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Plotinus
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Plotinus is one of the most influential of ancient philosophers. He shaped the outlook of the later pagan Neoplatonic tradition, including such thinkers as Porphyry and Proclus, and he left clear traces in Christian thinkers such as Gregory of Nyssa (see Patristic philosophy ยง5), Augustine and Boethius. Since all these were extremely influential in their own right, Plotinus has had great indirect impact. He clearly played a significant role in preparing for medieval philosophical theology. A forged extract from the Enneads was known in the Islamic world as the Theology of Aristotle. The supposed Aristotelian origin of this text helped the fusion of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism that characterizes much of Arabic philosophy.
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Plotinus was Ammonius's pupil for eleven years. He left Ammonius to join the expeditionary army of Emperor Gordianus III that was to march against Persia, hoping to acquire firsthand knowledge of Persian and Indian wisdom, in which he had become interested through Ammonius. When Gordianus was slain in Persia in 244, probably at the instigation of his successor, Philip the Arabian, Plotinus had to flee from the army camp—which could mean that he was politically involved in some way. Plotinus reached Antioch in his flight and from there proceeded to Rome, where he arrived in the same year.
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Plotinus saw life in the universe as a double movement—first as an emanation from the source (as light emanates from the sun), and then a return back to the divine. The human soul lives in exile on this earth, and desires the return home. One can achieve "home" in this life through a mystical union with God. Porhyry relates that his master had achieved a mystic state quite often in his life, and that this experience could not be given a completely rational account. One can ... reach home through reincarnation (another Platonic influence) —where one can achieve higher forms of life until eventually passing out of the cycle of birth and death. This "emancipation of souls" is accomplished only by a "purification" whereby the soul avoids attachments to the body, in particular, lusts and sensual desires and impulses.
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Plotinus did not begin to write until he was 50 years old. His work, the Enneads, was arranged and published some 30 years after his death by his most famous pupil, Porphyry. It consists of six groups of nine essays and deals with the whole range of ancient philosophical thought with the exception of political theory. Ennead 1 deals with ethics and esthetics; Enneads 2 and 3 deal with physics and cosmology; Ennead 4 treats psychology; and Enneads 5 and 6 deal with metaphysics, logic, and epistemology. The style of these essays is highly personal - sometimes brilliant, sometimes concise to the point of obscurity - but at all times fascinating and indicative of Plotinus's keen and sensitive mind.
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Plotinus, the most important representative of Neoplatonism, was born of Roman parents at Lycopolis in Egypt. At Alexandria he attended the lectures of Ammonius Saccas, the founder of the system, until 242, when he joined the Persian expedition of Gordian III, with the object of studying Persian and Indian philosophy on the spot. After the assassination of Gordian in 244, Plotinus was obliged to take refuge in Antioch, from where he made his way to Rome and set up as a teacher there. He soon attracted a large number of pupils, the most distinguished of whom were Amelius, Eustochius and Porphyry. The emperor Gallienus and his wife Salonina were ... his enthusiastic admirers, and favored his idea of founding a Platonic Commonwealth (Platonopolis) in Campania (recall also Bishop George Berkeley's scheme for the Bermuda islands), but the opposition of Gallienus's counsellors and the death of Plotinus prevented the plan from being carried out. Plotinus's wide popularity was due partly to the lucidity of his teaching, but perhaps even more to his strong personality.
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Plotinus is regarded by many modern philosophers as one of the founders of Neoplatonism. Like Origen, Plotinus was ethnically Greek and was influenced by the philosopher Ammonius of Saccas, his instructor for eleven years. He was ... a friend of the philosopher Porphyry (c. 234- c. 305), who wrote that Plotinus was born around 205 but never mentioned where or described the origins of his family. Eunapius, writing in the fifth century, suggested that Plotinus was born somewhere in Egypt, but this cannot be confirmed. It seems fairly clear, however, that his primary language was Greek, and his training, Hellenic.
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Plotinus