Notes on the Basics of Neoplatonism

 

Neoplatonism revolves around the idea of an all-powerful transcendent divinity, The One, and its emanation. The movement was founded by the Greek Platonist philosopher, Plotinus (204-270 AD). According to The Enneads, Plotinus’ primary text of Neoplatonism, The One is an omnipotent force which exists beyond all categories and is the single source of light from which the entire universe is illuminated. The One, however, is not directly the creator of our universe. Rather, The One represents a higher level of divinity and reality than the Demiurge or the divine intellect which is the creative element of the divine and a manifestation of the radiance of The One which permeates the lower levels of the cosmos which are visible to man. The One is so simple such that it does not contain any parts or be divided and beyond reality that it cannot even be said to exist or to be a being since it is utterly beyond. The system can be divided between the invisible world and the phenomenal world, the former containing the transcendent, absolute One from which emanates an eternal, perfect, essence Nous or Intellect, which, in turn, produces the World-Soul. In Plotinus’ model of reality, The One is the cause of the rest of reality, which takes the form of two subsequent hypostases or substances. In other words, From The One emanated the rest of the universe as a sequence of lesser beings and I believe this emanation is timeless from The One. The notion of the creator in Plotinus’s cosmology, comes directly from Plato’s dialogue, Timaeus. According to Plato there is a sharp dichotomy between the spiritual world and the physical world. The spiritual or divine realm is transcendent and eternal, while the physical world is subject to motion. According to Plato’s account the eternal spiritual realm must contain a creator which rationally ordered the universe and hence the notion of the Demiurge. Whereas Plato’s Demiurge is wishing good on his creation, Gnosticism, a heretical strand of early Christianity contends that the Demiurge is not only the originator of evil but is evil as well. Plotinus insists that Intellect’s emergence from The One is not a result of any act of willing on the part of The One. The production of Intelligence from The One is instead like light radiating from the sun, heating from fire, cool from snow, scent from perfume. Plotinus does not entirely deny the voluntariness of the One’s activity, but for him it coincides with the necessity of its acts as The One overflows with power such that it must emanate timelessly. Plotinus lacks the claim of consubstantiality between the three hypostases and posits a diversity of natures between them. Therefore, what distinguishes Trinitarians from Origen and Plotinus is the radical opposition between the triune God and the creature, an opposition that is not mitigated by any kind of intermediary zone. The belief in the subordination of the Son to the Father for which Arianism is the later name, flowing as it did directly from Platonic principles. However, in Plotinus’s terms, the three “are only separated by being different” which is what Christian orthodoxy teaches. As an image, the Nous corresponds perfectly to The One, but as a derivative, it is paradoxically entirely different. What Plotinus understands by the Nous is the highest sphere accessible to the human mind. The next emanation is of the Nous which is the World Soul. It stands between the nous and the phenomenal world. The demiurge is the energy which manifests or organizes the material world into perceivability while the Soul generates the world. According to Plotinus, the existence of imperfection requires the existence of a mutually exclusive perfect source from which imperfection can be judged. If that is the case, then imperfection flows in degrees from the source of perfection, with the concept of flowing representing emanation.

Plotinus would deviate from Plato’s notion of creation, in so far as he attempted to reconcile Platonic cosmology with Aristotelian logic. The separation of The One from the notion of creation marks a critical distinction from earlier Platonic systems. For Plotinus the monad belongs to The One exclusively, it cannot be multiplied or divided, while all lower levels of the cosmos are subject to the Dyad of the Nous and the Soul. The association of the Demiurge with the Dyad or the divisible and perceivable, is an attempt to reconcile the power of The One with the Aristotelian notion of energy which holds that there is a distinction between possibility and actuality. Aristotle uses this distinction to separate the notion of motion from the teleology of completeness of being. Thus, according to Aristotle, the notion of the potential of energy is a complete always already pre-constituted force i.e. the unmoved mover while the actuality of energy involves motion and activity.

For Plotinus the actuality of the substance of divine intellect is the only perceivable level of the transcendent. The Demiurge can only be perceived as a reflection of lower reality by mankind’s rationality. The goal of the individual is to reach a stage of unity with The One. To achieve this goal, the individual must navigate the contradictions of the dyad, which taints self-knowledge with the knowledge of the lower perceivable levels of nature. According to Plotinus, this can only be achieved by pious works in conjunction with the human pursuit of Eudemonia, or happiness emanating from the rational understanding of personal relationship with the divine. The Neoplatonists believed in the pre-existence, and immortality of the soul. The human soul consists of a lower irrational soul and a higher rational soul, both of which can be regarded as different powers of the soul. The soul also possesses a “vehicle” allowing for its return to The One after death. After bodily death, the soul takes up a level in the afterlife corresponding with the level at which it lived during its earthly life. The Neoplatonists believed in the principle of reincarnation. Although the most pure and holy souls would dwell in the highest regions, the impure soul would undergo a purification before descending again to be reincarnated into a new body or an animal. The intellect and reason are the fundamental way in which the soul can move closer the understanding The One, which means the soul is largely a reflection of the divine quality of rationality which has no material nexus outside of the ability to align with the transcendent notion of The One within the limits of an imminent material cosmology.