Plotinus (/plɒˈtaɪnəs/; Greek: Πλωτῖνος; c. 204/5 - 270) was a major Greek-speaking philosopher of the ancient world. In his philosophy there are three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition. Historians of the 19th century invented the term Neoplatonism and applied it to him and his philosophy which was influential in Late Antiquity. Much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from Porphyry's preface to his edition of Plotinus' Enneads. His metaphysical writings have inspired centuries of Pagan, Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics.Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent "One", containing no division, multiplicity or distinction; beyond all categories of being and non-being. His "One" "cannot be any existing thing", nor is it merely the sum of all things, but "is prior to all existents". Plotinus identified his "One" with the concept of 'Good' and the principle of 'Beauty'. His "One" concept encompassed thinker and object. Even the self-contemplating intelligence (the noesis of the nous) must contain duality. "Once you have uttered 'The Good,' add no further thought: by any addition, and in proportion to that addition, you introduce a deficiency." Plotinus denies sentience, self-awareness or any other action (ergon) to the One. Rather, if we insist on describing it further, we must call the One a sheer potentiality (dynamis) or without which nothing could exist. As Plotinus explains in both places and elsewhere, it is impossible for the One to be Being or a self-aware Creator God. Plotinus compared the One to "light", the Divine Nous (first will towards Good) to the "Sun", and lastly the Soul to the "Moon" whose light is merely a "derivative conglomeration of light from the 'Sun'". The first light could exist without any celestial body.

Of interest to scholars in Plotinian studies, this book has yet a larger audience as the author investigates the full range of Plotinian epistemology from the originative production of the One, that is the Intellect, to the last declension of true being that is Nature, the lower part of world Soul. The style is fluid and appeals to scholars of ancient philosophy as well as more contemporary discussions in the field of metaphysics and epistemology."--BOOK JACKET.

In The Platonizing Sethian Background of Plotinus’s Mysticism, Zeke Mazur offers a radical reconceptualization of Plotinus with reference to Gnostic thought and praxis, chiefly as evidenced by Coptic works among the Nag Hammadi Codices whose Greek Vorlagen were read in Plotinus’s school.

In Augustine and Plotinus: the Human Mind as Image of the Divine Laela Zwollo provides an inside view of two of the most influential thinkers of late antiquity: the Christian Augustine and the Neo-Platonist Plotinus. By exploring the finer points and paradoxes of their doctrines of the image of God (the human soul/intellect), the illustrious church father’s complex interaction with his most important non-biblical source comes into focus. In order to fathom Augustine, we should first grasp the beauty in Plotinus’ philosophy and its attractiveness to Christians. This monograph will contribute to a better understanding of the formative years of Christianity as well as later ancient philosophy. It can serve as a handbook for becoming acquainted with the two thinkers, as well as for delving into the profundity of their thought.

The Six Enneads Plotinus - The Six Enneads is the collection of writings of Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry. After correcting and naming each treatise, Porphyry wrote a biography of his master, Life of Plotinus, intended to be an Introduction to the Enneads. Porphyry's edition does not follow the chronological order in which Enneads were written, but responds to a plan of study which leads the learner from subjects related to his own affairs to subjects concerning the uttermost principles of the universe.The Enneads, fully The Six Enneads, is the collection of writings of Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry. Plotinus was a student of Ammonius Saccas and they were founders of Neoplatonism.

A concise selection from the standard philosophical works written after the death of Aristotle to the close of the third century, which includes the writings of seminal figures from early Christian thought. Eminent scholar Jason Saunders shows how philosophers from the Hellenistic Age greatly influenced early Christian teachings.

Regarded as the founder of Neo-Platonism, Plotinus (AD 204-70) was the last great philosopher of antiquity, producing 0works that proved in many ways a precursor to Renaissance thought. Plotinus was convinced of the existence of a state of supreme perfection and argued powerfully that it was necessary to guide the human soul towards this state. Here he outlines his compelling belief in three increasingly perfect levels of existence - the Soul, the Intellect, and the One - and explains his conviction that humanity must strive to draw the soul towards spiritual transcendence. A fusion of Platonism, mystic passion and Aristotelian thought, The Enneads offers a highly original synthesis of early philosophical and religious beliefs, which powerfully influenced later Christian and Islamic theology.

This book provides a new introduction to Augustine's "City of God" and his doctrine of the two cities, sources of this doctrine in Manichaeism, (Neo)Platonism and the pre- Augustinian Jewish and Jewish-Christian traditions.

The Good is the Centre; the Intellectual-Principle, an unmoving circle; Soul, a circle in motion. All good souls dwell in the far-spread heavens, infusing life into the stars, consciously moving around the One Centre, seeking nothing beyond. Eternity is stable in Unity. All is bound to The Good, but The Good to none: It is the object of all aspiration. In Unity there can be no knowing. The One can only know Itself through Plurality. But in the great illusion of form, The One stands distinct and apart: it is present without being inherent.

Filling the void in the current scholarship, Giannis Stamatellos provides the first book-length study of the Presocratic influences in Plotinus' Enneads. Widely regarded as the founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (204–270 AD) assimilated eight centuries of Greek thought into his work. In this book Stamatellos focuses on eminent Presocratic thinkers who are significant in Plotinus' thought, including Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the early Pythagoreans, and the early Atomists. The Presocratic references found in the Enneads are studied in connection with Plotinus' fundamental theories of the One and the unity of being, intellect and the structure of the intelligible world, the nature of eternity and time, the formation of the material world, and the nature of the ensouled body. Stamatellos concludes that, contrary to modern scholarship's dismissal of Presocratic influence in the Enneads, Presocratic philosophy is in fact an important source for Plotinus, which he recognized as valuable in its own right and adapted for key topics in his thought.