← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 181 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 186

Section 10 10. To sum the results of our argument: All things and events are foreshown and brought into being by causes; but the causation is of two Kinds; there are results originating from the Soul and results due to other causes, those of the environment. In the action of our Souls all that is done of their own motion in the light of sound reason is the Soul's work, while what is done where they are hindered from their own action is not so much done as suffered. Unwisdom, then, is not due to the Soul, and, in general- if we mean by Fate a compulsion outside ourselves- an act is fated when it is contrary to wisdom. But all our best is of our own doing: such is our nature as long as we remain detached. The wise and good do perform acts; their right action is the expression of their own power: in the others it comes in the breathing spaces when the passions are in abeyance; but it is not that they draw this occasional wisdom from outside themselves; simply, they are for the time being unhindered.
Themes
Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The Principle is described as being beyond the reach of kosmic cause and not merely a thing.

All passages →
Divine Simplicitytheology

The doctrine that God has no parts, divisions, or composite attributes; pure undivided being.

The Principle is characterized as bodiless, one, and not sprung from life-seeds like composite things.

All passages →
Divine Sparkscosmology

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

The text implies the individual soul is included in the higher Principle yet enters a bodily environment.

All passages →
Logoscosmology

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

The Principle is described as preserving sequence and order in the Universe.

All passages →
Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The Principle is defined by negation, described as not being a thing sprung from life-seeds and beyond kosmic cause.

All passages →
Body As Obstacleanthropology

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

[auto] The passage states that if the principle were brought into body, it would lose its unrestricted sovereignty.

All passages →
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.

[auto] The passage explicitly identifies a Principle that preserves sequence and order in the Universe, allowing for prediction and augury, which defines divine providence.

All passages →
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 describes a Principle standing above the Soul of the Universe and individual souls, establishing a clear cosmic order.

All passages →
Monadcosmology

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

[auto] It identifies a singular, bodiless 'first-hand Cause' that stands above all other treated causes.

All passages →
Unity Of Beingtheology

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

[auto] It describes the Principle as the 'bond of union in the total of things.'

All passages →
Related passages · 1 parallel
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 7)
It is not shown that Esau became subject to Jacob, but the story represents to us a spiritual symbol, showing how the kingdom of nature in man was to become subjected and to be made to submit in humility to the kingdom p. 214 of grace; how…”
Both passages discuss the interplay between higher spiritual principles and the material world, emphasizing the role of the soul or spiritual nature in influencing and transcending the physical environment. They both explore the idea of a nobler spiritual nature overcoming or guiding the lesser, more material aspects.