Author: H.J. Blumenthal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940102989X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
This book is a revised version, with some omissions, of a Cambridge doctoral dissertation submitted in 1963: I fear that it still bears marks of its origins. The dissertation itself was the result of an earlier scheme to identify the sources of Plotinus' psychological doctrines. In the course of this work it soon became evident that it was not sufficient1y clear what these doctrines were. Students of Plotinus have tended to concentrate on the higher regions of his world, and there is still no satisfactory treatment of his doctrines of the embodied soul. It is the purpose of this book to provide a fairly extensive survey of these doctrines. It does not claim to be exhaustive. Nor does it claim to add a large body of new knowledge, since over so wide a field many points have been touched on by others, if only in passing. But I hope that it may remove some misconceptions, and bring the details of Plotinus' theories into sharper focus. It had been my intention to add an introduction - mainly for the benefit of non-specialist readers - on the psychology of Plotinus' predecessors. In the meantime the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy has appeared, and the reader who wants information on this subject may convenient1y be referred to the relevant parts of the late Professor Merlan's chapters on the predeces sors of Plotinus.
Plotinus’ Psychology
Author: H.J. Blumenthal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940102989X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
This book is a revised version, with some omissions, of a Cambridge doctoral dissertation submitted in 1963: I fear that it still bears marks of its origins. The dissertation itself was the result of an earlier scheme to identify the sources of Plotinus' psychological doctrines. In the course of this work it soon became evident that it was not sufficient1y clear what these doctrines were. Students of Plotinus have tended to concentrate on the higher regions of his world, and there is still no satisfactory treatment of his doctrines of the embodied soul. It is the purpose of this book to provide a fairly extensive survey of these doctrines. It does not claim to be exhaustive. Nor does it claim to add a large body of new knowledge, since over so wide a field many points have been touched on by others, if only in passing. But I hope that it may remove some misconceptions, and bring the details of Plotinus' theories into sharper focus. It had been my intention to add an introduction - mainly for the benefit of non-specialist readers - on the psychology of Plotinus' predecessors. In the meantime the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy has appeared, and the reader who wants information on this subject may convenient1y be referred to the relevant parts of the late Professor Merlan's chapters on the predeces sors of Plotinus.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940102989X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
This book is a revised version, with some omissions, of a Cambridge doctoral dissertation submitted in 1963: I fear that it still bears marks of its origins. The dissertation itself was the result of an earlier scheme to identify the sources of Plotinus' psychological doctrines. In the course of this work it soon became evident that it was not sufficient1y clear what these doctrines were. Students of Plotinus have tended to concentrate on the higher regions of his world, and there is still no satisfactory treatment of his doctrines of the embodied soul. It is the purpose of this book to provide a fairly extensive survey of these doctrines. It does not claim to be exhaustive. Nor does it claim to add a large body of new knowledge, since over so wide a field many points have been touched on by others, if only in passing. But I hope that it may remove some misconceptions, and bring the details of Plotinus' theories into sharper focus. It had been my intention to add an introduction - mainly for the benefit of non-specialist readers - on the psychology of Plotinus' predecessors. In the meantime the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy has appeared, and the reader who wants information on this subject may convenient1y be referred to the relevant parts of the late Professor Merlan's chapters on the predeces sors of Plotinus.
The Philosophy of Plotinus
Plotinus’ Psychology
Author: H.J. Blumenthal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9789024750375
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
This book is a revised version, with some omissions, of a Cambridge doctoral dissertation submitted in 1963: I fear that it still bears marks of its origins. The dissertation itself was the result of an earlier scheme to identify the sources of Plotinus' psychological doctrines. In the course of this work it soon became evident that it was not sufficient1y clear what these doctrines were. Students of Plotinus have tended to concentrate on the higher regions of his world, and there is still no satisfactory treatment of his doctrines of the embodied soul. It is the purpose of this book to provide a fairly extensive survey of these doctrines. It does not claim to be exhaustive. Nor does it claim to add a large body of new knowledge, since over so wide a field many points have been touched on by others, if only in passing. But I hope that it may remove some misconceptions, and bring the details of Plotinus' theories into sharper focus. It had been my intention to add an introduction - mainly for the benefit of non-specialist readers - on the psychology of Plotinus' predecessors. In the meantime the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy has appeared, and the reader who wants information on this subject may convenient1y be referred to the relevant parts of the late Professor Merlan's chapters on the predeces sors of Plotinus.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9789024750375
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Book Description
This book is a revised version, with some omissions, of a Cambridge doctoral dissertation submitted in 1963: I fear that it still bears marks of its origins. The dissertation itself was the result of an earlier scheme to identify the sources of Plotinus' psychological doctrines. In the course of this work it soon became evident that it was not sufficient1y clear what these doctrines were. Students of Plotinus have tended to concentrate on the higher regions of his world, and there is still no satisfactory treatment of his doctrines of the embodied soul. It is the purpose of this book to provide a fairly extensive survey of these doctrines. It does not claim to be exhaustive. Nor does it claim to add a large body of new knowledge, since over so wide a field many points have been touched on by others, if only in passing. But I hope that it may remove some misconceptions, and bring the details of Plotinus' theories into sharper focus. It had been my intention to add an introduction - mainly for the benefit of non-specialist readers - on the psychology of Plotinus' predecessors. In the meantime the Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy has appeared, and the reader who wants information on this subject may convenient1y be referred to the relevant parts of the late Professor Merlan's chapters on the predeces sors of Plotinus.
Pursuits of Wisdom
Author: John M. Cooper
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069115970X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 458
Book Description
This is a major reinterpretation of ancient philosophy that recovers the long Greek and Roman tradition of philosophy as a complete way of life--and not simply an intellectual discipline. Distinguished philosopher John Cooper traces how, for many ancient thinkers, philosophy was not just to be studied or even used to solve particular practical problems. Rather, philosophy--not just ethics but even logic and physical theory--was literally to be lived. Yet there was great disagreement about how to live philosophically: philosophy was not one but many, mutually opposed, ways of life. Examining this tradition from its establishment by Socrates in the fifth century BCE through Plotinus in the third century CE and the eclipse of pagan philosophy by Christianity, Pursuits of Wisdom examines six central philosophies of living--Socratic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Epicurean, Skeptic, and the Platonist life of late antiquity. The book describes the shared assumptions that allowed these thinkers to conceive of their philosophies as ways of life, as well as the distinctive ideas that led them to widely different conclusions about the best human life. Clearing up many common misperceptions and simplifications, Cooper explains in detail the Socratic devotion to philosophical discussion about human nature, human life, and human good; the Aristotelian focus on the true place of humans within the total system of the natural world; the Stoic commitment to dutifully accepting Zeus's plans; the Epicurean pursuit of pleasure through tranquil activities that exercise perception, thought, and feeling; the Skeptical eschewal of all critical reasoning in forming their beliefs; and, finally, the late Platonist emphasis on spiritual concerns and the eternal realm of Being. Pursuits of Wisdom is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding what the great philosophers of antiquity thought was the true purpose of philosophy--and of life.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069115970X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 458
Book Description
This is a major reinterpretation of ancient philosophy that recovers the long Greek and Roman tradition of philosophy as a complete way of life--and not simply an intellectual discipline. Distinguished philosopher John Cooper traces how, for many ancient thinkers, philosophy was not just to be studied or even used to solve particular practical problems. Rather, philosophy--not just ethics but even logic and physical theory--was literally to be lived. Yet there was great disagreement about how to live philosophically: philosophy was not one but many, mutually opposed, ways of life. Examining this tradition from its establishment by Socrates in the fifth century BCE through Plotinus in the third century CE and the eclipse of pagan philosophy by Christianity, Pursuits of Wisdom examines six central philosophies of living--Socratic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Epicurean, Skeptic, and the Platonist life of late antiquity. The book describes the shared assumptions that allowed these thinkers to conceive of their philosophies as ways of life, as well as the distinctive ideas that led them to widely different conclusions about the best human life. Clearing up many common misperceptions and simplifications, Cooper explains in detail the Socratic devotion to philosophical discussion about human nature, human life, and human good; the Aristotelian focus on the true place of humans within the total system of the natural world; the Stoic commitment to dutifully accepting Zeus's plans; the Epicurean pursuit of pleasure through tranquil activities that exercise perception, thought, and feeling; the Skeptical eschewal of all critical reasoning in forming their beliefs; and, finally, the late Platonist emphasis on spiritual concerns and the eternal realm of Being. Pursuits of Wisdom is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding what the great philosophers of antiquity thought was the true purpose of philosophy--and of life.
Plotinus on Consciousness
Author: D. M. Hutchinson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108627137
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Plotinus is the first Greek philosopher to hold a systematic theory of consciousness. The key feature of his theory is that it involves multiple layers of experience: different layers of consciousness occur in different levels of self. This layering of higher modes of consciousness on lower ones provides human beings with a rich experiential world, and enables human beings to draw on their own experience to investigate their true self and the nature of reality. This involves a robust notion of subjectivity. However, it is a notion of subjectivity that is unique to Plotinus, and remarkably different from the Post-Cartesian tradition. Behind the plurality of terms Plotinus uses to express consciousness, and behind the plurality of entities to which Plotinus attributes consciousness (such as the divine souls and the hypostases), lies a theory of human consciousness. It is a Platonist theory shaped by engagement with rival schools of ancient thought.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108627137
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Plotinus is the first Greek philosopher to hold a systematic theory of consciousness. The key feature of his theory is that it involves multiple layers of experience: different layers of consciousness occur in different levels of self. This layering of higher modes of consciousness on lower ones provides human beings with a rich experiential world, and enables human beings to draw on their own experience to investigate their true self and the nature of reality. This involves a robust notion of subjectivity. However, it is a notion of subjectivity that is unique to Plotinus, and remarkably different from the Post-Cartesian tradition. Behind the plurality of terms Plotinus uses to express consciousness, and behind the plurality of entities to which Plotinus attributes consciousness (such as the divine souls and the hypostases), lies a theory of human consciousness. It is a Platonist theory shaped by engagement with rival schools of ancient thought.
Psychology
Author: Stephen Everson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521358613
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
Examination of the theories of the ancient philosophers, from the materialism of the Presocratics and Hellenists to the dualism of Plato and Plotinus, reveals that psychology had become an established discipline long before Descartes.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521358613
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Book Description
Examination of the theories of the ancient philosophers, from the materialism of the Presocratics and Hellenists to the dualism of Plato and Plotinus, reveals that psychology had become an established discipline long before Descartes.
Plotinus on Consciousness
Author: D. M. Hutchinson
Publisher:
ISBN: 1108424767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Examines the first theory of consciousness in Western philosophy, dispelling the dogma that consciousness studies begins with Descartes.
Publisher:
ISBN: 1108424767
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223
Book Description
Examines the first theory of consciousness in Western philosophy, dispelling the dogma that consciousness studies begins with Descartes.
Plotinus-Arg Philosophers
Author: Lloyd P. Gerson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134687788
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
First published in 1999. We are fortunate in possessing a fascinating document, The Life of Plotinus, written by the philosopher Porphyry, a pupil and associate of Plotinus for the last eight years of his life. The basic facts contained in this Life can be quickly recounted. Plotinus was likely a Greek born in Egypt in AD 205. It is possible, though, that he came from a Hellenized Egyptian or Roman family. In his 28th year, Plotinus discovered in himself a thirst for philosophy. This is a collection of his works- Ennead I contains treatises on what Porphyry calls “ethical matters”; Enneads II–III contain treatises on natural philosophy or cosmology, with some rationalizations for the inclusion of III. 4, 5, 7, and 8. Ennead IV concerns the soul; V Intellect or and VI being, numbers, and the One. The thematic unity of Enneads I, IV, and V is somewhat greater than the rest.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134687788
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364
Book Description
First published in 1999. We are fortunate in possessing a fascinating document, The Life of Plotinus, written by the philosopher Porphyry, a pupil and associate of Plotinus for the last eight years of his life. The basic facts contained in this Life can be quickly recounted. Plotinus was likely a Greek born in Egypt in AD 205. It is possible, though, that he came from a Hellenized Egyptian or Roman family. In his 28th year, Plotinus discovered in himself a thirst for philosophy. This is a collection of his works- Ennead I contains treatises on what Porphyry calls “ethical matters”; Enneads II–III contain treatises on natural philosophy or cosmology, with some rationalizations for the inclusion of III. 4, 5, 7, and 8. Ennead IV concerns the soul; V Intellect or and VI being, numbers, and the One. The thematic unity of Enneads I, IV, and V is somewhat greater than the rest.
Plotinus on Self
Author: Pauliina Remes
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521204989
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Plotinus, the founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy, conceptualises two different notions of self (or 'us'): the corporeal and the rational. Personality and imperfection mark the former, while goodness and a striving for understanding mark the latter. In this text, Dr Remes grounds the two selfhoods in deep-seated Platonic ontological commitments, following their manifestations, interrelations and sometimes uneasy coexistence in philosophical psychology, emotional therapy and ethics. Plotinus' interest lies in what it means for a human being to be a temporal and a corporeal thing, yet capable of abstract and impartial reasoning, of self-government and perhaps even invulnerability. The book argues that this involves a philosophically problematic rupture within humanity which is, however, alleviated by the psychological similarities and points of contact between the two aspects of the self. The purpose of life is the cultivation of the latter aspect, the true self.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521204989
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Plotinus, the founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy, conceptualises two different notions of self (or 'us'): the corporeal and the rational. Personality and imperfection mark the former, while goodness and a striving for understanding mark the latter. In this text, Dr Remes grounds the two selfhoods in deep-seated Platonic ontological commitments, following their manifestations, interrelations and sometimes uneasy coexistence in philosophical psychology, emotional therapy and ethics. Plotinus' interest lies in what it means for a human being to be a temporal and a corporeal thing, yet capable of abstract and impartial reasoning, of self-government and perhaps even invulnerability. The book argues that this involves a philosophically problematic rupture within humanity which is, however, alleviated by the psychological similarities and points of contact between the two aspects of the self. The purpose of life is the cultivation of the latter aspect, the true self.
Plotinus
Author: Asger Ousager
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
ISBN: 877124669X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
As the most important philosophical work to emerge in the 700-year period between Aristotle and Augustine, The Enneads has been subject to intense scrutiny for more than 2000 years. But the mystical and abstract nature of these treatises by Plotinus continues to resist easy elucidation. In this volume, the latest in the Aarhus Studies on Mediterranean Antiquity, Asger Ousager grapples with the great neo-Platonist's conception of the individual. Is the individual free or determined? Is the Plotinian God subject to any compulsion Himself, and with what consequences for our inner and outer freedom? And finally, what are the political and ethical implications of Plotinism? Since Plotinus has traditionally been regarded as apolitical, it is the evidence that Ousager marshals for his political philosophy that forms the most intriguing part of this study. According to the author, what distinguishes Plotinus from Plato and Aristotle politically is his emphasis on natural authority, mutual cooperation and the immense potential of all people, even slaves.
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
ISBN: 877124669X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 381
Book Description
As the most important philosophical work to emerge in the 700-year period between Aristotle and Augustine, The Enneads has been subject to intense scrutiny for more than 2000 years. But the mystical and abstract nature of these treatises by Plotinus continues to resist easy elucidation. In this volume, the latest in the Aarhus Studies on Mediterranean Antiquity, Asger Ousager grapples with the great neo-Platonist's conception of the individual. Is the individual free or determined? Is the Plotinian God subject to any compulsion Himself, and with what consequences for our inner and outer freedom? And finally, what are the political and ethical implications of Plotinism? Since Plotinus has traditionally been regarded as apolitical, it is the evidence that Ousager marshals for his political philosophy that forms the most intriguing part of this study. According to the author, what distinguishes Plotinus from Plato and Aristotle politically is his emphasis on natural authority, mutual cooperation and the immense potential of all people, even slaves.