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Nick Coccoma
Plotinus, Enneads
* For a summary of Plotinus, please see the Cambri!e Companion to Plotinus, a"ailable
throu!h the #C $ibrary%s &ebsite' (ust search )Cambri!e companion Plotinus* an follo& the
links to electronically connect &ith the book'
1.6 On Beauty
+ummary of +ection
Plotinus% ar!ument here is similar to the Platonic ascent of the soul in the Symposium an the
Phaedrus, but &ith funamental chan!es' First, the ientification of beauty &ith form applies to
both art an nature' +econ, the aesthetic ,u!ment of the soul is roote in the soul%s affinity to
the intelli!ible' -!liness recei"es a !oo eal of attention as inicatin! a false moe of the soul%s
interactin! &ith the boy an the sensible &orl' .hir, the ascent is typically erotic, but Plotinus
oes not stop &ith the intelli!ible form, but continues to the /ne, &ith the &hole intelli!ible
&orl as 0alien to 1o'% .his is a remarkable mo"e beyon the earlier 1reek ientification of
perfection &ith finite form, an sho&s that for Plotinus the root of the self is ientifie &ith the
/ne as beyon bein! an form' #eauty reaches to an infinite hien in the /ne'
#eauty 2the 3oman numerals refers to the chapters4
5' 6uestion7 8hat is beauty9
: +ome thin!s participate in beauty, others are essentially beautiful'
: .heory of )Commensuration*7 beautiful thin!s are the con!lomeration of parts ae to!ether'
;ristotle%s efinition, &hich Plotinus re,ects' 8hy9 14 .here are many beautiful thin!s that are
simple' 24 8hat about the soul9 <4 8hat about the intellect9
55' +imilitue e=ists bet&een beauty of sensory ob,ects an beauty of the i"ine'
: .he sensible ob,ect is beautiful by participation of species'
:>i"ine reason is fountain of forms? &hate"er is separate from it is perfectly base an eforme'
: #eauty is establishe in a multitue and &hen the many is reuce to the one' #eauty
communicates itself both to the parts and the &hole'
555' .he soul ,u!es or ackno&le!es the beauty of forms by )accommoatin!* its inner )ray* of
beauty to form' /b,ects ha"e intrinsic forms that the soul percei"es throu!h the senses'
5@' A @' Be turns to &hat is beautiful beyon sense' Bo& can &e kno& it9 8e must look into
our souls'
: Bo& o &e call inner "irtues )beautiful*9 First, &e must look at a eforme soul, for &e
&ill kno& somethin! by its opposite 2;ristotelian metho4' Plotinus paints an u!ly
1
picture of such a soul7 5t has lost its splenor an )almost chan!es its o&n species into
that of another'* .his eformity results from in&ar filth ue to the soul%s o&n
)contractin!,* an e=terior e"il that strikes it from the outsie' 8hen the soul o"ercomes
its immersion in boy, it reco"ers its beauty'
@5' .he soul, &hen refine, becomes all form A reason, alto!ether incorporeal an intellectual' 5t
&holly participates in i"ine nature' .he !oo A beautiful are the same, so to in"esti!ate one is
to in"esti!ate the other'
@55' .he bein! &ho behols the beautiful itself is perfectly pure' .he happy man is he &ho has
this i"ine possession'
@555' Bo& o &e contemplate this beauty9 #y enterin! eep into our sel"es'
: +chema7 #eholin! corporeal thin!s 2those &e see4 :::2result in4:::C blinness
) ) non:corporeal 2beyon si!ht4 :::2results in4:::C si!ht
8ho or &hat &ill lea us on this ,ourney9 )8e must stir up an assume a purer eye &ithin'* 7
.he intellect, &hich contains &ithin it a i"ine ray of li!ht that participates in the sun of #eauty
an 1oo, by &hich the soul can behol an unite &ith the i"inely solitary ori!in'
5D' $aer to #eauty7 14 #ehol )fair stuies*
24 #ehol )beautiful &orks* 2i'e', "irtuous ees4
<4 #ehol the soul'
Bo& o &e "ie& the soul9 1o in&ar to percei"e your soul' 5f it is eforme, fi= it' -ses the
metaphor of a statueEif it is chippe or broken, smooth it out so that it looks like the ori!inal
one' ;fter oin! this, you &ill ha"e a "ision of your self as true li!ht' #ut only if your o&n eye is
purely refine7 the percei"er an thin! percei"e must be similar to each other before true "ision
e=ists'
.he intellect percei"es ieas themsel"es, &hich are thus beautiful' .he !oo is at once superior
to an the source of beauty, but &e can also consier them to be t&o sies of one coin'
3.7 On Eternity and Time
+ummary of +ection
.his treatise i"ies into t&o parts7 a consieration of eternity 22:F4 an of time 27:1<4' .he first
part is essential to his ar!ument a!ainst pre"ious ientifications of time &ith mo"ement, number,
an measure, all associate in "aryin! &ays &ith the motion of the celestial sphere' Be ens up
mo"in! the consieration of time from e=ternal motion an abstract measure to the life of the
soulEfrom physics to cosmic harmony' .his is a mo"e from an ;ristotelian to a Platonic
unerstanin!'
.ake Bome7 Time G the life of the +oul, &hich is also iscursi"e reason' Ho"ement of +oul
out of 5ntellect'
2
Eternity G the life &hich belon!s to that &hich e=ists an is in bein!' +hines
throu!h #ein! an the 5ntelli!ible, but is not ientifie &ith them' Nor is it )rest*'
Hethoolo!y7 +i= Points
a4 Presents common notions an presuppositions of time an eternity'
b4 3e"eals ob,ections an ifficulties &ith them'
c4 $ooks at &hat the ancients sai, plus the interpreters of them'
4 +oliifies his o&n interpretation of the ancients'
e4 I=amines &hich ancient attaine the truth most completely 2thou!h none o entirely4'
f4 +earches for the ans&er himself'
Plotinus says &e can unerstan time by first unerstanin! eternity or "ice "ersa' Be prefers to
approach time from eternity, since time is an ima!e of the archetypal eternity' .he turn to
in"esti!ate time is a escent of our souls to a lo&er le"el of bein!, not ,ust a chan!e in sub,ect or
epistemolo!ical le"el
Iternity
1' Be uses chapter 2 to ob,ect to the simple ientification of eternity &ith 5ntellect
2intelli!ible substance4 an &ith )rest* 2#oth ieas loosely stem from Plato' .he
ientifications of eternity &ith 5ntellect are the counterpart of the Pytha!orean
ientification of time &ith the cosmos' Plotinus presents t&o ar!uments in fa"or7
a4 Iternity is "ery ma,estic? the intelli!ible is most ma,estic? therefore eternity is the
intelli!ible'
b4 Iternity an the intelli!ible are both inclusi"e of the same thin!s 2ha"e the same
content4 an so must be ientical
Plotinus refutes both &ith the ar!ument that bein! is in eternity, meanin! it is ifferent
from &hat is in it? an the iea that a preicate cannot be identical &ith the sub,ect of
preication' #ut he &ill return to these ieas later, for they help us kno& that althou!h
eternity is not ientical to the 5ntellect, it has somethin! to o &ith it' ;n that &e nee to
unerstan the inclusi"eness of the intelli!ible an of eternity ifferently'
2' .he secon part of the chapter focuses on )rest*' .he ar!ument in fa"or is that rest is
ientical &ith eternity if motion is so &ith time' #ut Plotinus notes that if rest is in
eternity, it is not eternal, ,ust as eternity is not eternal 2for then it &oul participate of
itself4' +econly, motion cannot be eternal if rest is eternal' Be also pro"ies four sli!htly
more metaphysical ar!uments7
a4 .he 5>in! of eternity &ith rest e=clues the other Platonic cate!ories 2from
Sophist4 of the intelli!ible &orl 2substance, motion, the other, an the same4'
b4 3est must in"ol"e unity 2from Timaeus4'
c4 Iternity must be &ithout e=tension so as to ifferentiate itself from time? )rest*
oes not imply lack of e=tension'
4 )3emainin! in unity* is preicate of eternity? therefore eternity participates in
rest but is not rest'
<
<' 5n chapter < Plotinus offers a &orkin! efinition of eternity' Bere it is )the life &hich
belon!s to that &hich e=ists an is in bein!'* .his relates eternity to the totality of the
5ntelli!ible, but oes not ientify the former &ith the latter or any part of it' .his life that
is eternity is somethin! )seen* in the 5ntelli!ible, a manifestation of it' 5t shines out of the
substrate that is the 5ntelli!ible, separate but epenent on it' 5t is )aroun* #ein! an is
seen in it, manifestin! itself from it'
J' 5n chapter J, he offers some corrections to this iea of separateness' Iternity an the
5ntelli!ible are "ery closely relate, he &ants to insist' Iternity is an aspect of the
5ntelli!ible &orl, like #eauty or .ruth' #ut it !oes beyon them in that it is state an
nature of complete reality' 3eality is )al&ays e=istin!,* an from this phrase is eri"e
)eternity*' Plotinus narro&ly ne!otiates the line bet&een !i"in! eternity its o&n
ontolo!ical status an seein! it as a Kuality' Be then makes t&o final points7
a4 Iternity is relate to the /ne, because eternity is the life of real bein! an real
bein! is from, in, an irecte to&ar the /ne' .he /ne%s "ery acti"ity of abiin!
is eternity'
b4 Iternity is not the same thin! as the enurin! present'
L' 5n conclusion, Plotinus uses this conception of eternity in his unerstanin! of the life of
the ini"iual' ; person%s real life is locate at the le"el of the 5ntellect' Horeo"er, the
!oal of life is )&ell:bein!*, &hich is counte by eternity' .he !oo man en,oys the life of
the true self at the le"el of 5ntellect an true #ein! outsie time'
.ime
1' .heories of time are i"ie in chapter 7 into three cate!ories7 time as a4 mo"ement, b4
&hat is mo"e, an c4 somethin! belon!in! to mo"ement' .he last one is ;ristotle%s "ie&
2time as number of motion4 an the +toics% "ie& 2time as e=tension4' Be treats the +toics
in chapter M, ;ristotle in chapter 9, an the Ipicureans in chapter 10' #ut ;ristotle
ominates'
2' First, he re,ects the claim that time is mo"ement' Be buys ;ristotle%s critiKue, an as
his o&n7 motion can cease but time cannot' +econ, he re,ects the +toic efinition of time
as e=tension of motion' .hen he turns to ;ristotle%s efinition of time as )number or
measure of motion'* Be critiKues this iea by first notin! that there is a ifference
bet&een re!ular an irre!ular motion' Bo& can &e measure &hat is irre!ular9 Hore
importantly, he points out that &e &ant to kno& not ,ust &hat is bein! measure 2motion4
but &hat the measure is. 5f &e count sheep, &e%re measurin! them but &e also can point
to the number itself7 <L, for e=ample' ;ristotle hasn%t pointe to time itself, to a
metaphysical efinition of it, but only to an empirical one'
<' Plotinus then offers his o&n "ie& theory of time, &hich looks to the ori!in of time for the
ans&er' Be efines time as the life of the +oul, &ith the former suborinate to the latter'
8hen +oul becomes restless in 5ntellect an seeks to procee from it, time also mo"es'
/ur ini"iual souls are part of the Bypostasis +oul' Be also ientifies iscursi"e reason
&ith the life of +oul' .hus time is our lifeEunerstanin! time helps us unerstan
J
oursel"es at the le"el of iscursi"e reason' .his oes not mean &e as humans etermine
timeEthat is the sub,ecti"ist "ie& ;u!ustine offers' .ime in this &orl is at a still lo&er
le"el an &e as souls are subsume into the totality of soul, an time is irectly
communicate to the &orl throu!h the 8orl +oul' .he life of soul is not )in time,* but
rather the physical &orl is, since it is in soul an the life of the soul is time'
J' .o restate, the life of soul is the life of iscursi"e reason in &hich soul presents one
acti"ity after another' .his life is an acti"ity in linear pro!ression from eternityEthe "ery
procession from eternity is the time:life of +oul' >iscursi"e reason is somethin!
unfolin! itself, somethin! e=tene' Ho"ement is mae from one iea to another' 5t is
the procession of soul &hich )!enerates* time' .ime proper is the life of the soul' .he
uni"erse is )in time* an the sphere an the planets )manifest* time' .ime as &e kno&
time is time manifeste' 5t is better to call time &hat is measure than the measure of
mo"ement'
L' .he treatise ens &ith a number of ar!uments pointin! to the substantial an real nature
of time as life of soul' .ime lies, in its essence, bet&een the 5ntelli!ible an physical
&orls? the life of soul forms the focal point of the ini"iual in his meian role bet&een
both' Plotinus% theory is roote in an ser"es e=perience'
L