The Philosophy of Plotinus: Representative Books from the Enneads

by Plotinus, Joseph Katz (Editor & Translator)

A collection of representative texts from the Enneads, collected by Porphyry, the chief student of Plotinus. Introduced, translated & edited by Joseph Katz, this collection builds on previous editions of excerpts for a more comprehensive look at Plotinus' philosophy & his relationship with the Hellenistic world that preceded him, the Roman world in which he lived & the Christian world that he influenced.

Genres: Philosophy

158 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Egyptian-born Roman philosopher Plotinus and his successors in the 3rd century at Alexandria founded and developed Neoplatonism, a philosophical system, which, based on Platonism with elements of mysticism and some Judaic and Christian concepts, posits a single source from which all existence emanates and with which one mystically can unite an individual soul; The Enneads collects his writings.

Saint Thomas Aquinas combined elements of this system and other philosophy within a context of Christian thought.

People widely consider this major of the ancient world alongside Ammonius Saccas, his teacher.
He influenced in late antiquity. Much of our biographical information about Plotinus comes from preface of Porphyry to his edition. His metaphysical writings inspired centuries of pagan, Islamic, and Gnostic metaphysicians and mystics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plotinus

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not an edition I would recommend. I chose it because it in the public domain and so free. That was a mistake. The problem is not in the selections, it is in the formatting of the text -- solid blocks of text. Syntactically and philosophically Katz did a good job, its short and to the point, but everything just hung together, made it slow going. I think part of the problem is the translation Katz used-- Guthrie instead of MacKenna. There is a reason he is alone there-- Guthrie's version just isn't very clear. Since the re-editions of this work will not change any of these problems, I would pass this one by. MacKenna's version is pd http://classics.mit.edu/Plotinus/enne...

[Averill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This classic remains to be Luscious and fertile soil for ones philosophic thoughts. Lively and vital, Plotinus guides us by the hand in the labyrinth of platonic metaphysics. Very nice. The one, the intelligence, and the soul are all looked upon objectively.

[Jeremy Tibbetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredible. Short and accessible, it elucidates in 140 pages what many articles and talks could not. It's no wonder that Plotinus' thought is so influential: it's incredibly applicable and appealing.