Editing Plotinus (section)

== Major ideas ==

=== The One ===
{{See also|Substance theory}}
Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent "[[Henology|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 (compare the [[Stoicism|Stoic]] doctrine of disbelief in non-material existence), but "is prior to all existents". Plotinus identified his "One" with the concept of 'Good' and the principle of 'Beauty'. (I.6.9)

His "One" concept encompassed thinker and object. Even the self-contemplating intelligence (the [[wikt:noesis|noesis]] of the [[nous]]) must contain [[Dualistic cosmology|duality]]. "Once you have uttered 'The Good,' add no further thought: by any addition, and in proportion to that addition, you introduce a deficiency." (III.8.11) Plotinus denies [[sentience]], self-awareness or any other action (''ergon'') to the One (τὸ Ἕν, ''to hen''; V.6.6). Rather, if we insist on describing it further, we must call the One a sheer potentiality (''[[Dunamis|dynamis]]'') without which nothing could exist. (III.8.10) As Plotinus explains in both places and elsewhere (e.g. V.6.3), it is impossible for the One to be Being or a self-aware Creator God. At (V.6.4), Plotinus compared the One to "light", the Divine Intellect/[[Nous]] (Νοῦς, ''Nous''; first will towards Good) to the "Sun", and lastly the Soul (Ψυχή, ''[[Psyche (psychology)|Psyche]]'') to the "Moon" whose light is merely a "derivative conglomeration of light from the 'Sun'". The first light could exist without any celestial body.

The One, being beyond all attributes including being and non-being, is the source of the world—but not through any act of creation, since activity cannot be ascribed to the unchangeable, immutable One. Plotinus argues instead that the multiple cannot exist without the simple. The "less perfect" must, of necessity, "emanate", or issue forth, from the "perfect" or "more perfect". Thus, all of "creation" emanates from the One in succeeding stages of lesser and lesser perfection. These stages are not temporally isolated, but occur throughout time as a constant process.

The One is not just an intellectual concept but something that can be experienced, an experience where one goes beyond all multiplicity.<ref>Stace, W. T. (1960) ''The Teachings of the Mystics'', New York, Signet, pp. 110–123</ref> Plotinus writes, "We ought not even to say that he will ''see'', but he will ''be'' that which he sees, if indeed it is possible any longer to distinguish between seer and seen, and not boldly to affirm that the two are one."<ref>Stace, W. T. (1960) ''The Teachings of the Mystics'', New York, Signet, p. 122</ref>

=== Emanation by the One ===
Although Plotinus never mentions Christianity in any of his works, he seems to offer an alternative to the orthodox [[Christianity|Christian]] notion of creation ''[[ex nihilo]]'' (out of nothing), though this is disputed.  The metaphysics of emanation (ἀπορροή ''aporrhoe'' (ΙΙ.3.2) or ἀπόρροια ''aporrhoia'' (II.3.11)) (literally a flowing, ροη, out, απο), similar to the metaphysics of Creation, describes the absolute transcendence of the One or of the Divine, as the source of the Being of all things, but which remains transcendent of them in its own nature.  The One is in no way affected or diminished by these emanations, just as the Christian God in no way is augmented or diminished by the act of Creation.  Plotinus, using a venerable analogy that would become crucial for the (largely neoplatonic) metaphysics of developed Christian thought, likens the One to the [[Sun]] which emanates light indiscriminately without thereby diminishing itself, or reflection in a mirror which in no way diminishes or otherwise alters the object being reflected.<ref>[https://www.iep.utm.edu/plotinus/ Plotinus (204—270)]</ref>

The first emanation is ''[[Nous]]'' (Divine Mind, ''[[Logos]]'', Order, Thought, Reason), identified metaphorically with the [[Demiurge]] in Plato's ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]''. It is the first [[will (philosophy)|Will]] toward Good. From ''Nous'' proceeds the [[Anima mundi (spirit)|World Soul]], which Plotinus subdivides into upper and lower, identifying the lower aspect of Soul with [[nature]]. From the world soul proceeds individual [[human]] souls, and finally, matter, at the lowest level of [[chain of being|being]] and thus the least [[perfection|perfected]] level of the cosmos. Plotinus asserted the ultimately divine nature of material creation since it ultimately derives from the One, through the mediums of ''Nous'' and the world soul. It is by the Good or through beauty that we recognize the One, in material things and then in the [[substantial form|Forms]]. (I.6.6 and I.6.9)

The essentially devotional nature of Plotinus' philosophy may be further illustrated by his concept of attaining ecstatic union with the One (''[[henosis]]''). Porphyry relates that Plotinus attained such a union four times during the years he knew him. This may be related to [[Divine illumination|enlightenment]], [[moksha|liberation]], and other concepts of [[mysticism]] common to many Eastern traditions.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lander|first=Janis|title=Spiritual Art and Art Education|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page= 76|isbn=9781134667895}}</ref>

=== The true human and happiness ===
{{refimprove|date=January 2024}}
{{Quote box
 |quote = The philosophy of Plotinus has always exerted a peculiar fascination upon those whose discontent with things as they are has led them to seek the realities behind what they took to be merely the appearances of the sense.
 |source = ''The philosophy of Plotinus: representative books from the Enneads'', p. vii<ref name="Plotinus1950">{{cite book|author=Plotinus|title=The philosophy of Plotinus: representative books from the Enneads|url=https://archive.org/details/philosophyofplot032843mbp|access-date=1 February 2012|year=1950|publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts|page=vii}}</ref>
 |width = 30%
 |align = right
}}
Authentic human happiness for Plotinus consists of the true human identifying with that which is the best in the universe. Because happiness is beyond anything physical, Plotinus stresses the point that worldly fortune does not control true human happiness, and thus “… there exists no single human being that does not either potentially or effectively possess this thing we hold to constitute happiness.” (Enneads I.4.4) The issue of happiness is one of Plotinus’ greatest imprints on Western thought, as he is one of the first to introduce the idea that [[eudaimonia]] (happiness) is attainable only within consciousness.

The true human is an incorporeal contemplative capacity of the soul, and superior to all things corporeal. It then follows that real human happiness is independent of the physical world. Real happiness is, instead, dependent on the metaphysical and authentic human being found in this highest capacity of Reason. “For man, and especially the Proficient, is not the Couplement of Soul and body: the proof is that man can be disengaged from the body and disdain its nominal goods.” (Enneads I.4.14) The human who has achieved happiness will not be bothered by sickness, discomfort, etc., as his focus is on the greatest things. Authentic human happiness is the utilization of the most authentically human capacity of contemplation. Even in daily, physical action, the flourishing human’s “… Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul.” (Enneads III.4.6) Even in the most dramatic arguments Plotinus considers (if the Proficient is subject to extreme physical torture, for example), he concludes this only strengthens his claim of true happiness being metaphysical, as the truly happy human being would understand that which is being tortured is merely a body, not the conscious self, and happiness could persist.

Plotinus offers a comprehensive description of his conception of a person who has achieved [[eudaimonia]]. “The perfect life” involves a man who commands reason and contemplation. (Enneads I.4.4) A happy person will not sway between happy and sad, as many of Plotinus' contemporaries believed. Stoics, for example, question the ability of someone to be happy (presupposing happiness is contemplation) if they are mentally incapacitated or even asleep. Plotinus disregards this claim, as the soul and true human do not sleep or even exist in time, nor will a living human who has achieved eudaimonia suddenly stop using its greatest, most authentic capacity just because of the body’s discomfort in the physical realm. “… The Proficient’s will is set always and only inward.” (Enneads I.4.11)

Overall, happiness for Plotinus is "... a flight from this world's ways and things." (Theaet. 176) and a focus on the highest, i.e. Forms and the One.

Plotinus regarded happiness as living in an interior way (interiority or self-sufficiency), and this being the obverse of attachment to the objects of embodied desires.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plotinus/#HumaPsycEthi|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|chapter=Plotinus|year=2018|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}</ref>

===Henosis===
{{main|Henosis}}

Henosis is the word for mystical "oneness", "union", or "unity" in classical Greek. In [[Platonism]], and especially [[neoplatonism]], the goal of henosis is union with what is fundamental in reality: the One ([[wikt:εἷς|τὸ Ἕν]]), the Source, or [[Monism|Monad]].<ref>Stamatellos, Giannis. ''Plotinus and the Presocratics: A Philosophical Study of Presocratic Influences in Plotinus' Enneads''. SUNY Series in Ancient Greek Philosophy. SUNY Press, 2007, p. 37 {{ISBN|0791470628}}</ref>

As is specified in the writings of Plotinus on [[henology]], one can reach a state of [[tabula rasa]], blank state where the individual may grasp or merge with The One.{{refn|group=note|Plotinus: <br/>* "Our thought cannot grasp the One as long as any other image remains active in the soul. To this end, you must set free your soul from all outward things and turn wholly within yourself, with no more leaning to what lies outside, and lay your mind bare of ideal forms, as before of the objects of sense, and forget even yourself, and so come within sight of that One. (6.9.7)<br/>* "If he remembers who he became when he merged with the One, he will bear its image in himself. He was himself one, with no diversity in himself or his outward relations; for no movement was in him, no passion, no desire for another, once the ascent was accomplished. Nor indeed was there any reason or though, nor, if we dare say it, any trace of himself." (6.9.11)}} This absolute simplicity means that the nous or the person is then dissolved, completely absorbed back into the Monad. Here within the ''Enneads'' of Plotinus the Monad can be referred to as the Good above the demiurge.<ref name="books.google.com">''[[Neoplatonism and Gnosticism]]'' by Richard T. Wallis, Jay Bregman, [[International Society for Neoplatonic Studies]], p. 55</ref><ref name="WallisBregman1992">{{cite book|author1=Richard T. Wallis|author2=Jay Bregman|title=Neoplatonism and Gnosticism|chapter=Pleroma and Noetic Cosmos: A Comparative Study|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WSbrLPup7wYC&pg=PA99|date=1992|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1337-1|pages=99}}</ref> The Monad or [[dunamis]] (force) is of one singular expression (the will or the one which is the good); all is contained in the Monad and the Monad is all ([[pantheism]]). All division is reconciled in the one; the final stage before reaching singularity, called duality (dyad), is completely reconciled in the Monad, Source or One (see [[monism]]). As the one source or substance of all things, the Monad is all encompassing. As infinite and indeterminate all is reconciled in the dunamis or one. It is the demiurge or second emanation that is the nous in Plotinus. It is the demiurge (creator, action, energy) or nous that "perceives" and therefore causes the force (potential or One) to manifest as energy, or the [[Dyad (Greek philosophy)|dyad]] called the material world. Nous as being; being and perception (intellect) manifest what is called soul ([[Gaia hypothesis|World Soul]]).<ref name="books.google.com"/>

Henosis for Plotinus was defined in his works as a reversing of the ontological process of consciousness via [[meditation]] (in the Western mind to un[[Contemplation|contemplate]]) toward no thought ([[Nous]] or [[demiurge]]) and no division ([[Dyad (symbol)|dyad]]) within the individual (being). Plotinus words his teachings to reconcile not only Plato with [[Aristotle]] but also various World religions that he had personal contact with during his various travels. Plotinus' works have an [[ascetic]] character in that they reject matter as an illusion (non-existent). Matter was strictly treated as [[immanent]], with matter as essential to its being, having no true or [[transcendence (philosophy)|transcendential]] character or essence, substance or ousia (οὐσία). This approach is called philosophical [[Idealism]].<ref>[[Schopenhauer]] wrote of this [[neoplatonist]] philosopher: "With Plotinus there even appears, probably for the first time in [[Western philosophy]], ''idealism'' that had long been current in the [[East]] even at that time, for it taught ([[Enneads]], iii, lib. vii, c.10) that the [[soul]] has made the [[world]] by stepping from [[eternity]] into [[time]], with the explanation: 'For there is for this [[universe]] no other place than the soul or [[mind]]' (neque est alter hujus universi locus quam anima), indeed the ideality of time is expressed in the words: 'We should not accept time outside the soul or mind' (oportet autem nequaquam extra animam tempus accipere)." (''[[Parerga and Paralipomena]]'', Volume I, "Fragments for the History of Philosophy," § 7)</ref>