As Plotinos does not give exact quotations and references, it is difficult always to give their undoubted source. As probably Platonic we may mention the passage about the universal Soul taking care of all that isinanimate;609and "When one has arrived at individuals, they must be abandoned toinfinity."610Also otherquotations.611The line "It might be said that virtues areactualizations,"612might be Aristotelian. We alsofind:613"Thus, according to the ancient maxim, 'Courage, temperance, all the virtues, even prudence, are but purifications.'" "That is the reason that it is right to say that the 'soul's welfare and beauty lie in assimilating herself to the divinity.'" This sounds Platonic, but might be Numenian.
In this connection it might not be uninteresting to note passages in Numenius which are attributed to Plato, but which are not to be identified: "O Men, the Mind which you dimly perceive is not the First Mind;but before this Mind is another one, which is older and diviner." "That the Good isOne."614
We turn now to thoughts found identically in Plotinos and Numenius, although no textual identity is to be noted. We may group these according to the subject, the universe, and the soul.
God is supremeking.615Eternity is now, but neither past norfuture.616The King in heaven is surrounded byleisure.617The Good is aboveBeing;618the divinity is the unity above the "Being andEssence;619and connected with this is the unitary interpretation of the nameA-pollo,620following in the footsteps of Plutarch. Nevertheless, the inferior divinity traverses theheavens,621in a circularmotion.622While Numenius does not specify this motion ascircular,623it is implied, inasmuch as the creator's passing through the heavens must have followed their circular course. With this perfect motion is connected the peculiar Numenian doctrine of inexhaustiblegiving,624which gave a philosophical basis for the old simile of radiation oflight,625so that irradiation is the method ofcreation,626and this is not far removed from emanationism. This process consists of the descent of the intelligible into the material, or, as Numenius puts it, that both the intelligible and the perceptible participate in theideas.627Thus intelligence is the uniting principle that holds together the bodies whose tendency is to split up, andscatter,628making a leakage orwaste,629which process invades even thedivinity.630This uniting of scattering elements produces a mixture ormingling,608of matter andreason,631which, however, is limited to the energies of the existent, not to the existentitself.632All things are in aflow,633and the whole all is inall.634The divinity creates by glancing at the intelligenceabove,635as apilot.636The divinity is split by over-attention to its charges.637
This leads us over to consideration of the soul. The chief effort of Numenius is a polemic against the materialism of the Stoics, and to it Plotinos devotes a wholebook.638All souls, even the lowest, areimmortal.639Even qualities areincorporeal.640The soul, therefore, remainsincorporeal.641The soul, however, isdivisible.642This explains the report that Numenius taught not various parts of thesoul,643but two souls, which would be opposed by Plotinos in his polemic against theStoics,644but taught in anotherplace.645Such divisibility is indeed implied in the formation of presentation as aby-product,646or a "commonpart."647Moreover, the soul has to choose its own demon, or guardiandivinity.648Salvation as a goal appears inNumenius,649but not in Plotinos, who opposes the Gnostic idea of the "savedsouls,"650though elsewhere he speaks of the paths of themusician,651lover652andphilosopher653in reachingecstasy.654Still both Gnostics and Plotinos insisted on the need of asavior.655Memory is actualization of thesoul.656In the highest ecstasy the soul is alone with thealone.657
This comparison of philosophy would have been much stronger had we added thereto the following points in which we find similar terms and ideas, but which are applied differently. The soul is indissolubly united to intelligence according to Plotinos, but to its source withNumenius.658Plotinos makes discord the result of their fall, while with Numenius it is itscause.659Guilt is the cause of the fall of souls, withPlotinos,660but with Numenius it is impulsive passion. The great evolution or world-process is by Plotinos called the "eternal procession," while with Numenius it isprogress.661The simile of the pilot is by Plotinos applied to the soul within the body; while with Numenius, it refers to the logos, or creator in theuniverse,662whilein both cases the cause,—of creation for thecreator,663and incarnation for thesoul664—is forgetfulness. There is practically no difference here, however. Doubleness is, by Plotinos, predicated of the sun and stars, but by Numenius, of the demiurgehimself,665which Plotinos opposes as a Gnosticteaching.666The Philonic term "legislator" is, by Plotinos, applied to intelligence, while Numenius applies it to the third divinity, and not thesecond.667Plotinos extends immortality to animals, but Numenius even to the inorganic realm, includingeverything.668While Numenius seems to believe in the Serapistic and Gnosticdemons,669Plotinos opposesthem,670although in hisbiography671he is represented as taking part in the evocation of his guardian spirit in a temple of Isis.
We thus find a tolerably complete body of philosophy shared by Plotinos and Numenius, out of the few fragments of the latter that have come down to us. It would therefore be reasonable to suppose that if Numenius's complete works had survived we could make out a still far stronger case for Plotinos's dependence on Numenius. At any rate, the Dominican scribe at the Escoreal who inserted the name of Numenius in the place of that of Plotinos in the headingof672the fragment about matter, must have felt a strong confusion between the two authors.
To begin with, we have the controversy with the Stoics, which, though it appears in the works of both, bears in each a different significance. While with Numenius it absorbed his chief controversialefforts,673withPlotinos674it occupied only one of his many spheres of interest; and indeed, he had borrowed from them many terms, such as "pneuma," the spiritual body, and others, set forth elsewhere. Notable, however,was the term "hexis," habituation, or form of inorganicobjects,675and the "phantasia," orsense-presentation.676Like, them, the name A-pollo is interpreted as a denial ofmanifoldness.677
Next in importance, as a landmark, is Numenius's chief secret, the name of the divinity, as "being and essence," which reappears in Plotinos in numberlessplaces.678Connected with this is the idea that essence isintelligence.679
It is a common-place that Numenius was a Pythagorean, or at least was known as such, for though he reverenced Pythagoras, he conceived of himself as a restorer of true Platonism. It will, therefore, be all the more interesting to observe what part numbers play in their system, especially in that of Plotinos, who made no special claim to be a Pythagorean disciple. First, we find that numbers and the divine ideas are closelyrelated.680Numbers actually split the unity of thedivinity.681The soul also is considered as anumber,682and in connection with this we find the Pythagorean sacred"tetraktys."683Thus numbers split up thedivinity,684though it is no more than fair to add that elsewhere Plotinos contradicts this, and states that the multiplicity of the divinity is not attained bydivision;685still, this is not the only case in which we will be forced to array Plotinos against himself.
The first effect of the splitting influence of numbers will bedoubleness,686which, though present inintelligence,687nevertheless chiefly appears inmatter,688as the Pythagorean "indefinitedyad."689Still, even the Supreme isdouble.690So we must not be surprised if He is constituted by atrinity,691in connection with which the Supreme appears asgrandfather.692
If then both Numenius and Plotinos are really under the spell of Pythagoras, it is pretty sure they will notbe materialist, they will believe in the incorporeality of thedivinity,693ofqualities;694and of thesoul695which will beinvisible696and possess noextension.697A result of this will be that the soul will not be located in the body, or in space, but rather the body in thesoul.698
From this incorporealexistence,699there is only a short step to unchangeableexistence,700oreternity.701This, to the soul, meansimmortality,702one theory of which isreincarnation.703To the universe, however, this meansharmony.704
There are still other Pythagorean traces in common between Numenius and Plotinos. The cause that the indeterminate dyad split off from the divinity is "tolma," rashness, orboldness.705Everything outside of the divinity is in a continual state offlux.706Evil is then that which is opposed togood.707It also is therefore unavoidable, inasmuch as suppression of its cosmic function would entail cosmiccollapse.708The world stands thus as an inseparable combination of intelligence and necessity, orchance.709
Platonic traces, there would naturally be; but it will be noticed that they are far less numerous than the Pythagorean. To begin with, we find the reverent spirit towards the divinities, which prays for their blessing at the inception of alltasks.710To us who live in these latter days, such a prayer seems out of place in philosophy; but that is only because we have divorced philosophy from theology; in other words, because our theology has left the realm of living thought, and, being fixed once for all, we are allowed to pursue any theory of existence we please as if it had nothing whatever to do with any reality; in other words, we are deceiving ourselves. On the contrary, in those days,every philosophical speculation was a genuine adventure in the spiritual world, a magical operation that might unexpectedly lead to the threshold of the cosmic sanctuary. Wise, indeed, therefore, was he who began it by prayer.
Of other technical Platonic terms there are quite a few. The lower is always the image of thehigher.711So the world might be considered the statue of theDivinity.712The ideas are in a realm above theworld.713The soul here below is as in aprison.714There is a divinity higher than the one generallyknown.715The divinity is in a stability resultant of firmness and perfectmotion.716The perfect movement, therefore, iscircular.717This inter-communion of the universe therefore results in matter appearing in the intelligible world as "intelligiblematter."718By dialectics, also called "bastardreasoning,"719we abstracteverything720till we reach thething-in-itself,721or, in other words, matter as a substrate of theworld.722Thus we metaphysically reach ineffablesolitude.723
The same goal is reached psychologically, however, in theecstasy.724This idea occurred in Plato only as a poetic expression of metaphysical attainment; and in the case of Plotinos at least may have been used as a practical experience chiefly to explain his epileptic attacks; and this would be all the more likely as this disease was generally called the "sacred disease." Whether Numenius also was an epileptic, we are not told; it is more likely he took the idea from Philo, or Philo's oriental sources; at least Numenius seems to claim no personal ecstatic experiences such as those of Plotinos.
We have entered the realm of psychology; and this teaches us that that in which Numenius and Plotinos differ from Plato and Philo is chiefly their psychological or experimental application of pure philosophy. Nobody could subsist without the soul to keep ittogether.725Various attempts are made to describe the nature of the soul; it is the extent or relation of circumference tocircle.726Or it is like a line and itsdivergence.727In any case, the divinity and the soul move around theheavens,728and this may explain the otherwise problematical progress or evolution ("prosodos" or "stolos") ofours.729
There are many other unclassifiable Numenian traces in Plotinos. Two of them, however, are comparatively important. First, is a reaffirmation of the ancient Greek connection between generation, fertility of birth of souls andwetness,730which is later reaffirmed by Porphyry in his "Cave of the Nymphs." Plotinos, however, later deniesthis.731Then we come to a genuine innovation of Numenius's; his theory of divine or intelligible giving. Plato had, of course, in his genial, casual way, sketched out a whole organic system of divine creation and administration of this world. The conceptions he needed he had cheerfully borrowed from earlier Greek philosophy without any rigid systematization, so that he never noticed that the hinge on which all was supposed to turn was merely the makeshift of an assumption. This capital error was noticed by Numenius, who sought to supply it by a psychological observation, namely, that knowledge may be imparted without diminution. Plotinos, with his winning way of dispensing with quotation-marks, appropriatedthis,732as also the idea that life streams out upon the world in the glance of the divinity, and as quickly leaves it, when the Divinity turns away Hisglance.733
Other less important points of contact are: the Egyptian ship ofsouls;734the Philonic distinction between"the" God as supreme, and "god" assubordinate;735the hoary equivocation on"kosmos;"736and the illustration of the divine Logos as the pilot of theworld.737
We must focus our observations on Plotinos as a philosopher. To begin with, we should review his successors, Porphyry, Jamblichus, Sallust, Proclus, Hierocles,Simplicius;738Macrobius;739Priscus; Olympicdorus and JohnPhiloponus.740
Among the Arabian philosophers that follow in his steps are Maimonides and IbnGebirol.741
Of the Christian fathers we first have two who paraphrased, rather than quoted him.
St. Augustine by name quotes i. 6; iii. 2; iv. 3, and v. 1; he paraphrases parts of i. 2; ii. 1; iii. 6, 7; iv. 2, 7; vi. 5,6.742St. Basil so closely paraphrases parts of Plotinos in his treatise on the HolySpirit,743his letter on the MonasticLife,744and hisHexameron,745that Bouillet prints the passage in question in deadly parallel.
Other Christian Plotonic students were Gregory of Nyssa, Synesius, Dionysius the Areopagite, Theodorus, Aeneas of Gaza,Gennadius;746Victorinus;747NicephorusChumnus;748andCassiodorus.749
Thomas Aquinas also was much indebted to Plotinos; and after him came Boethius, Fénélon, Bossnet and Leibnitz (all quoted in Bouillet's work).
We have frequently pointed out that Plotinos' "bastard reasoning" process of reaching the intelligible was practically paraphrased by Kant's dialectical path to the "thing-in-itself." This dialetic, of course, was capitalized by Hegel.
Drews has shown that Edouard von Hartmann used Plotinos' semi-devotional ecstasy as a metaphysical basis for his philosophy of the Unconscious.
It is, of course, among mystics that Plotinos has been accorded the greater honor. His practical influence descended through the visions and ecstasies of the saints down to Swedenborg, who attempted to write the theology of the ecstasy; and the relation between these two, Swedenborg and Plotinos should prove a fertile field for investigation.
Summarizing, he formed a bridge between the pagan world, with its Greco-Roman civilization, and the modern world, in three departments: Christianity, philosophy, and mysticism. So long as the traditional Platonico-Stoical feud persisted there was no hope of progress; because it kept apart two elements that were to fuse into the Christian philosophy. Numenius was the last Platonist, as Posidonius was the last Stoic combatant. However, if reports are to be trusted, Ammonius was an eclecticist, who prided himself on combining Plato with Aristotle. If Plotinos was indeed his disciple, it was the theory eclecticism that he took from his reputed teacher. Practically he was to accomplish it by his dependence on the Numenian Amelius, the Stoic Porphyry, and the negative Eustochius. It will be seen therefore that his chief importance was not in spite of his weakness, but most because of it. By repeatedly "boxing the compass" he thoroughly assimilated the best of the conflicting schools, and became of interest to a sufficiency of different groups (Christian, philosophical and mystical) to insure preservation, study and quotation. His habit of omitting credit to any but ancient thinkers left his own work, to the uninformed—who constituted all but a minimal number—as a body of original thought. Thus he remains to us the last light of Greece, speaking a language with which we are familiar, and leaving us quotations that are imperishable.
While therefore providentially Plotinos has ever been of great importance theologically, philosophically and mystically, we cannot leave him without honestly facing the question of his value as an original thinker. It is evident that his success was in inverse ratio to originality; but we can also see that he could not have held together those three spheres of interest without the momentum of a wonderful personality. This will be evident at a glance to any reader of his biography. But after all we are here concerned not so much with his personality as with his value as an original thinker. This question is mooted by, and cannot be laid aside because of its decisive influence on the problem of his dependence of Numenius. The greater part of the latter's works being irretrievably lost, we can judge only from what we have; and as to the rest, we must ask ourselves, was Plotinos the kind of a man who would have depended on some other man's thoughts? Is he likely to have sketched out a great scheme and filled it in; or rather, was he likely to depend on personal suggestion, and embroider on it, so to speak. Elsewhere we have demonstrated a development of his opinions, for instance, about matter. Was this due to progressiveness, or to indefiniteness? The reader must judge for himself.
His epilepsy naturally created an opportunity for, and need of a doctrine of ecstasy; which for normal people should be no more than a doctrine, or at least be limited to conscious experiences. Even his admirer, Porphyry, acknowledges that he spelled and pronouncedincorrectly.750He acknowledged that without Porphyry's objections he would have nothing to say. He refrained from quoting his authorities, andPorphyry acknowledged that his writings contained many Stoic and Aristotelian doctrines. It was generally bruited around that his doctrines were borrowed fromNumenius,751to the extent that his disciples held controversies, and wrote books on the subject. His style is enigmatic, and the difficulty of understanding him was discussed even in his own day. He was dependent on secretaries or editors; first on Amelius, later on Porphyry, who does not scruple to acknowledge he added manyexplanations.752Later, Plotinos sent his books to Porphyry in Sicily to edit. No doubt the defectiveness of his eyesight made both reading and writing difficult, and explains his failure to put titles to his works; though, as in the case of Virgil, such hesitation may have been the result of a secret consciousness of his indebtedness to others.
Punning has of course a hoary antiquity, and even the revered Plato was an adept at it—as we see in his Cratylos. Moreover, not till a man's work is translated can we uncover all the unconscious cases of "undistributed middle." Nevertheless, in an inquiry as to the permanent objective validity of a train of reasoning, we are compelled to note extent and scope of his tendency. So he puns onaeons;753on science andknowledge;754on"agalmata";755on Aphrodite, as"delicate";756onBeing;757on "koros," as creation oradornment";758on difference inothers;759onidea;760on heaven, world, universe, animal andall;761on Vesta, andstanding;762onHexis;763oninclination;764ondoxa;765on love andvision;766on "einai" and"henos;"767on "mous," "noêsis," and to "noêfon";768onpaschein;769onPoros;770on Prometheus andProvidence;771on reason andcharacteristic;772on "schesis" and"schema";773and "soma" and"sozesthai";"774on suffering;775on thinking, thinkable, andintellection;776on "timely" and"sovereign."777It will be noted that these puns refer to some of the most important conceptions, and are found in all periods of his life. We must therefore conclude that his was not a clear thinking ability; that he depended on accidental circumstances, and may not always have been fully conscious how far he was following others. This popular judgment that he was revamping Numenius's work may then not have been entirely unfounded, as we indeed have shown.
Nevertheless, he achieved some permanent work, that will never be forgotten; for instance:
1. His description of the ecstatic state.
2. His polemic against the Aristotelian and Stoic categories.
3. His establishment of his own categories.
4. His allegoric treatment of the birth of love, the several Eroses, Poros and Penia, and other myths.
5. His building of a Trinitarian philosophy.
6. His threefold spheres of existence, underlying Swedenborgian interpretation.
7. His aesthetic theories.
8. His ethical studies of virtues and happiness.
9. His restatement of Numenius's arguments for the immateriality of the soul.
The reader may be interested in a few maxims selected from Plotinos' works which may be of general interest.
1. We develop toward ecstasy by simplification of Soul.
2. We rise by the flight of the Single to the Single, face to face.
3. We contain something of the Supreme.
4. The Soul becomes what she remembers and sees.
5. Everything has a secret power.
6. The best men are those who have most intimacy with themselves.
7. The touch of the good man is the greatest thing in the world.
8. Every being is its best, not when great or numerous, but when it belongs to itself.
9. There are two men in us, the better and the worse.
10. The secret of life is to live simultaneously with others and yourself.
11. God is the author of liberty.
12. Concerning what would it be most worth while to speak, except the Soul? Let us therefore know ourselves.
13. Without virtue, God is but a name.
14. The object of virtue is to separate the soul from the body.
15. We can never become perfect, because he who thinks himself so has already forgotten the supreme divinity towards which he must hasten.
16. The world was created by a concurrence of intelligence and necessity.
17. The Soul is the image, word, and interpreter of the One.
18. The divinities though present to many human beings often reveal themselves only to some one person, because he alone is able to contemplate them.
19. To act without suffering is the sign of a great power.
20. Only virtue is independent.
21. We are beautiful when we know ourselves.
22. The Soul is the child of the universal Father.
23. True happiness is being wise, and exercising this within oneself.
24. To become again what one was originally is to live in the Superior world.
25. The desired goal is not to cease failing, but to grow divine.
26. Virtue demands preliminary purification.
27. Our effort at assimilation should be directed not at mere respectability, but at the gods themselves.
28. One should study mathematics in order to accustom oneself to think of incorporeal things, and to believe in their existence.
29. Soul is not in body, but body in Soul.
30. The Soul's higher part remains in heaven.
31. We should not leave the earth, but not be of it.
32. The object of life is not to avoid evil, or copy the good, but to become good.
33. Dying, to Eustochius: "I am awaiting you, in order to draw the divine in me to the divine in all."