athènes. Plotin fonde sa propre école à Rome, à l'âge de quarante ans. Il y enseigne oralement pendant dix ans avant de commencer la rédaction de ses traités. Il tenta sans succès de fonder une cité de philosophes, Platonopolis, qui aurait été régie par les lois de Platon...

An important read. Western Christendom was deeply affected by this book. I read it over a period of two months, while commuting for two hours a day. It is a stimulating read. Students of Medieval theology should read it in order to understand later developments.½

Plotinus creates a hierarchical cosmology that unites in the One. Humans (frontier beings) descend instantaneously from the One and strive to unite back with the One by avoiding Matter and Evil. He converses at great length about problems of evil, discusses beauty, and creates a unique and complex cosmology.

An interesting read and not as "profoundly wrong," as one may think and has some valid points. Although I agree that Plotinus errs with the concept of preserving identity, he does make a terrific argument.

Interesting, but profoundly wrong. For Plotinus: Beauty is Intelligence is Perfection is God is the Good.

While exhibiting depth and some implication, the work is still best classified, in my opinion, as Platonic fluff. It falls into the class of philosophy starting with huge leaps about mystical concepts, followed by giant defining assumptions. It is beautiful, sensuous writing but to no worthy end. In "Descent" we are shown the possible alternatives to explain the free, lasting soul, descending into the limited, terminal body. My critique is best summarized by the introduction's point of highlighting an "unusually positive view of Matter." In "On the Good, the One," Plotinus combines Aristotelian unity with Platonic metaphysics. We are shown that unity is good because it neither seeks nor needs to be anything else. He also references Aristotle positively for considering every possible state but then not for considering probability.

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Plotin-Traite-9-VI-9/656822