Plotinus and Neoplatonism

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Plotinus and Neoplatonism
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Historical Origin
Alexandria Egypt 3rd century CE
Roman philosopher Plotinus 204 270 CE
Synthesis of the tradition of Greek philosophical
inquiry, especially Platos metaphysics
Iamblichus and Porphyry succeeded Plotinus and
transmitted Plotinus neoplatonist system to
subsequent generations. Porphyry edited Plotinus
writings into six books called the Enneads.
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Two Main Theses of Neoplatonism
Absolute Transcendence The One
Emanationism The Many
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God is the One Beyond Being
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Finitely Bound Character of Being
Being is derived from and applies to things of
sense experience the realm of finite,
individual, changing things. God is necessarily
above the finite things of sense experience and
so must be above being.
Unity of God
Since multiplicity is a feature of finite things,
God must be one. God is the One, since God is
not a single or individual thing, nor can God be
divided into parts.
Via Negativa
Nothing can be positively predicated of God since
this would entail multiplicity (substance and
properties). We can only deny of God things that
are true of finite things. Immaterial not
material one not many eternal not temporal,
etc.
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Emanationism
Gods transcendence implies that God cannot be
part of the universe. Pantheism is rejected.
God cannot freely create the universe through an
act of will. Theistic creationism is rejected.
Why does Plotinus reject these options?
If God is part of the universe or freely creates
the universe, then God undergoes change.
Plotinus Third Option
The universe proceeds from God by necessity and
by a chain of various intermediaries.
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The Metaphysical Principle
It is necessary that the less perfect proceed
from the more perfect.
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The One
Nous (Mind)
World Soul
Individual Souls
Physical Universe
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The One
Nous has the One and itself as the object of
immediate apprehension. Nous contains the Forms.
The World Soul is the link between Nous and the
sensible world.
Individual Souls
Physical Universe
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Sun Analogy
. As the rays of the sun co-exist with the sun
but emanate necessarily from it, so also the
cosmos co-exists with the One but emanates
necessarily from it.
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The cosmos must be eternal. Order never comes
into existence. It has always existed.
The cosmos is eternally dependent on the One via
the ontological intermediaries.
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As the rays of the sun get further away from
their source, the sun, they lose their brilliance.
As intermediaries get further away from the One
they become more imperfect.
Evil is the absence of the good, an imperfection
in things.
Eventually, the rays fade into darkness.
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Purpose of Plotinus Emanationist Scheme
To explain the existence of the cosmos, the
physical universe characterized by plurality and
change, without involving God the One in any
kind of plurality and change
That which ultimately explains something x must
not itself raise the same causal questions. The
explaining principle must be distinct from and
beyond the features it tries to explain.
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From Neoplatonism to Christian Philosophy
Clement of Alexandria (2nd-3rd Century)
Dionysius (6th century)
Origen (2nd-3rd Century)
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Early Christian Neo-Platonist, Bishop of Hippo
in North Africa, prolific author, and
foundational thinker for western
Christendom. Converted to Christianity under the
influence of neo-platonism after a decade as a
Manichean, a gnostic religion competing with
Christianity and which tried synthesizing
elements of ancient Persian religion, eastern
thought, and Christianity. Augustines account
of his journey to the Christian faith is in his
Confessions (circa 397).
Saint Aurelius Augustine (354-430)
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Characterizing Augustines Christian Philosophy

• Aims to show that the Christian revelation is
  superior to Greco-Roman philosophy.
• Achieves a creative synthesis of Christian
  doctrine and Greco-Roman Thought.
• Formulates a theology (doctrine of God) based on
  the Bible and neoplatonist philosophy.
• Augustine personalizes Plotinuss One.

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Personal Nature of God

• Based on the Bible, St. Augustine affirms the
  personal nature of God. God is a self-aware
  being with intentions, will, knowledge, and who
  freely creates the world ex nihilo (out of
  nothing) and providentially guides it.
• Humans can enter into a personal relationship
  with God.

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The Attributes of God

• Augustine affirms that God is . . .
• immaterial
• all powerful (omnipotent)
• all-knowing (omniscient)
• all-good (omnibenevolent)
• everywhere present (omnipresent)
• unchanging (immutable)

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Augustines Conception of Divine Transcendence

• Augustine draws on neoplatonism to form a strong
  doctrine of divine transcendence, which strongly
  affirms the otherness of God in relation to the
  created order.

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• God is immutable in the strong sense nothing
  about God ever changes.
• God is timeless. God lacks all temporal location
  and extension. The divine mind is not subject to
  past-present-future. Hence, there is no
  succession of thoughts in Gods mind.
• God has exhaustive foreknowledge of everything
  future to creatures as an immutable knowledge of
  what is timelessly present to God.

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Metaphysics of Creation

• Augustine takes the view that creation involves
  the creation of the universe (matter, space, and
  time) out of nothing.
• God creates the universe according to divine
  ideas, patterns of perfection eternally existing
  within the divine mind. Cf. Platos Timaeus.
• Creation is therefore a mirror that reflects the
  being of God, which allows us to see, experience,
  or infer God from the world.

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Creation and Time

• Since time came into existence with the universe,
  there was no time before creation. Gods being
  the creator therefore requires that God exists
  outside time.
• It makes no sense to ask what was God doing
  before God created the universe. (Book 11 of
  Augustines Confessions)

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The One Plotinus vs. Augustine

• Like Plotinuss One, Augustines One is
  absolutely immutable and timeless. Radical
  creator/creature distinction.
• However, unlike Plotinuss One, Augustines One
  is a personal being (with attributes) who wills
  the universe into existence and has exhaustive
  knowledge of the world.

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Potential Theological Problems

• Augustines God chooses to create the universe,
  but can an immutable and timeless being choose to
  create anything?
• Augustines God knows the world of time and
  change, but can an unchanging, timeless God know
  a changing, mutable world?
• Augustines God ostensibly interacts with the
  world, but how can a timeless, immutable being
  interact with the world?

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• Augustines dilemma seems to be his
  personalizing of Plotinuss One.
• While Plotinuss metaphysics sanctions a very
  strong doctrine of transcendence, it seems
  ill-equipped to handle the immanent features of
  God in Augustines biblically based idea of God
  as a personal being, interacting with the world.

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The Origins Paradox

• How can we posit anything as the ultimate
  explanation of the world?
• Unless there is some resemblance between God and
  the world, God cant explain the world.
• Unless God is fundamentally unlike the world, God
  wont provide an ultimate explanation.