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Select Works of Plotinus · 124 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 131

Section 9 9. But how can we conceive a thing having existence without having magnitude? We have only to think of things whose identity does not depend on their quantity- for certainly magnitude can be distinguished from existence as can many other forms and attributes. In a word, every unembodied Kind must be classed as without quantity, and Matter is unembodied. Besides quantitativeness itself [the Absolute-Principle] does not possess quantity, which belongs only to things participating in it, a consideration which shows that Quantitativeness is an Idea-Principle. A white object becomes white by the presence of whiteness; what makes an organism white or of any other variety of colour is not itself a specific colour but, so to speak, a specific Reason-Principle: in the same way what gives an organism a certain bulk is not itself a thing of magnitude but is Magnitude itself, the abstract Absolute, or the Reason-Principle. This Magnitude-Absolute, then, enters and beats the Matter out into Magnitude? Not at all: the Matter was not previously shrunken small: there was no littleness or bigness: the Idea gives Magnitude exactly as it gives every quality not previously present.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The author critiques positive definitions of the 'infinite,' stating there is no infinite among beings in terms of endless extension.

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◆Demiurgecosmology

A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.

The passage explicitly identifies a 'Creator, Mind' that must pre-exist Matter to allot form and pattern.

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◆Divine Providencetheology

Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.

The text outlines the Mind's active role in assorting and allotting quality and pattern to matter rather than leaving it to chance.

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◆Infinite Cosmoscosmology

The doctrine of the universe as boundless and without center or circumference, populated by innumerable worlds — Bruno's rejection of the closed Aristotelian sphere; the divine and the cosmos as ontologically infinite.

The passage centrally debates the concept of the infinite, arguing against endless extension among beings and defining the term.

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◆Monadcosmology

The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.

The argument for a prior 'Being' or 'additional Principle' implies a singular first principle beyond the duality of mind and matter.

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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.

The passage posits a 'ground of unification' necessary if both Mind and Matter are authentic existents, suggesting an underlying unity.

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◇Emanation Hierarchycosmology

A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.

[auto] The passage argues that the Intellectual-Principle (Mind) must pre-exist Matter, establishing a hierarchical order of being where Form precedes undetermined substance.

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◇Logoscosmology

The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.

[auto] The text identifies the 'Intellectual-Principle' and 'Mind' as the ordering force that bestows shape and Forming Ideas upon Matter.

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Related passages · 5 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1f
“And the highest measure of existence He bestows upon the more exalted Beings, which the Scripture calls eternal; 380 380 2 Cor. iv. 18 but also the mere existence of the world as a whole is perpetual; and its very existence comes from the…”
Both passages discuss the nature of existence and the role of abstract principles or causes in giving form and magnitude to reality. They explore the idea of a transcendent principle that underlies and gives rise to all existence, though they use different terminology and frameworks.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter I (part 7)
“But why seven, exactly, he is unable to explain. For physicists the rôle of the "creation of the world" is played by the atomic theory and the ether, with its wave-like vibrations, and further by the electrons, and the energetic, or electr…”
Both passages critique the limitations and contradictions within scientific and philosophical theories of their time. They share a concern with the inadequacy of existing systems to explain reality, though they come from different traditions and contexts.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XX (part 3)
“Mathematics, or the science of magnitudes, is that system which studies the quantitative relations between things; logic, or the science of concepts, is that system which studies the qualitative (categorical) relations between things. Logi…”
Both passages explore the limitations of logical and mathematical principles in describing reality. Passage A discusses how logic and mathematics are derived from observing the phenomenal world and are limited in their applicability to infinite and variable magnitudes, as well as to emotions and ideas that cannot be expressed in words. Passage B similarly argues that magnitude is an abstract principle that does not inherently possess quantity, highlighting the distinction between the abstract and the concrete.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XX (part 6)
“Were our space-sense more perfect in relation to any given object, say to the body of a given man, we could embrace all his life in time, from birth to death. Then within the limits of this embrace that life would be for us a constant magn…”
Both passages explore the nature of existence and magnitude, questioning the reality of physical dimensions and the perception of constant magnitudes. Plotinus discusses the abstract nature of magnitude as an Idea-Principle, while the second passage delves into the imperfection of human senses in perceiving a four-dimensional reality, both challenging conventional notions of existence and measurement.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXI (part 9)
“There cannot be anything which is measured by years, days, hours—there cannot be before, now, after. Moments of different epochs, divided by great intervals of time, exist simultaneously, and may touch one another. Along with this, all th…”
Both passages explore the nature of reality beyond physical and logical constraints, emphasizing the unity and interconnectedness of existence. Passage A discusses the abstract principles underlying physical attributes, while Passage B describes a world where traditional concepts of space, time, and logic do not apply, highlighting a similar metaphysical insight.