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Select Works of Plotinus · 113 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 119 (part 2)

The better elements are compelled into existence and moulded to their function by the Reason-Principle directly; the less good are potentially present in the Reason-Principles, actually present in the phenomena themselves; the Soul's power had reached its limit, and failed to bring the Reason-Principles into complete actuality since, amid the clash of these antecedent Principles, Matter had already from its own stock produced the less good. Yet, with all this, Matter is continuously overruled towards the better; so that out of the total of things- modified by Soul on the one hand and by Matter on the other hand, and on neither hand as sound as in the Reason-Principles- there is, in the end, a Unity.
Themes
◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The Fates are personified with specific names and roles like Spinner and presider.

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◆Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

Humans are characterized as fragments originating from a singular unified 'All'.

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◇Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

[auto] Individuals are depicted as victims of fascination when bound to the external physical frame.

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◇Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

[auto] A clear distinction is made between the internal self and the 'External' conditions of birth.

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◇Divine Sparkscosmology

Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.

[auto] The passage describes humans entering life as 'fragments of the All' bound to external conditions.

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◇Soul Migrationcosmology

The transmigration of the soul across lives.

[auto] References to choice before entry into body imply a cycle of pre-existence and incarnation.

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Related passages · 5 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1o
“And herein the Divine Yearning showeth especially its beginningless and endless nature, revolving in a perpetual circle for the Good, from the Good, in the Good, and to the Good, with unerring revolution, never varying its centre or directi…”
Both passages discuss the interplay between higher principles (Reason-Principle in Plotinus, Divine Yearning in the second passage) and the material or lower realms, emphasizing a unifying force that strives towards the good or the divine. They share a conceptual parallel in their exploration of the relationship between the transcendent and the immanent.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1{
“127 There remains but one alternative: Evil is a weakness and deficiency of Good. 31. Good things have all one cause. If evil is opposed to the Good, then hath evil many causes. The efficient causes of evil results, however, are not any…”
Both passages discuss the nature of evil and its relationship to the good. Plotinus describes evil as a result of matter's resistance to the Reason-Principle, while the second passage describes evil as a weakness and deficiency of the Good. Both see evil as having no substantial being and being overruled by the good.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1„
“Good cannot have produced it because a thing cannot produce its own opposite; evil cannot have produced itself because evil is always destructive and never productive. All things that exist are produced by the Good or the desire for the Go…”
Both passages discuss the interplay between good and evil, matter and form, and the role of a higher principle (Reason-Principle in Plotinus, the Good in the second passage) in shaping reality. They both explore the idea that evil or lesser elements exist due to the limitations and imperfections in the material world, while the higher principle strives to bring unity and order.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles|Section 1c
“It is Itself Its Source, since It may have no other Source. The Oneness then being Source, containeth every number, but is contained by none; engendereth every number, but is engendered by no other one. 11. Now all that is engendered is…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a higher, unifying principle (Reason-Principle in Plotinus, Oneness in the second passage) and the imperfect, divisible nature of created things. They also explore the idea of the higher principle continuously influencing and overruling the lesser elements.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer|Section 1d
“Now it is units that give birth to number and increase it, and, being decomposed, are taken back again into themselves. Matter is one; and this whole Cosmos - the mighty God and image of the mightier One, both with Him unified, and the con…”
Both passages discuss the nature of life, death, and the cosmos, emphasizing the immortality and continuous motion of all things within the universe. They share a mystical perspective on the interconnectedness and eternal nature of existence.