Editing Plotinus (section)

{{Short description|Hellenistic founder of Neoplatonism (c. 204/5 – 270)}}
{{Distinguish|Photinus}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| region = [[Western philosophy]]
| era = [[Ancient philosophy]]
| image = Plotinos.jpg
| caption = Head in white marble. The identification as Plotinus is plausible but not proven.
| name = Plotinus
| birth_date = {{circa|204/5 [[Common Era|CE]]}}
| birth_place = [[Asyut]] or [[Lycopolis (Delta)|Lycopolis]], [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]], [[Roman Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death year and age|270|205}} CE
| death_place = [[Campania]], Roman Empire
| notable_works = ''[[The Enneads]]''<ref name="Gerson 2017">{{cite book |author-last=Gerson |author-first=Lloyd P. |author-link=Lloyd P. Gerson |year=2017 |chapter=Plotinus and Platonism |editor1-last=Tarrant |editor1-first=Harold |editor2-last=Renaud |editor2-first=François |editor3-last=Baltzly |editor3-first=Dirk |editor3-link=Dirk Baltzly |editor4-last=Layne |editor4-first=Danielle A. |title=Brill's Companion to the Reception of Plato in Antiquity |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Brill's Companions to Classical Reception |volume=13 |pages=316–335 |doi=10.1163/9789004355385_018 |isbn=978-90-04-27069-5 |issn=2213-1426}}</ref>
| school_tradition = [[Neoplatonism]]<ref name="Gerson 2017"/><ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Armstrong |first1=A. Hilary |last2=Duignan |first2=Brian |last3=Lotha |first3=Gloria |last4=Rodriguez |first4=Emily |date=1 January 2021 |origyear=20 July 1998 |title=Plotinus |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plotinus |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417025334/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plotinus |archive-date=17 April 2021 |url-status=live |access-date=5 August 2021 |quote=Plotinus (born 205, Lyco, or Lycopolis, Egypt?—died 270, Campania), ancient philosopher, the centre of an influential circle of intellectuals and men of letters in 3rd-century Rome, who is regarded by modern scholars as the founder of the neoplatonic school of philosophy. [...] In his 28th year—he seems to have been rather a late developer—Plotinus felt an impulse to study philosophy and thus went to [[Alexandria]]. He attended the lectures of the most eminent professors in Alexandria at the time, which reduced him to a state of complete depression. In the end, a friend who understood what he wanted took him to hear the self-taught philosopher [[Ammonius Saccas]]. When he had heard Ammonius speak, Plotinus said, “This is the man I was looking for,” and stayed with him for 11 years. [...] At the end of his time with Ammonius, Plotinus joined the expedition of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Gordian III]] against [[Sassanid Empire|Persia]] (242–243), with the intention of trying to learn something at first hand about the philosophies of the Persians and Indians. The expedition came to a disastrous end in [[Mesopotamia]], however, when Gordian was murdered by the soldiers and [[Philip the Arabian]] was proclaimed emperor. Plotinus escaped with difficulty and made his way back to [[Antioch]]. From there he went to [[History of Rome#Roman Empire|Rome]], where he settled at the age of 40. [...] Plotinus's own thought shows some striking similarities to [[Indian philosophy]], but he never actually made contact with Eastern sages because of the failure of the expedition. Though direct or indirect contact with Indians educated in their own religious-philosophical traditions may not have been impossible in 3rd-century Alexandria, the resemblances of the philosophy of Plotinus to Indian thought were more likely a natural development of the Greek tradition that he inherited.}}</ref><ref name="Stanford1">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Gerson |author-first=Lloyd P. |date=Fall 2018 |title=Plotinus |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/ |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |editor-link=Edward N. Zalta |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, [[Center for the Study of Language and Information]], [[Stanford University]] |issn=1095-5054 |oclc=643092515 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126171129/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/ |archive-date=26 November 2018 |access-date=5 August 2021 |quote=Plotinus (204/5 – 270), is generally regarded as the founder of neoplatonism. He is one of the most influential philosophers in antiquity after [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]. The term 'neoplatonism' is an invention of early 19th century European scholarship and indicates the penchant of historians for dividing 'periods' in history. In this case, the term was intended to indicate that Plotinus initiated a new phase in the development of the Platonic tradition. What this 'newness' amounted to, if anything, is controversial, largely because one's assessment of it depends upon one's assessment of what Platonism is. In fact, Plotinus (like all his successors) regarded himself simply as a Platonist, that is, as an expositor and defender of the philosophical position whose greatest exponent was Plato himself. [...] The three basic principles of Plotinus' metaphysics are called by him 'the One' (or, equivalently, 'the Good'), Intellect, and Soul. These principles are both ultimate ontological realities and explanatory principles. Plotinus believed that they were recognized by Plato as such, as well as by the entire subsequent Platonic tradition. [...] [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] informs us that during the first ten years of his time in Rome, Plotinus lectured exclusively on the philosophy of Ammonius. During this time he also wrote nothing. Porphyry tells us that when he himself arrived in Rome in 263, the first 21 of Plotinus' treatises had already been written. The remainder of the 54 treatises constituting his ''Enneads'' were written in the last seven or eight years of his life.}}</ref><ref name="Siorvanes 2018">{{cite book |author-last=Siorvanes |author-first=Lucas |year=2018 |chapter=Plotinus and Neoplatonism: The Creation of a New Synthesis |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NfxdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA847 |editor1-last=Keyser |editor1-first=Paul T. |editor2-last=Scarborough |editor2-first=John |title=Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734146.013.78 |pages=847–868 |isbn=9780199734146 |lccn=2017049555}}</ref>
| main_interests = [[Platonism]], [[metaphysics]], [[mysticism]]<ref name="Gerson 2017"/><ref name="Stanford1"/><ref name="Siorvanes 2018"/><ref name="Halfwassen 2014">{{cite book |author-last=Halfwassen |author-first=Jens |author-link= Jens Halfwassen |year=2014 |chapter=The Metaphysics of the One |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yhcWBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182 |editor1-last=Remes |editor1-first=Pauliina |editor2-last=Slaveva-Griffin |editor2-first=Svetla |title=The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism |location=[[Abingdon, Oxfordshire]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |series=Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy |pages=182–199 |isbn=9781138573963}}</ref>
| notable_ideas = [[Emanationism|Emanation]] of all things from [[Henology|the One]]<ref name="Halfwassen 2014"/><br/>Three main [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|hypostases]]: [[Henology|the One]], [[Nous|Intellect]], and [[Soul]]<ref name="Stanford1"/><ref name="Halfwassen 2014"/><br/>[[Henosis]]<ref name="Halfwassen 2014"/>
}}
{{Neoplatonism}}

'''Plotinus''' ({{IPAc-en|p|l|ɒ|ˈ|t|aɪ|n|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Πλωτῖνος}}, ''Plōtînos''; {{circa|204/5}}&nbsp;– 270 [[Common Era|CE]]) was a [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek]] [[Platonism|Platonist]] [[philosopher]], born and raised in [[Roman Egypt]]. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of [[Neoplatonism]].<ref name="Gerson 2017"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stanford1"/><ref name="Siorvanes 2018"/> His teacher was the self-taught philosopher [[Ammonius Saccas]], who belonged to the [[Platonism|Platonic tradition]].<ref name="Gerson 2017"/><ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Stanford1"/><ref name="Siorvanes 2018"/> Historians of the 19th century invented the term "neoplatonism"<ref name="Stanford1"/> and applied it to refer to Plotinus and his philosophy, which was vastly influential during [[late antiquity]], the [[Middle Ages]], and the [[Renaissance]].<ref name="Stanford1"/><ref name="Siorvanes 2018"/> Much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s preface to his edition of Plotinus' most notable literary work, ''[[The Enneads]]''.<ref name="Gerson 2017"/> In his [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] writings, Plotinus described three fundamental principles: [[Henology|the One]], [[Nous|the Intellect]], and [[wikt:psyche#English|the Soul]].<ref name="Stanford1" /><ref name="Halfwassen 2014" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Who was Plotinus?|website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2011/3237626.htm|date=2011-06-07}}</ref> His works have inspired centuries of [[Paganism|pagan]], [[Jewish philosophy|Jewish]], [[Christian philosophy|Christian]], [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]], and [[Early Islamic philosophy|early Islamic]] metaphysicians and [[Mysticism|mystics]], including developing precepts that influence mainstream theological concepts within religions, such as his work on duality of the One in two metaphysical states.