Plotinus, Self and the World
Title | Plotinus, Self and the World PDF eBook |
Author | Raoul Mortley |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 163 |
Release | 2013-12-19 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1107040248 |
Examines the idea of the invention of the individual subjective self by Plotinus and its impact on the Christian tradition, asking about the self in its relationships - the self in love, in ignorance, in forgetfulness, in possession - and about the self and its own physical image.
Plotinus on Consciousness
Title | Plotinus on Consciousness PDF eBook |
Author | D. M. Hutchinson |
Publisher | |
Pages | 223 |
Release | 2018-04-26 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1108424767 |
Examines the first theory of consciousness in Western philosophy, dispelling the dogma that consciousness studies begins with Descartes.
Plotinus on Self
Title | Plotinus on Self PDF eBook |
Author | Pauliina Remes |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2011-03-03 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9780521204989 |
Plotinus, the founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy, conceptualises two different notions of self (or 'us'): the corporeal and the rational. Personality and imperfection mark the former, while goodness and a striving for understanding mark the latter. In this text, Dr Remes grounds the two selfhoods in deep-seated Platonic ontological commitments, following their manifestations, interrelations and sometimes uneasy coexistence in philosophical psychology, emotional therapy and ethics. Plotinus' interest lies in what it means for a human being to be a temporal and a corporeal thing, yet capable of abstract and impartial reasoning, of self-government and perhaps even invulnerability. The book argues that this involves a philosophically problematic rupture within humanity which is, however, alleviated by the psychological similarities and points of contact between the two aspects of the self. The purpose of life is the cultivation of the latter aspect, the true self.
Philosophic Silence and the ‘One' in Plotinus
Title | Philosophic Silence and the ‘One' in Plotinus PDF eBook |
Author | Nicholas Banner |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 312 |
Release | 2018-03-29 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1108688748 |
Plotinus, the greatest philosopher of Late Antiquity, discusses at length a first principle of reality - the One - which, he tells us, cannot be expressed in words or grasped in thought. How and why, then, does Plotinus write about it at all? This book explores this act of writing the unwritable. Seeking to explain what seems to be an insoluble paradox in the very practice of late Platonist writing, it examines not only the philosophical concerns involved, but the cultural and rhetorical aspects of the question. The discussion outlines an ancient practice of ‛philosophical silence' which determined the themes and tropes of public secrecy appropriate to Late Platonist philosophy. Through philosophic silence, public secrecy and silence flow into one another, and the unsaid space of the text becomes an initiatory secret. Understanding this mode of discourse allows us to resolve many apparent contradictions in Plotinus' thought.
PLOTINUS Ennead IV.8
Title | PLOTINUS Ennead IV.8 PDF eBook |
Author | Barrie Fleet |
Publisher | Parmenides Publishing |
Pages | 186 |
Release | 2012-06-06 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1930972784 |
Plotinus was much exercised by Plato's doctrines of the soul. In this treatise, at chapter 1 line 27, he talks of "e;the divine Plato, who has said in many places in his works many noble things about the soul and its arrival here, so that we can hope for some clarity from him. So what does the philosopher say? It is clear that he does not always speak with sufficient consistency for us to make out his intentions with any ease."e; The issue in this treatise is one that has puzzled students of Plato from ancient to modern times-and is indeed a popular topic for undergraduate essays even today: Why should the philosopher, who has ascended through a long and painful process of dialectic to "e;assimilation to the divine,"e; ever descend back into the body? Plotinus himself is said by Porphyry to have attained such a state of other-worldly transcendence on at least four occasions during his lifetime, so this was a very real and personal issue for him. In this treatise we see him grappling with it.
Plotinus Or the Simplicity of Vision
Title | Plotinus Or the Simplicity of Vision PDF eBook |
Author | Pierre Hadot |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 156 |
Release | 1998-04-28 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9780226311944 |
Since its original publication in France in 1963, Pierre Hadot's lively philosophical portrait of Plotinus remains the preeminent introduction to the man and his thought. Michael Chase's lucid translation—complete with a useful chronology and analytical bibliography—at last makes this book available to the English-speaking world. Hadot carefully examines Plotinus's views on the self, existence, love, virtue, gentleness, and solitude. He shows that Plotinus, like other philosophers of his day, believed that Plato and Aristotle had already articulated the essential truths; for him, the purpose of practicing philosophy was not to profess new truths but to engage in spiritual exercises so as to live philosophically. Seen in this light, Plotinus's counsel against fixation on the body and all earthly matters stemmed not from disgust or fear, but rather from his awareness of the negative effect that bodily preoccupation and material concern could have on spiritual exercises.
Plotinus' Legacy
Title | Plotinus' Legacy PDF eBook |
Author | Stephen Gersh |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 307 |
Release | 2019-04-25 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1108415288 |
Using a series of case-studies from across European philosophical traditions, this book traces the influence of Neoplatonism over the centuries.