Five Books of Plotinus: Viz. On Felicity; On the Nature and Origin of Evil; On Providence; On Nature, Contemplation, and the One; and On the Descent of the Soul |
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Five Books of Plotinus: Viz. on Felicity; on the Nature and Origin of Evil ... No preview available - 2020 |
Five Books of Plotinus: Viz. On Felicity; On the Nature and Origin of Evil ... Plontinus Plontinus No preview available - 2016 |
Five Books of Plotinus: Viz. On Felicity; On the Nature and Origin of Evil ... Plontinus Plontinus No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
abides according affert alſo animals arife artificer aſked baſe beautiful becauſe becomes befides beholding beſides beſt bleſſed body cafe cauſe confidered conſequence conſtituted contemplation contrary dæmons debility defire depravity deſcend deſtitute diſeaſe divine effence elſe endued energy eſſence evil itſelf exiſt external faid fame manner felicity fimilar fince firſt fome foul fubfift fuch fuffer gods Hence herſelf inferior inquire intellect intelligible world inveſtigate juſt kind laſt leſs likewiſe matter meaſure moſt muſt nature neceffity neceſſarily neceſſary perfect perpetually Plato pleaſure PLOTINUS poffeffing poffible poſſeſs preſent preſerve prior Proclus produced proper purpoſe reaſon requifite reſide reſpect reſulting ſaid ſame ſay ſecond ſelf ſenſe ſenſible ſeparate ſhall ſhe ſhould ſince ſituated ſome ſomething ſoul ſpeak ſpecies ſpectacle ſpeculation ſtate ſubject ſubſiſts ſuch a manner ſuch things ſufficient ſuperior tellect themſelves theſe thoſe tion ture underſtand univerſe unleſs verſe whole whoſe worthy
Popular passages
Page lxii - Because they wish to imitate the providential energies of the Gods, and on this account proceed into generation, and leave the contemplation of true being: for, as Divine perfection is twofold, one kind being intellectual, and the other providential, and one kind consisting in an abiding energy...
Page xxix - The admirable dogma in this most beautiful extract, ** that knowledge subsists according to the nature of that which knows, and not according to the nature of that which is known...
Page xxvi - ... but these philosophers in consequence of not knowing the exempt power and uniform knowledge of divinity, appear to deviate from the truth. For thus we interrogate them : does not every thing energize in a becoming manner when it energizes according to its own power and nature ? as for instance, does not nature, in conformity to the order of its essence, energize physically, intellect intellectually, and soul psychically, or according to the nature of soul ? And when the same thing is generated...
Page 174 - For in the particular acts of human life', Plotinus tells us, 'it is not the interior soul and the true man, but the exterior shadow of the man alone, which laments and weeps, performing his part on the earth as in a more ample and extended scene, in which many shadows of souls and phantom scenes appear.
Page lvii - The delight, too, which attends our discovery of the truth, sufficiently proves that this discovery is nothing more than a recognition of something most eminently allied to our nature, and which had been, as it were, lost in the middle space of time, between our former knowledge of the truth, and the recovery of that knowledge. For the perception of a thing perfectly unknown and unconnected with our nature, would produce terror instead of delight ; and things are pleasing only in proportion as they...
Page xxxii - ... apparent natures is not known by him in an unstable, but in a definite manner ; nor does he know that which is subject to all-various mutations dubiously, but in a manner perpetually the same ; for by knowing himself, he knows every thing of which he is the cause, possessing a knowledge transcendently more accurate than that which is co-ordinate to the objects of knowledge; since a causal knowledge of every thing is superior to every other kind of knowledge.
Page 274 - ... divine origin, and proceeding from the regions on high, becomes merged in the dark receptacle of the body, and being naturally a posterior god, it descends hither through a certain voluntary inclination, for the sake of power and of adorning inferior concerns. By this means it receives a knowledge of...
Page 273 - Thus, the soul, though of divine origin, and proceeding from the regions on high, becomes merged in the dark receptacle of the body, and being naturally a posterior god, it descends hither through a certain voluntary inclination, for the sake of power and of adorning inferior concerns.
Page 249 - I am of a more excellent condition than of a life merely animal and terrene. For then especially, I energize according to the best life and become the same with a nature truly Divine ; being established in this nature I arrive at that transcendent energy by which I am elevated beyond every other intelligible, and fix myself in this sublime...
Page 45 - ... more worthy which rightly compose jarring externals. For the greatest discipline always resides with him, and this more so, though he should be placed in the bull of Phalaris. For what is there pronounced in agony, is pronounced by that which is placed in torment, the external and shadowy man, which is far different from the true man, who dwelling by himself, so far as he necessarily resides with himself, never ceases from the contemplation of the supreme good. " But he who does not place the...