Customer Reviews (12)

Fascinating Insight Into The Thought of The Ancients
all in all plotinus is talking about highly complex things and there are any number of views relating to soul or no-soul, super soul, or god. whatever one looks for one finds. in talking about these matters i am attempting to and perhaps not really succeding in getting any closer to reality, and nor perhaps was plotinus, though i suspect he was aware of his own 'unknowing'... experience of reality can be seen as what 'is'. we can say whatever we want about anything. there will always be a myriad of different understandings attached to any experience of reality, however as pertains to love and the 'I' (self) i believe that there are repeatable objective lessons and experiences to be had. its simpler to just say that what is is what 'is', but then this is not very helpful. obective truth is at once simpler and far more complex than the relativity of 'is' ness. with objective truths we can repeat something and do something meaningful.

however... having said that perhaps he is not getting any closer to objective reality... he may be. water states that what is is what is, is is is... however fire states that there are degrees of perfection which approach toward true perfection (and though water tends to level all things there are degrees of depth and warmth in water). ie. some concepts are closer to perfect truth than others. there are degrees of truth, but did plotinus realise that what is truth for one person is falsehood for another... even obvious truths such as i have a nose and two earsa and that a wheel needs to be round etc etc etc. even such obvious truths can be disputed. so in a sense, knowing we do not know, but also, in knowing we approach or wander away from perfect knowing. this however is only possible if one listens to and engages ones heart.

rationalism alone, without emotional intelligence can become so free that it becomes nihilistic (ripping out the heart in metaphorical terms), and thus nihilism is no better than extremism and fanaticism in that both of these ways, one absolutely free in thought, the other so utterly narrow extinguish the flame of love for others.

it would be tempting to say that experience had shown me 'the truth', but then i have to realise that everyone has their own unique experience of reality. for some 'is' just will not do. And that is fine. i see that i have a nose and two eyes, i dont have a nose and two eyes. it can be argued that the obvious alone is true or that the subtle and profound which may contradict the obvious is true. it may also be argued that both obvious and profound in contradiction are both true. in short... what you seek for is what you find. so... be careful what you want, because what you want is what you will seek for. what you seek for is what you will find and what you find you will treasure. therefore be careful what you want. in my own understanding 'relative truth' holds the middle ground, 'objective views' hold the higher and lower ground.

is plotinus seeking the obvious or the profound? is he prepared for contradictions and loose ends in his logical process? if not then perhaps it would be best for him to go on holiday!

i was unable to read this book properly because it was too technical for me. however i suspect what plotinus was after was the 'virtuous' life and the 'realised'/perfected individual... a fitting gift to God found within our virtue. the son or daughter of the aeneads would be what plotius sought to be.

Jesus said, seek and ye shall find, and we often seek in what we find. if one seeks relativity, then the ultimate statement is that things 'just are'. if however we seek objectivity then that is what we will find (at least a degree of it, if god is the only 'true' reality can we really find any more than a glimpse of him)... then perhaps we begin to understand that everything depends on what one looks for. some will say its in experience others in revelation. all of these approaches are different facets of the diamond/glimmers on the pearl, however i say nourish your heart with blessings and vows and prayers and deeds inspired and motivated by love. know things for yourself. all i know is that 'it'/reality is utterly complex and so God must be even more complex. i know that what i seek is what i find, that is all i know about the process. to me the ultimate truth is found in 'true love', and that "he who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1John Chapter 4) love is the answer, but to even speak of 'true love' falls short of the mark, this is since we try to put the 'ineffable' and unutterable into words. God is not utterly incredible, God is 'inutterably incredible', and these 'beautiful words', but pure mud, in comparison to what i point toward.

scriptures and writings, even experiences point us toward God, and toward reality, however none of them are perfectly effective without correct interpretation of context. ie who wrote/gave them, to whom and why.

i was fascinated to see the age old argument recurring in plotinus. are we all animated by one super soul/self, or are we all unique discrete selves. east versus west. i am inclined to think (speaking in ignorance) that both of these truths may stand through human experience. that one finds what one looks for. you say perhaps... how can two conflicting truths exist mutually. i say "anything is possible in this reality". what is higher truth for one will be lower for another... and yet i do believe that there is an objective higher truth, and perhaps only one and that is true love - the anchor of our souls. all other truth or experience roots back to this, whether we attain union with a super soul or a discrete independent enlightenment. all can be seen as one, all can be seen as independent. union with the higher self, is union with perfection, to become the son or daughter of the aeneads, the ideal human, but not i think union with the one True God... i may be wrong, and if i am, may you be right. are we not all right, are we not all wrong.

please try to be tolerant with my arrogance.

may all who read these (i hope) simple words gain the clear mind of a diamond in all its luster and clarity and a heart of flameing love. amen.

hope this is helpful.

love, snow-flake. xxx

This is an important book because-
it influenced 10 centuries of European Medieval thought, even though
no European had read it! But important Medieval writers and thinkers like St Augustine and the Pseudo-Dionyseus acted as conduits for his thought.

Plotinus borrowed from all the philosophies of the Classical and Ancient World. At the same time he placed great emphasis on the individual, so in this sense he is a kind of bridge between the modern and ancient worlds. Although his ideas are quarried by later Christian thinkers, Plotinus regards negative acts or behaviour as the product of a lack of intelligence, rather than the later Christian idea of evil itself being a kind of positive force. In fact pure intellect Plotinus regards as intrinsically good. It is this idea that becomes the foundation of Christian mysticism in the West, the idea that it is possible to know God through the intellect. God has three parts, the hightest of which is also a pure intelligence, according to Plotinus, who calls this highest part 'The Good.'

This book is really about the structure and order of Man, the Universe and Everything as it was seen in the late classical period, from a Platonist viewpoint. Interesting sections are on things like Astrology, then seen as a science: 'Are stars causes?'

One of the problems early Christians had is that the New Testament, unlike -say- Islam, does not provide a model of the Universe, a system of metaphysics or a detailed idea of what it is to be human, save in being sinful and requiring redemption. This book, like many others, was used as a source material by theologians such as St Thomas Aquinus, who were trying to construct an intellectual foundation around Christianity.

One of the problems people had in the past was not understanding biochemistry, of how matter can live, so they constructed a beautiful and interesting series of ideas about how souls enter and leave beings causing them to live or die.

One of the many interesting ideas here is how ideas themselves can have independent lives, as spirits as it were. This could be a forerunner of CG Jung's archetype theory of psychology.

This book is beautifully translated and very easy to read.

Skip this Penguin travesty of a book
The Enneads: Abridged Edition (Penguin Classics) translated by Stephen MacKenna (ISBN 014044520X).

The Penguin edition of Stephen MacKenna's translation Of Plotinus' 'Enneads' is printed on newsprint in a miniscule font, is sadly and inexplicably incomplete, and has a lengthy and condescending 40-page introduction by the Jesuit Paul Henry followed by a more interesting though much shorter one of 18 pages by editor John Dillon.

If it's the MacKenna translation you want - and there are some who feel it is one of the truly great translations of the age - skip this Penguin travesty of a book and treat yourself instead to a copy of the freshly edited 'Plotinus: The Enneads' (Larson Publications Classic Reprint Series) (ISBN 0943914558) which has been annotated, not as here with mere references to Plato's dialogues (as if we didn't know that Plotinus had read Plato), but with useful and interesting alternate translations of many passages.

Unlike the Penguin which, with its glued spine that cracks when opened and seems to have been designed to self-destruct after minimal use, the LP Classic Reprint is a PERMANENT BOOK, well-printed in a readable font on excellent paper, sewn in the traditional manner so that it opens flat, and is both clothbound and COMPLETE.

Excelent
Precise, beautiful and fine translation. Excelent work, this book is well worth buying. I strongly recommend it.

What Can I Say? Is There Another?
On one hand, it's pointless reviewing this Penguin edition, because the only translation of Plotinus that is generally available and widely quoted is Stephen Mackenna's legendary, rhapsodic life-work presented here. This abridgement is still lengthy (500+ pages) and probably more of Plotinus than most readers want, but there it is. Armstrong's translation, available only at high price for many volumes, in the Loeb Library, is more literal. But as far as I know, the only time selections were made from that set, in an all English edition, was 1953, by Allen and Unwin. It was a gem, and I'm sorry I lost it. So this IS Plotinus. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (7)

"Then there is no longer an outside and an inside: only one single light...."
Pierre Hadot wrote PLOTINUS OR THE SIMPLICITY OF VISION at a time (1963) when far fewer supplementary Plotinian texts existed. This third edition paperback, translated from the French, has been available since 1993 essentially unchanged from the earliest version. Hadot's scholarship regarding both the life and philosophy of Plotinus has passed the test of time.

This short, but not superficial, overview examines Plotinus' teachings on the Self, Presence, Love, Virtues, Gentleness, and Solitude.

It also provides a spiritual biography of the third-century Roman and seeks to dispel certain misconceptions that reading THE LIFE OF PLOTINUS, by the master's student, Porphyry, can and have biased the minds of many pre-Hadot readers. Precious little is known about Plotinus' life, but Hadot takes care to place what is in the context of the norms of philosopher's era. Thus, Plotinus is depicted as a man of balance, not as a unhealthy ascetic: "Plotinus' spiritual life consists in tranquil confidence and peaceful gentleness," Hadot persuades.

Plotinus sought to teach his students constant inner contemplation (very similar to meditation disciplines popularized in the West over the last several decades but not widely influential here in 1963). In the ENNEADS (the compilation of his writings, as organized by Porphyry), he explains what a diligently practicing student could experience," ' Suddenly a light bursts forth, pure and alone. We wonder whence it came: from the outside, or from the inside?...The light comes from nowhere, and it goes nowhere; it simply either appears or does not appear....What a wonder!' "

For anyone interested in this philosopher/sage, PLOTINUS OR THE SIMPLICITY OF VISION is an outstanding place to begin.

Eternal Truths from Plotinus
The delusion that our modern age is superior to the ages that have preceded us is shattered by reading this remarkably well written book by Hadot on the writings of Plotinus. This great thinker and philosopher seems to bring us the source of what we assume to be "modern" discoveries about the nature of Being. Read this book and allow the darkness you live in to be illuminated! It is a breathtaking dive into brilliancy.

Spiritual Biography/ Spiritual Philosophy
This book is a joy to read. It is a joy because the author did not primarily write it for scholars; he wrote it for the layman. He wrote a spiritual biography that explains Plotinus and his teachings, and not deconstructionist hatchet job to profane them. Yes, it is a slim volume and an introduction, but if it is sufficient to get the idea of simplicity of vision across, of stripping away all of the dross to once again attain union with the One, then it is more than enough. After all, true philosophy is simplicity, and not the complicated, pretentious, artificial construction of "learned" discourse that passes under that name in these days.

Those who think that Plotinus merely regurgitated the concepts of Plato couldn't be more mistaken. Plotinus achieved the mystic union that enabled him to verify Plato's teachings by direct experience. In the same way, later mystics validated Plotinus' teachings by direct experience. That isn't regurgitation- it is a form validation and verification based on experience. Yes, there is a chain uniting all true mystics and mystical philosophers, but it is not a cause and effect chain in the earthly world of matter and history- it is a chain existing at the higher level of pure Intellect, where we all are united whether we realize it or not.

Our self extends from God down to the level of matter. Most of us are not conscious of it. However, our point of attention or perspective can be shifted to a higher level. Our soul is in an intermediate position between the lower world (matter), and the higher worlds of Spirit and the One. When we descend from the All before birth we add something to this All. We do not gain by this addition, but are lessened by it. This addition is what constitutes our little, rational self. However, we can forget this little self and at least briefly re-unite with Spirit. A few may even briefly reach as high as the One while still rooted in this realm of time.

The secret lies in contemplation. Through spiritual practice we calm and purify the consciousness to be ready for the intervention of the Spirit. For we do not control this outcome no matter how long and hard we may work for it. Plotinus held that it ultimately depended upon...Grace.We must strive to become a living temple- but it is up to the divine presence whether or not it chooses to enter in.

There is a remarkable underlying consistency to all the teachings attributed to Plotinus. Even his last words are a holographic fragment containing the whole: "I am trying to make what is most divine in me rise back up to what is divine in the universe."

Plotino and philosophy as a spiritual discipline
Pierre Hadot, who has insisted in classical philosophy being mor a spiritual discipline than a doctrinal body, offers a wonderfully suggestive and loving introduction to Plotino's thougt. A must read

Deeply thoughtful
Hadot's work on Plotinus is first rate and this is as good as anyone will find on the philosophy of Plotinus. But it is more than that. Hadot feels that something is missing in modern philosophy. At the start philosophy was not simple theoretical knowledge, as in trying to figure out if a sentece is analytic or not. No, at the start, philosophy was also a "way of life". You become a philosopher not just to think about the world, but to learn how to live the best life. Hadot also focuses on this aspect of Plotinus, in doing so opens up the possiblity that we today can adopt philosophy was a guide to living. No wonder this book hit the bestseller lists in France.

We should not forget that Plato said that our job, as philosophers, is "to see the world as it is, and ACT accordingly". Few aside from Hadot understand this and few infuse their studies with this wisdom. As a result Hadot gets closer to the truth than most. ... Read more

Book Description
In the "Enneads," 3rd century mystic philosopher Plotinus synthesized a thousand years of accumulated Greek wisdom with his own profound mystical experiences. What is the nature of God? Of spirit? Of soul? In what fashion can God be realized? How can the validity of spiritual experiences be tested?

"Return to the One" presents Plotinus's compelling answers to such ageless questions in a refreshing modern style. Whatever your spiritual beliefs, you will find yourself challenged and stimulated by Plotinus's matchless blend of rationality and mysticism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Lucid and Luminous
For years I've been telling friends, "You must read Plotinus--he's the single greatest mind in the Western mystical tradition."But when they pick up his great classic, the Enneads, they complain they can't understand a word!The problem is the English translations are geared for readers with an extensive knowledge of ancient Greek philosophical terminology.
I'm so grateful to Brian Hines for writing a book that makes Plotinus' profound and incredibly inspiring insights accessible to everyone.With bracing clarity and vivid examples Hines "unpacks" the Enneads, explaining the master's brilliant realizations in terms people today can easily understand.
Lucid and luminous, Return to the One is a contemporary spiritual classic.

Excellent, very readable introduction to Plotinos' rich contents
Plotinos (Latin: Plotinus) is not well known to the general public, much less than Plato in whose tradition he stands. Nevertheless Plotinos is well known in smaller circles on behalf of his enormous influence on Western mysticism, and not less as a very original philosopher. However his writings are not read very often outside the small circle of lovers. And this is understandable because what is left of them, is mostly restricted to an - although extensive - collection of loose and often smaller tractates, after adaptation bundled by his pupil Porphyrius. Due to Plotinos' influence on christian mysticism and on philosophy in its stricter sense many introductions to his work are written from those viewpoints, and so are rather christian-theological or more strictly philosophical. Too soon forgotten then is Plotinos' objective of a view of life that is to be lived, and this as well without reference to christian theology and without the modern opposition of philosophy and practice. Perhaps it might even be said that in so far the tradition of the hellenistic mystery schools was integrated or still got some place within the christian West, this mainly took place through Plotinos and the neoplatonism inspired by him.
Ofcourse it is possible to look at Plotinos in the ways described, and this even has become the norm for a long time in the past. But historically and practically it is possible to read the original Plotinos in a way which does not take those interpretations as the norm. A way which is distinct and at least as original. This is my opinion after reading Brian Hines book. However what I am not capable to do, is tracing exactly the accordance of his interpretation with Plotinos' texts or rather with the system entailed and described in those. Nevertheless I have no argument at all to suppose that Hines' interpretation is not relevant or not correct. He uses the best known sources and resources (including important secondary literature), the same as are used by other scholars. Fascinating is that Hines' interpretation delivers a view in much more accordance with the old interpretation of philosophy as part of a spiritual school of life, such as were a reality in the Classic Age. As well as with the way of psychological development which we also meet in Indian philosophies. Plotinos is a very psychological philosopher. [...]

In the first part of his book Hines gives a number of points to be attentive to in reading and interpreting Plotinos and his texts, as well as a justification of his method.

Then he summarizes the system of Plotinos in the form of chapters about aspects of his philosophy, selected and composed according to the way indicated in the system itself. First the aspects of the One and the Many, next the aspects of the way the soul goes from its descent from the One to the Many and its ascent from the Many back into the One. In this way the at first sight rather strange because rather technical philosophy of Plotinos becomes astonishingly "concrete" and actual, psychologically and spiritually profound. I recall the titles of a number of those chapters: God is the Goal, One is Overall, First is Formless, Infinity is Ineffable, Reality is a Radiation, Universe is a Unity, All is Alive, Truth is Transparent, Form is Foundation, Intelligence is Intuitive, Psyche is a Pilgrim, Descent is Debasement, Choice is Compulsion, Reason is Restricted, Image is Illusion, Suffering is Separation, Soul is the Self, Without is Within, Simplicity is Superior, Fear is a Fiction, Vision is Veracity. Very rich in content, these chapters are built around much cited and central statements and sentences from the works of Plotinos and present a clear interpretation of them in modern language within the context of modern ideas. Not just that many insights from philosophy and psychology are presented in passing but one now also sees how profound Plotinos' views are in comparison with these. And this in a way understandable to not only christians or professional philosophers but to everyone with interest in and some knowledge of modern (religious or spiritual) psychology and modern thinking about it.

Hines concludes his book with some chapters in which he elucidates some more general topics and problems, such as how to interpret the philosophy of Plotinos taken as a whole, how to interpret the relation between this neoplatonism and christianity, what might be the heritage of Plato and Plotinos and what might be the messages for us entailed in all this. That is to say for our search to find truth and regarding what we might or should be willing to invest to reach that goal.

His book ends with well described suggestions for further reading and / or study, and it comprises a good index.

Altogether this is a very valuable introduction into the original philosophy of Plotinos. Not difficult to read, nor does it reduce to meaninglessness the sometimes profound or complex questions that can be posed. On the contrary, this book is often elucidating and inspiring.
Very much recommended.

Plotinus
The Book is a must have for spiritual practitioners and seekers.
Brian clearly has connected with the mystic/theosopher, Plotinus.
Wonderful Seva Brian Hines!!! Thank You!!!

Finally a book that enlightens the reader to understand more clearly the philosophy
I am so impressed with the authors ability to open us up to explore the timeless philosophies of Plotinus.The author takes us on a wonderful mental journey that explores the vista of the soul as it leaves the One and returns with so many spiritual gifts acquired along the way. I feel a wonderful excitment about advancing through this journey instead of the usual fear of the unknown. This book has changed my expectations and the Philosophy coraborated by so many other philosophers renders this book so believable. I also enjoyed his style.

All my life I have been looking for a book like this...
I love Plotinus and his work, but I had never found anybody who described it with suck simplicity and clarity. Hines must be commended for his hard work and for all the huge help that he provided for spiritual seekers. I hope to see this book translated in many languages and becoming widely known. There is so much trust in stupidity today and reading this book has been a refreshing, comforting experience, like going Home. ... Read more

Book Description
Plotinus (205-270 AD) was the most important philosopher in the centuries between Aristotle and Augustine, and interest in his work is growing rapidly. Lloyd P. Gerson gives a detailed account of the arguments of Plotinus in the major philosophical areas of metaphysics, epistemology, psychology and ethics, and examines them in their historical context. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Understand the very influential philosopher
It might not be clear to modern readers how important Plotinus was.His Enneads, consisting of 54 essays, is an attempt for a world view that is going to exert great influence on medieval Islam and Christianity.In this work of Gerson, he continued the thinking he laid out in his where he pinpoints the central question Greek philosophers tried to answer: What is the ultimate cause and principle of explanation?In this way, the superiority of the Plotinian answer over that of Plato's and Aristotle's becomes clear.The reading in this book is very dense, but it is rewarding to me personally to see how studying of ancient Greek philosophy CAN be of value in the contemporary world in clarifying our own ideas and our implicit world view.

Without understanding Plotinus (and arguably Origen) and the anchor points, it is virtually impossible to understand and compare the various medieval philosophies from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. ... Read more

Book Description

Plotinus (204/5-270 CE) was the first and greatest of Neoplatonic philosophers. His writings were edited by his disciple Porphyry, who published them many years after his master's death in six sets of nine treatises each (the Enneads).

Plotinus regarded Plato as his master, and his own philosophy is a profoundly original development of the Platonism of the first two centuries of the Christian era and the closely related thought of the Neopythagoreans, with some influences from Aristotle and his followers and the Stoics, whose writings he knew well but used critically. He is a unique combination of mystic and Hellenic rationalist. His thought dominated later Greek philosophy and influenced both Christians and Moslems, and is still alive today because of its union of rationality and intense religious experience.

In his acclaimed edition of Plotinus, Armstrong provides excellent introductions to each treatise. His invaluable notes explain obscure passages and give reference to parallels in Plotinus and others.

Customer Reviews (5)

A mystical and spiritual genius who still speaks with wisdom
One scholar once called Plotinus 'The most brilliant and original Philosopher after Plato.'While one could also perhaps give that same title to Aristotle or another Philosopher (i.e. Epicurus reached similar speculative heights but in materialism rather than the spiritual side of philosophy), it must be acknowledged that Plotinus is one of the world's most brilliant spiritual teachers, mystics and philosophers, all in one man.

Plotinus was taught by a fellow called Ammonius Saccas, the same man who taught the outstanding Christian Philosopher Origen.Plotinus found Saccas at the age of 26 (so his biographer Porphyry tells us) and proclaimed 'this is the man I have been looking for!'Plotinus is also said to have remarked about not wanting to have his portrait painted because he was in a material body, and telling his students 'to unite the divine in you with the Divine in the universe.'

By the accounts we have Plotinus was a very gentle, intelligent and humble man, probably from the Aristocratic class.While highly virtuous and shunning material wealth, he had many aristocratic friends and also looked after the raising of children and orphans.

Plotinus was a Platonist through and through, regarding all of Plato's works essentially as divinely inspired truth about both the visible and invisible realms of reality.However, Plotinus was also very much in his own right, an original speculative philosopher and mystic of immense creative power.Plotinus was also deeply rational, and was averse to any kind of fanatical adherence to religious beliefs or claims salvation was found by irrational means, such as by magic, divination or worshipping a saviour figure.Plotinus looked sympathetically upon such practices for those who needed the emotional in religion, but for Plotinus, the main goal was to find and unite with the Absolute in so far as it was possible in this mortal body.

Plotinus's cooly rational system is extremely abstract and difficult to fathom.A.H. Armstrong's translation is the best I've seen in English, but even so Plotinus does not write well stylistically and often repeats himself or goes on long digressions over the same point when he doesn't need to.But even so, Plotinus has immense and profound insight into both himself and the Absolute, rarely matched anywhere in the world's mystical or religious literature.

To summarise, the aim and goal of man on Earth is to unite with the highest reality which exists, which Plotinus calls 'The One.'The One is the source of all being, life, and existence, and the creator of the universe, however at the same time it is so transcendant we can't say what it is, only what it isn't.Plotinus identifies the One with the Good and the Beautiful as it occurs in Plato's works, and also says it is unlimited, infinite, and beyond being.

From the One comes the Soul, and from Soul comes Nous or Intellect.From this triad everything in existence rests, comes into being, and returns in a grand procession which never ends.

Despite the fact the One is essentially incomprehensible and ineffable and there is really no way we can rationally understand it as it is, Plotinus believed union with the Absolute was possible by looking within the Self.For Plotinus, this marvelous 'vision', which is the highest happiness to be held in this life, happened four times in his life and references to this estatic mystical experience occur throughout the Enneads.The ascent to the highest reality occurs by looking in oneself once the philosopher has 'purified' himself through the practice of virtue, or by contemplation of the Forms.All help in the ascent to the highest, the One itself.

Plotinus's brilliant mystical philosophy is not only a work of genius in itself, but also had an immense impact on Christianity, Judaism and Islam.St Augustine and many other Church fathers were very deeply influenced by his mysticism, and adopted many elements of Plotinus in their own theological and mystical systems.Plotinus also influenced Islam through the so called 'Book of Causes', attributed to Aristotle, but which in fact was a mixture of the Enneads and Proclus (another Neo-Platonist) in Arabic, especially in Sufi mystical thought.

Today in our age, when the spiritual seems to have less relevance because so much can be explained by material causes, laws and forces through the application of Science, Plotinus can at times seem to be an archaic remnant of an age where irrational belief in magic and the unseen held a superstitious hold over the mind of humans.But, if one tries to read Plotinus not as a master of science but of the spirit, then his striking genius radiates from every page.

Any seeker should try to read and understand Plotinus and listen to what this calm and sagely philosopher has to say.

Most intelligent collection of philosophy on earth
Plotinus' logic is second to none. I personally found more from reading Plotinus than from 6 years in college. the Emanationism as illuminated by Plotinus is the only philosophically logical description of the cosmos, opposite to both creationism and Nihilism/athiesm, as well as opposed to Pantheism and Gnosticism, the philosophy of Plotinus is pithy, intense and has NO EQUAL in intelligence and breadth, period.

Having myself many 1000s of books on philosophy and as an translator of ancient pali philosophical texts, I must say i find that most of which I have read in life to be utter trash, or worthless at best, save for Plotinus.

I personally find the Enneads of Plotinus to be my "Bible", his concise and laser-like accuracy to logic and emphasis of "Union with the One" to be the Paramount of metaphysical writtings.

Its unfortunate that so many Christians seek 'God-talk' in the works of Plotinus, when in fact there are none, for Plotinus, an Emanationist who speaks of the insentient Absolute, the Divine, is utterly opposed to a sentient self-aware Creationistic GOD who holds the fate of mankind in his hand.

Its absolutely unreal that Plotinus' works are so unknown, by and large, having read from all the Presocratics, and other Neoplatonists, and Plato and the rest, none approach the intelligent and insight that Plotinus reaches in the Enneads.

A.H. Armstrongs translation is the best available, the work by Mr. Steven MacKenna is poor at best, and that of T. Taylor is incomplete and far too lose.

I cherish this 7 Vol. translation with the Greek more than any other set of works, the metaphysical emphasis of wisdom and Union (EPISTROPHE) with the One in this collection is the best of its kind which exists. Buy this collection and youll never regret it.

The ultimate net. Web of the universe!
While Plotinus has always had his devotees -(Neo-)Platonism has received a heavy bashing in our times, chiefly a legacy of Nietzsche's and Heidegger's strictures. According to them, it was all something of a mistake.

However, the fact remains that 'Platonism' of a certain sort has to be thanked for some of the most inspired - and inspiring elements of Western culture. Meister Eckhart - for instance, who has certainly been back on the map - is an heir to the Platonist tradition. Nietzsche's view of the Renaissance as a kind of 'inversion' of Platonist thought was entirely mistaken. People like Ficino and members of the Florentine Academy were ardent students of Platonism - especially as re-stated by Plotinus.

Walk round any classic Italian city - and the beauty you see is very much a legacy of Neo-Platonism. It isn't - and wasn't, the 'dead' claptrap Nietzsche and Heidegger spoke of. One upshot of the contemporary disdain for 'traditional' Western philosophy is to look at 'Oriental' teachings. That is a fine and meaningful enterprise. Yet Meister Eckhart - highly infuenced by Platonism, is frequently cited as a Western 'thinker' who is in tune with 'Oriental' thought.

Read Plotinus carefully, and you'll be in for some pleasant surprises. He hints about a process called 'henosis' - becoming 'one'd' with the action of the divine energeia. For him, this was not just something inside the cranium, but an actual experience - like a Zen 'satori.' We are no longer accustomed to the kind of terms and language employed by Plotinus, but the effort to recapture his terms of thinking
brings all sorts of precious intuitions. The most dualistic elements of the Western tradition are relatively recent - a legacy of Cartesian philosophy, modern rationalism and the Industrial Revolution.

It is nothing more than a shallow generalisation to 'lump' all the bad elements of Western philosophy together - as a legacy of Platonism. There is much sublimity and beauty in it, and you will find both in good measure - if you digest the writings of Plotinus.

An Excellent Edition of Plotinus
As is typical for the Loeb classical library books, the volumes are physically small, and the original text (Greek, for Plotinus) is given on the left hand page, with the English translation on the right.

The Preface describes the historical context within which Plotinus wrote, offers a summary of this thought, and a survey of Plotinus translations, commentaries, and studies. This material is supplemented by short introductions and synopses at the start of each chapter, and by abundant and detailed footnotes. The footnotes explain translation difficulties (not uncommon with Plotinus), and also identify the sources of Plotinus' references to other writers. These materials are excellent.

The only thing that this edition lacks is an index. The editors plead the difficulty of indexing Plotinus, and recommend "Lexicon Plotinianum" by J. H. Sleeman and Gilbert Pollet as an alternative. This work is, however, out of print (is it even in English? I am not sure) so it is not a very helpful suggestion. As it is, given Plotinus' rather scattered way of writing, an index is missed.

The Enneads are a collection of Plotinus' writings from fairly late in his life. Porphyry, his student, encouraged him in writing down his teachings, and acted as his posthumous editor (he also wrote a short biography of Plotinus which is included in the first volume). The works as they exist today are as they were received from Porphyry. As editor, Porphyry created his own organization for the works based on subject matter. This order is completely different from the order in which Plotinus wrote them. Porphyry, however, did document the original ordering.

From my own experience, however, I would recommend strongly reading Plotinus' writings in the order Plotinus wrote them rather than the order in which Porphyry arranged them. The major advantage I found was that it was much easier to follow the reasons why Plotinus believed what he did, even if the subject matter does jump around a bit. I tried Porphyry's order first, and almost gave up in despair before trying again in Plotinus' order. I have come to the conclusion that much of Plotinus' reputation as a bad writer is due to unfortunate but well-intended editorial decisions by Porphyry. Given that the Loeb edition presents Plotinus' writings in Porphyry's order, and that the Loeb edition is in multiple volumes, reading Plotinus this way does have a certain entertaining quality as well (first get volume IV, read a treatise, then get volume VI, read another, then get volume I, read another, and so on).

An important recommendation I would make for the reader is that he be properly prepared in his background reading. All of Aristotle and all of Plato would be ideal (as well as a worthwhile activity in its own right), but if the would-be reader of Plotinus finds that a little daunting and wants to get started sooner, there are still a few works that he should make a particular effort to read: Plato's "Phaedo", "Republic" (Books VI, VII), "Parmenides", and "Timaeus"; Aristotle's "Physics", "On the Heavens", "On the Soul", and "Metaphysics". Plato, as the earlier writer, should be read first (by the way - don't be discouraged when you find you don't understand the second half of "Parmenides", Plotinus is going to tell you what he thinks it means in due course, so all you need to do is understand the references). If you don't have Plato or Aristotle, for Plato, Cooper's "Plato: Complete Works" (in one volume), and for Aristotle, Barnes' "Complete Works of Aristotle" (in two volumes), are excellent.

The Loeb Edition Table of Contents
This Loeb Classical Library edition of the works of Plotinus is in seven volumes. The titles are as follows:

Plotinus I: Porphyry on Plotinus, Ennead I (Loeb Classical Library, 440)

Plotinus II: Ennead II (Loeb Classical Library, 441)

Plotinus III: Ennead III (Loeb Classical Library, 442)

Plotinus IV: Ennead IV (Loeb Classical Library, 443)

Plotinus V: Ennead V (Loeb Classical Library, 444)

Plotinus VI: Ennead VI, Books 1-5 (Loeb Classical Library, 445)

Plotinus VII: Ennead VI, Books 6-9 (Loeb Classical Library, 468)

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Below is the combined table of contents for those volumes:

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME I:

Preface (editors)

Sigla (editors)

On the Life of Plotinus and the Order of his Books (Porphyry)

Ennead I:

1. What is the Living Being, and What is Man? (53)

2. On Virtues (19)

3. On Dialectic (20)

4. On Well-being (46)

5. On Whether Well-being Increases with Time (36)

6. On Beauty (1)

7. On the Primal Good and the Other Goods (54)

8. On What Are and Whence Come Evils (51)

9. On Going Out of the Body (16)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME II:

Sigla (editors)

Ennead II:

1. On Heaven (40)

2. On the Movement of Heaven (14)

3. On Whether the Stars are Causes (52)

4. On Matter (12)

5. On What Exists Actually and What Potentially (25)

6. On Substance, or On Quality (17)

7. On Complete Transfusion (37)

8. On Sight, or How Distant Objects Appear Small (35)

9. Against the Gnostics (33)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME III:

Sigla (editors)

Ennead III:

1. On Destiny (3)

2. On Providence I (47)

3. On Providence II (48)

4. On Our Allotted Guardian Spirit (15)

5. On Love (50)

6. On the Impassibility of Things without Body (26)

7. On Eternity and Time (45)

8. On Nature and Contemplation and the One (30)

9. Various Considerations (13)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME IV:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus IV-V (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead IV:

1. [2] On the Essence of the Soul I (4)

2. [1] On the Essence of the Soul II (21)

3. On Difficulties About of the Soul I (27)

4. On Difficulties About of the Soul I (28)

5. On Difficulties About of the Soul III, Or On Sight (29)

6. On Sense Perception and Memory (41)

7. On the Immortality of the Soul (2)

8. On the Descent of the Soul into Bodies (6)

9. If All Souls are One (8)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME V:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus IV-V (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead V:

1. On the Three Primary Hypostases (10)

2. On the Origin and Order of the Beings Which Come After the First (11)

3. On the Knowing Hypostases and That Which is Beyond (49)

4. How That Which is After the First Comes From the First, And on the One (7)

5. That the Intelligibles are not Outside the Intellect, and on the Good (32)

6. On the Fact that that Which is Beyond Being does not Think, and on What is the Primary and What the Secondary Thinking Principle (24)

7. On the Question Whether there are Ideas of Particular Things (18)

8. On the Intelligible Beauty (31)

9. On Intellect, the Forms, and Being (5)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME VI:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus VI, VII (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead VI (continued in volume VII):

1. On the Kinds of Being I (42)

2. On the Kinds of Being II (43)

3. On the Kinds of Being III (44)

4. On the Presence of Being, One and the Same, Everywhere as a Whole I (22)

5. On the Presence of Being, One and the Same, Everywhere as a Whole II (23)

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR VOLUME VII:

Preface to the Loeb Plotinus VI, VII (A. H. Armstrong)

Sigla (editors)

Ennead VI (continued from volume VI):

6. On Numbers (34)

7. How the Multitude of Forms Came into Being, and on the Good (38)

8. On Free Will and the Will of the One (39)

9. On the Good or the One (9)

The numbers in parentheses indicate Plotinus' order of composition, which differs from the order given them by Porphyry and which this edition follows.

The bracketed numbers for the first two chapters of Ennead IV are an alternate ordering for them. ... Read more

Book Description
The best edition to date of the unabridged definitive Stephen MacKenna translation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

An inspired system of spiritual philosophy
_The Enneads (the Nines) is the greatest surviving work of spiritual philosophy of late antiquity. Here we have expounded Plotinus' interpretation of the perennial philosophy. We are shown that the material world has a spiritual origin, for all of creation emanates down from the divine Source, through the various levels of manifestation, to our own world. Moreover, we are shown that mankind's ultimate goal is to turn away from the distractions of this lower material creation and seek union with this divine Source (God, the One, the Good.)

_While Plotinus critised the Gnostic sects of his day, it is obvious that his own idea of intuitive intellectual knowledge, where subject and object unite in perfect understanding, is pure gnosis. The main disagreement seems to have been on the nature of the material world: The Gnostics held it to be inherently evil, while Plotinus saw it as simply lower and inferior, yet basically good.

_There is great wisdom in this book for those who can penetrate the traditional intuitive mindset. This only to be expected since Plotinus studied the perennial philosophy at the great library of Alexandria for over a decade. There is also the fact that Plotinus admitted to three episodes of enlightenment, epiphany, or cosmic consciousness in his life. Like all true masters, he was more of a reciever of timeless divine truths than an originator of anything new and contrived.

Poor translation of Plotinus
Plotinus is a philosopher worth digesting but not in this 19th century indigestible translation by Stephen MacKenna. Book publishers often use old translations regardless of quality, so that they can go to print without paying the long-dead translator.
A good translation reads smoothly and clearly, as if the book had been originally written in English. It should not sound like this stilted gobbledygook from MacKenna in III.2.14 (p 149):
"In this demand for more good than exists, there is implied a failure to recognize that the form allotted to each entity is sufficient in itself; it is like complaining because one kind of animal lacks horns."Whaaaat????
Could MacKenna be trying to say something like: "All forms are perfect as created. Demanding something better than exists is like saying an animal without horns is inferior to one with horns."
Don't buy this inferior Penguin version of Plotinus but keep shopping.

Arguably the greatest mind in Western culture
Plotinus ought to be read and digested by anyone who asks the ultimate question. Ultimately, his words point to a central experience - and presuppose that we wish to tread the same way. Western philosophy has had a lot of 'stick' in recent years, an inevitable reaction - given the fact that since the 18th c., much if not most Western philosophy has become a head trip - a tangle of knots. Modern philosophers like Heidegger have located the problem further back - with Platonism, and it has become a common place to see all Western philosophy as chopped logic, resulting in a fragmented perception of reality.

Everything Plotinus says - points to a crowning experience, what he termed 'henosis' - realising a state of 'at-onement.' Hence, any idea of identifying Plotinus use of the term 'Nous' (translated as 'intellect' in English) with its narrower, modern equivalent, would be a fatal misunderstanding. Plotinus leaves no room for distinctions between the knower and the known, presenting a marked parallel with Buddhist intuitions. Given theextensive influence that Buddhism has exerted upon western culture in recent years, it would be a crime to ignore the fruit-ful parallels afforded by Plotinus.

More to the point, a reading of Plotinus raises some serious questions about the verdict of people like Heidegger - when it comes to the history of Western philosophy. Moreover, it would not do to whinge about the Christian refutation of 'pagans,'as ifthe Church ignored Plotinus. His ideas influenced the early Church fathers - an influence that continued with people like Aquinus, Augustine - Eckhart etc.Hence, Heidegger's view of Western philosophy/theology as a kind of degeneration and fragmentation of 'Being' - is open to question, and one wonders why a whole generation of scholars like him, have persistently ignored what philosophers like Plotinus had to say. It is not all 'bad news.' A certain kind of 'Platonism' may well amount to what Nietzsche called 'the palest and thinnest ideas of all,' but by the same token, another form of it helped shape the intuitions of Meister Eckhart, and inspired Renaissance thinkers like Ficino. W.Y. Evans-Wentz, the noted American scholar-gypsy, a Rhodes scholar who sat at the feet of eminent Tibetan Lamas, and helped pave the way for a Western absorption of Buddhist ideas, held Plotinus in great esteem - seeing a perennial philosophy in the best of Western and Oriental civilisation.Hence, the Paul Brunton foundation endeavoured to promote a proper study of Plotinus' thought.

Stephen Mackenna's translation of the Enneads was a labour of love, and gave his life to the task. It taxed Mackenna's strength, some portions of the text being completed by people like B.S. Page. The Larson edition is of especial value here, examining the nuance of various terms found in Plotinus' work - all told, the best single volume edition of the Enneads. Thanks to John Dillon's endeavours, an economically priced, abridged version of Mackenna's work is available in p/back. Dillon's comments are well worth taking into account. A.H. Armstrong's translation (with the Greek text) is available in separate volumes, but the Larson/Mackenna version - with plentiful notes, cross references etc., is the best buy for the general reader who wants to devote some time to the idioms used by Plotinus. Nobody finds Plotinus an easy read, but as the other reviews testify, those who allow Plotinus' intuitions to play upon their minds, and read between the lines, will find their vision enlarged. It is no small thing to discover that our microcosmic selves participate in the life of the divine energeia - embodying some-thing of its power, enabling us to share in the life of the whole - to feel and know that we are at one with it. Like the Yi-Ching, the Upanishads, or Prajnaparamita, Plotinus' is one of those seminal influences, providing the pinnacle of insight for a whole civilisation. Wells may be forgotten or blocked over, but the water is always there to drink.

the ultimate sky-hook
Readers of mine may notice that I rarely speak of fiction and prefer
the term "imaginative literature." Plotinus, by trade, was a
philosopher, and some of the greatest in his profession, apart from
unusual powers of reasoning, are not exactly conspicuous for their
imagination. But others did great and displayed fertile imagination
and linguistic felicity. Even if totally refuted in a strictly
philosophical sense, their work remains to be a source of inspiration
and a joy to read.

Plotinus began publishing in the advanced
age of 49. His work became the hidden nursery of Christian theology;
something he certainly didn't intend. The Christian apologist
Tatian, in his address "Against the Greeks," expressed an
increasingly popular sentiment when he said: "I am not to worship
God's creation made for our use. The Sun and the Moon were made on
our account. How then shall I worship my own ministers?" Plotinus,
usually never shrill, replied in strong terms:

"Human
temerity is only too willing to accept such grandiloquent ravings. The
simple folks hear: 'People whose worship is inherited from
antiquity are not His children - you are!'So you address the
lowest of men as brothers, but you deny this courtesy to the Sun and
disown your ties with the Cosmos?" Plotinus created the last great
synthesis of antique philosophy. It combined Plato's theory of Ideas
with a doctrine of emanation, a constant flux of creative energy from
the primeval One through several agencies all the way down to humans,
animals, and matter in various states of lesser reality.

In
this vision even the polytheistic pantheon participates in the
ultimately undivided unity of the cause for our
existence. Plotinus' reasoning is not difficult to follow, but for
us modern semi-barbarians, his discerning subtlety often seems to
verge on empty verbiage. However the basic premise is endearingly
simple: "It is unity that makes a being. The members of every plant
and animal form a unity; separation means loss of existence."
History has been written by the victorious, so our views reflect the
dim opinions of paganism's worst enemy; but let me assure you, in
their days, the Pagans had the better thinkers on their side.


So, once in the saddle, Christians went on the offensive. Egged on
by their bishop, Alexandria's mob flayed alive the philosopher
Hypathia in her own lecture-hall, because she was a mathematician, a
philosopher, a pagan, and - what in the eyes of her Christian
opponents was her worst sin - a woman. Two centuries later, Emperor
Justinian, the bigot, switched off the lights, and drove Athen's
last philosophers into exile. It took a treaty with foreign powers,
that the last pagan intellectuals got permission to go home to their
families and end their lives in peace and darkness.

Plotinus
was always honest about the possibility to actually get it wrong:
"Consider sense knowledge: its objects seem most patently artified,
yet the doubt remains whether the apparent reality may not lie in the
states of the percipient rather than in the material before him."
He even seems to have anticipated the modern concept of gravity: "The
heavens, by their nature, will either be motionless or move by circle;
all other movement indicates outside compulsion."

In a
series of papers from 1969-1978, Professor Robert Fischer (not the
chess-champion) made explicit reference to Plotinus' description
of his mystical ecstasy. Based on controlled experiments with
mind-enhancing substances, Fischer mapped out an ascending continuum
of nervous arousal that bridges the state of meditative torpor on one
end with the surrender to white hot hysteria on the other. Such
ecstasy occurs when amphetamine or LSD or some kind of prayer
discipline breach the amnesic state boundaries, that structure our
layers of memory, and causes an overload of data which freezes the
mental "hard drive."

In Plotinus' own words:
"Abandon the duality of seer and seen, and count both as one, so that
he in its vision does not distinguish, nor even imagines a duality. He
has changed, does no longer own himself, but belongs to the One, a
center in sync with the center. He will behold a solitary light
suddenly revealing itself - not from some perceived object, but pure
and self-contained. We must not enquire its origin, for there is no
"origin." The primal One does not come on cue, it is not
like one who enters, but who is eternally present. Like one who has
entered the temple's inner sanctuary and left the images behind,
the self is perfectly still and alone. This is liberation from the
alien that besets us here ..."

Plotinus enjoyed this
experience only four times in the five or six years that his
biographer Porphyry knew him. Given the choice, I am not quite sure,
whether I really would like to relinquish my distance as separate
observer, but it is a noted fact, that everyone who ever
"returned" from the bright light of such schizoid stupor (which
includes so called "near death experiences") did so with deep
regret. It is a fact of our empirical existence, though not effected
by some numinous sky hook, as Plotinus would like us to think. Still,
the most fantastic of all philosophies could actually be the most
realistic description of the intellect and its evolution, to date.


"The Universe is organized, effective, complex, lavish, but
it cannot be at once symbol and reality. As we look upon the world,
its vastness and beauty and the order of its eternal march, and think
of the gods seen and hidden, and the life of animal and plant, let us
ascend to its archetype, to the yet more authentic sphere of unsoiled
intelligence. That archetypal world is the true Golden Age, age of
Kronos, who is the Intellectual-Principle, the exuberance of the
One." Paganism at its best.

The most important book I have read! In a the "perfect" ed.
There is no other book that I have come across that contains all I need for the rest of my life! The Enneads is a veritable treasure and guide.I love the Larson edition because it is using MacKenna's poetic translation and compares it with four other translations, using unobstrusive endnotes. Also, the appendix by Anthony Damiani is probably the best piece on Plotinus' philosophy that I have ever read.I cannot too highly recommend this book for its beauty, rapture and yet deep rationality. It's philosophic poetry at its best! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A thorough and far-reaching academic sourcebook
Also available in a hardcover edition (1557532338, $58.95), Reading Plotinus: A Practical Introduction To Neo-Platonism by KevinCorrigan (Visiting Professor, Humanities Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Corrigan and Professor of Classics and Philosophy, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, Canada). Plotinus (204/205-270) was a philosopher whose kindly views on the soul, time and eternity, free will, and other topics earned him the respect and admiration of those close to him, and derisive insults such as "big driveller" and "plagiarist" by those who did not. His advanced views are presented in a fluid translation of their original text, followed by an extensive and exhaustive commentary. A thorough and far-reaching academic sourcebook, intended especially for college students of philosophy, but also containing deeply spiritual contemplations that will resonate with the seeker of mystical matters about the soul, the afterlife, and oneness with the universe. Additional chapters offer a broad-reaching summary and insight into Plotinus' views as a whole, as well as bit-by-bit analysis. An excellent resource and reference for college libraries or any student of Plotinus and Neo-Platonism.
... Read more

Book Description
Plotinus is the greatest philosopher in the 700 year period between Aristotle and Augustine.He thought of himself as a disciple of Plato, but in his efforts to defend Platonism against Aristotelians, Stoics, and others, he actually produced a reinvigorated version of Platonism that later came to be known as "Neoplatonism".In this volume, sixteen leading scholars introduce and explain the many facets of Plotinus' complex system. They place Plotinus in the history of ancient philosophy while showing how he was a founder of medieval philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Cambridge Companion to Plotinus (CCP)
I have purchased and read much of the book.

On the one hand the CCP will be, in my opinion, a difficult read for those that have little understanding of the philosophical intricacies and arguments that Aristotle, Plato and the presocratics presented, and that Plotinus was rebutting, reformulating or reappraising. On the other hand the fine scholarship makes it an important contribution to understanding the philosophy of Plotinus. Professor John Bussanich's article "Plotinus's Metaphysic's of the One" comes close, I fancy, to formulating the axiom of mysticism itself. A bitter grumble here: as Plotinus made no mention of Christianity (Rist, 394), why devote an article about such a possibility in the CCP at this level of scholarship? Hmmm. In the Introductory essay Professor L. Gerson remarks "Some important topics are only touched on...aesthetics and mysticism, for instance" (p.2). I am a little confused. Readers, such as myself, that have invested several years in understanding the drive behind the genesis of Plotinus' Enneads, will find this remark frowningly odd. Plotinus is not Quine. You cannot sanitize Plotinus by omitting discussion on the purpose of his entire philosophy, I opine. The bookis an exciting treasure to those already knee-deep in Plotinan studies. Lots of grist for the mill! I deeply respect the world-class quality of the scholarship in the book. As I do not read Plotinian articles written by Christian scholars nor articles by scholars funded by Institutionalized Religions,some essays in the book remain unread. I am glad I own the book. I got my money's worth.

Useful, but not for a first look at Plotinus.
I can't help agreeing with the previous reviewer. There is a uneven quality to the material in this book. It isn't that helpful - unless you are already familiar with Plotinus, whereas the aim of this series had been to provide a handy introduction. I also agree that - brief though it may be, John Dillon's introduction to the Penguin Mckenna trans. succeeds in saying far more to make Plotinus comprehensible.

For example, Dominic J. O'Meara's material in Chapter 3 - 'The Hierarchical Ordering of Reality in Plotinus' - begins with a quote from Darwin " Never use the words higher and lower" - noting that Plotinus never referred to his system of philosophy as a 'hierarchy' at all, pointing out that this notion was added by later commentators. He then seeks to explicate the problem, by inviting readers to 'pick out terminology which Plotinus himself uses explicitly in order to formulate a structuring of things to which we would tend to refer as "hierarchical. . ." - hopefully, as a starting point to begin reformulating the position in Plotinus' own terms. But why not circumvent the problem by ignoring later commentaries, assumptions, sticking with Plotinus' terms from the outset?

Blumenthal's material (Chapter 4) - On Soul and Intellect' begins with rather patronising advice: "Readers of the Companion who have arrived at this chapter should be well aware that Platonus was a Platonist " - much as if we might have taken Plotinus for a Druid or Hindu. No doubt, Blumenthal was thinking of the serious consequences of projecting post 18th c. notions of 'Intellect' etc. - into Plotinus. This distinction could have been made, without making the book look like a 'Plotinus for Dummies' publication. You would have to be pretty dense - failing to recognise that Plotinus was a Platonist, after reading the Introduction and reaching page 82 of the book.

Again, I had qualms about Sara Rappe's contribution in Chapter 10 - 'Self-knowledge and Subjectivity in the Enneads,' largely because it begins by suggesting that Plotinus anticipated Descartes' view of subjectivity. To be fair, Rappe begins by noting convergences, but then moves on to qualify the divergences involved. All the same, I think the gap between Plotinus and Descartes is far too wide to suggest that the former anticipated the latter. All it says, really, is that philosophers of the European Enlightenment were heirs to a philosophical tradition which had its beginnings in ancient Greece. But Descartes was thinking in 'Latin' derivatives of Greek philosophical terms, and in that sense, his notion of 'subjectivity' was undoubtedly different. Why not stick with Plotinus? - if the aim was to introduce his philosophy? One of my chief reasons for reading Plotinus - and enjoying it, is that he doesn't sound like Descartes.

John Dillon's piece (Chapt. 13) was worth reading- 'An Ethic for the Late Antique Sage,' engaging precisely because Dillon stayed with the primary sources. Again, the piece by Georges Leroux (Chapter 12) was interesting, because he discussed what is ostensibly a very modern topic (human freedom),without projecting 18th c philosophical assumptions into the matter.
I dare say that all the papers in this book have relevance, but to my mind, there could have been better focus on Plotinus. I agree with the previous reviewer, who averred that it is often easier to read Plotinus - directly, than it is to digest some of these essays.

Rough going
If you are an expert in philosophy (or becoming one), this book may be a good value for you. For a modest price, you get access to 16 experts on Plotinus.

However, it was very difficult reading for me, with some of the essays nearly impenetrable. The back cover of the book says it was an aim of the Cambridge Companion series to "dispel the intimidation such readers [ non-specialists] feel when faced with the work of a difficult and challenging thinker". Could have fooled me since The Enneads seem easier going than this collection. Nor did I find these collection the "most convenient and accessible guide to Plotinus currently available". The opposite seems closer to the truth.

The introductory essays presented by the editor John Dillon in Penguin's abridged publication of Stephen McKenna's translation of The Enneads were vastly more readable for me. Avoid the mistake I made of reading this book first: what you may lack in context even if you read Plotinus cold, Plotinus will more than make up for by his sweeping vision and attentiveness to clear explanation. If not, you might try the Karl Jaspers book on the great philosphers that includes a big section on Plotinus.

I wouldn't not recommend this book, because it does provide a great deal of context (e.g. on Plotinus's place within Platonism and his debt to Aristotle and the Stoics), the essayists are indeed top scholars, and the price is excellent. Even if you find one or two of the essayists you really benefit from and read more of them in the future, this book will have served as a good sampler. But be careful thinking that because you are very smart or very interested in Plotinus that this book is worth your time: you may find, like I am finding, that it serves mostly as a reminder of the twisty passages of academia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Sample of Plotinus
The Essential Plotinus: Representative Treatises from the Enneads by Elmer O'Brien provides a short selection of Plotinus' more important writings.Though not widely read today Plotinus had a tremendous influence on ancient and medieval thought. Rather esoteric and oblique from a twentieth-first standpoint, his work remains relevant for students of philosophy and theology.In particular, Plotinus' view of the One's (God) transcendence and his thoughts regarding the limitations of intellectual analysis and reason are helpful.

I would recommend the book as an entry point for someone seeking an introduction to Plotinus.This is not, however, a good starting point for someone who is new to the field of philosophy.From my perspective, as others have noted, O'Brien's translation is quite readable (about as readable as Plotinus gets anyways).A potential drawback is the limited analysis and context provided by the author.

Philosophical Discourse on The Religious Experience
Plotinus, the philosopher. Interesting, how Plotinus takes the writings of Plato, the Stoics, Parmenides and fragments of Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, Empedocles and Aristotle and pieces it all together in what he perceives as a clearer model. It's amazing how Plotinus and his predecessors knew all this. How did they? Now on much of their logic, there is validity, but in their assessment of what exactly happens at death and what created the human mind, soul and being is nothing short of human speculation, both valid expressions and those obviously erroneous.

Now the feeling I get from reading this book, that is, the psychology of Plotinus, is that of a both very learned individual with much profundity and yet with a pompous officiality of the "philosopher," sort of like the Martin Heidegger of German philosophy - the Mr. "knowledge" and official doctorate of educated impressiveness. I mean, did any of these philosophers die and come back from the other realm to relate in such accurate detail the accounts of Beinghood, the soul and the origin of life? And yet, Plotinus, in many instances, writes as "proof" from what he is interpreting, expounding and elaborating on. You really have to read this book with a grain of salt. I can't help thinking of Swedenborg and Hildegard von Bingen, the metaphysical visionaries of philosophical insight in the Christian mystic venue of origins and spiritual realms of life, although, these mystics do not appear as the pompous philosophical Plotinus type, but much more as the William Blake side of the coin as visionaries of ambiguity, as opposed to Plato, who although discounting myths for reason, wrote the accounts of Phaedo and Phaedrus, the amazing stories of spiritual life in the heavens and their subsequent returns. Such stories influenced our friend here, Plotinus.

And so with this in mind, the book itself has many limitations, but it is truly an interesting and enlightening read despite all its declared "proofs" of authenticity. And it relays an outstanding view on facilities of reason, intelligence, Beinghood, unity, diversity, multiplicity, oneness, and so forth. The only thing is sometimes Plotinus speaks rather clearly and beautifully and at other times obscurely and wordy like the German Immanuel Kant in his constant repetition of words over and over again defining themselves in Aristotelian terms of definitive over emphasis.

In this book, Plotinus outlays the three hypostasis, the "One," the "Intelligence," and the "Soul." The One transcends essence, existence, beyond number and name, denied of all multiplicity, the first and everything's goal. The Intelligence is undivided Being from which proceeds the Soul which is the maker of the cosmos through Nature. The Soul consists of a multiplicities that are the pilots of earthy life.

Beauty consists of an idea of symmetry of diversity in unity, that is an idea we have of multiplicity that is unified symmetrically, which we perceive in form and interpret as beauty. Not all things however are images of models, as the Soul is not that, but is a thing in itself, soul-as-such. The soul, tired of living with someone else, "falls" down into earthly individuality, and although it can never abandon itself, it becomes severed and fragmented and forgets its worth as it gets caught up in its inquires of bodily life. Souls do not descend freely nor are they sent. They move towards bodies indeliberately, as if by instinct based on a law of karma-justice, drawn without reflection. There is a paradox; humans become imprinted with memories, snapshots, from bodily impressions, so they are reduced from the memories of the collective soul, while the souls, when apart from bodies, then get caught up in the higher levels so that they forget the lower. The soul remembers its previous lives, even though some recollections have vanished through lack of appreciation. When freed of the body, it will remember things it could not remember in its present life, but in time forgets many of the vents it has encountered. There are two types of memories, the fragmented soul with bodily impressions of the earthly reality, and the soul that is joined with the collective Soul that is united in a larger memory database apart from the bodily sensations. (Pages, 91-92, 145, 152-160, 188).

"It is one thing to think; it is another thing to perceive one's thought. We are always thinking. But we do not always perceive out thought because the subject and receives the thoughts receives also, alternately, sensations." P. 158

"The wise man is penetrated by reason and has wholly within himself what he manifests to others. He contemplates himself. He achieves unity and immobility not only in regard to external objects but also in regard to the things within himself. He finds all things within himself." P. 168

One other thing about this book. Its amazing to see, and you can, the influence of Plotinus here on the early church fathers, such as Augustine, Tertullian and others, how they took Plato and Plotinus and covered it over with their Christian grid of terminology and interpretation and "wala," a new, more spiritually sophisticated and profound Christianity was born. This also influenced the Gnostic Christians as well, although Plotinus rejected Christianity in its severe lack of philosophical inquiry, which according to Plato and Plotinus, is the only way towards pure beauty and the higher realms.

The One, The Intellect and onward
The base of Plotinus' philosophical system begins with what he calls The One, which is all things and no things... absolute unity, completely indivisible and set beyond existence. From The One emanates the less perfect universal Intellect from which the universal Soul emanates also less perfect, from which individual souls emanate. Plotinus postulates that every man is conflicted between a desire for individuality and a stronger, but poorly guided, yearning to return to the absolute unity of the one. He outlines that all beautiful things are more or less reflections of the Unity that all souls seek, but we are easily distracted by the reflections, blinded by the bodily, and led astray. he offers a cosmological view of the universe as it extends from the One and a partial guide to returning oneself to the One, although it is a journey he himself has not been able to complete.
Partially philosophic and partially a beautiful spiritual account, The Enneads are essential reading for anyone wanting to fully understand western philosophy; to see a crucial development on Platonic ideas and to see his influence in later philosophy/theology such as the works of Thomas Acquinas. It is so valuable itsown right as a well written and thoughtful attempt to express something very familiar but unwordable that runs through the human psyche.
The Elmer O'Brien translation is a good introductory text for anyone wishing to become acquinted with, but not deeply familiar with the works of Plotinus. He presents a sort of "best of the treatises" arranged in a way that he finds most accesible to the reader. For the more devoted scholar, the multitude of Loeb copies will both be more accurate, more complete, more comprehensive and offer the oppurtunity to read the greek text directly, which offers many insights that can't be conveyed into a perspicacious english text. As an introductory read, however, the O'Brien far outweighs the McKenna translation in accuracy and conveys a tone somewhat more akin to the actual writings of Plotinus.

A Great Resource
Few people today read Plotinus whose work ranked with Plato's and Aristotle's in Antiquity. Indeed a knowledge of this difficult and esoteric philosopher's thought is a must for understanding western philosophy through Spinoza. Unfortunately, MacKenna's edition-- the standard in English-- is lacking for many reasons (looseness and excessive liberty in translation for one). O'Brien avoids these pitfalls. This is a beautiful translation of a well-chosen representation of texts. Start with "On Beauty" for an easy introduction to a mystic tradition now largely forgotten. Make no mistake about it, however, Plotinus is difficult, albeit rewarding, to read under any circumstances (I almost suspect it is a proof of insanity to claim to comprehendfully "The Three Primal Hypostasis"). Luckily O'Brien has done several things to help the reader. Aside from a beautiful translation ably annotated, he supplies a useful introduction and an appendix of texts from Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics that Plotinus creatively appropriated and reinterpreted in a highly original way. O'Brien thoughtfully directs the reader's attention to the appropriate passage[s] in Plotinus. Read this book and you will begin to understand how the teaching of this esoteric Neo-Platonist was once a serious rival to Christianity. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the ideal introduction to the thought of the third-century AD writer Plotinus, one of the greatest of ancient philosophers, now enjoying a major revival of interest. Dominic O'Meara has tailored the book carefully to the requirements of students: he writes clearly and authoritatively, assumes no knowledge of Greek or expertise in ancient philosophy, stays close to the texts, and relates Plotinus's ideas to modern philosophical concerns. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent introduction to Plotinus
This book is more conventional than Pierre Hadot's remarkable study on Plotinus (see my review), since its regressive mode of exposition - from body to soul, Intellect and finally the One - is the most widely used in Neoplatonic studies. Staying close to the Enneads, O'Meara skillfully expounds these hierarchical levels, and he is especially adept at explaining how they relate to each other. The book is more than a simple catalogue of doctrinal tenets: unlike some other scholars of Neoplatonism, O'Meara is fully aware that one can't write about Plotinus' thought without considering the life experience it both presupposes and leads to. Neoplatonic speculation, however abstract it may seem at first, is never distinct from man's situation in the world. (This awareness on O'Meara's part is not surprising: in many articles and a recent book, he seeked to refute the commonly shared contention according to which the Neoplatonists were apolitical.) The author concludes his book with a brief but insightful assessment of Plotinus' influence on Western thought. In short, I strongly recommend this work to those who wish to learn more about a fascinating man and thinker. ... Read more

Book Description
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. 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. ... Read more

Book Description
The first book-length philosophical study on thePresocratic influences in Plotinus' Enneads. ... Read more