Select Works of Plotinus · 368 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor
Select Works, Section 349 (part 2)
Here we have to enquire into the nature and being of that vestige of the soul actually present in the living body: if there is truly a soul, then, as a thing never cut off from its total, it will go with soul as soul must: if it is rather to be thought of as belonging to the body, as the life of the body, we have the same question that rose in the case of the vestige of light; we must examine whether life can exist without the presence of soul, except of course in the sense of soul living above and acting upon the remote object.
Themes
◆Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The passage suggests that passions like anger arise from bodily states (bile, blood) and that the reasoning soul must act to combat the 'evil disclosed' by these corporeal conditions.
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.
The text references a hierarchy of soul phases, distinguishing the 'vestige of the soul' in the body from the 'higher soul-phase' and reasoning soul acting from above.
All passages →◆Evil As Privationtheology
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
Evil is described as a 'breach of order' that the reasoning soul identifies and combats, aligning with the view of evil as disorder rather than positive substance.
All passages →◇Tripartite Soulanthropology
Division of the human being into three principles: spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche), and body/matter (hyle or soma).
[auto] The passage centrally analyzes the distinct layers of human constitution: the vegetal principle (body-wide), the passionate element (heart/bile region), and the reasoning soul (above the body).
All passages →Related passages · 9 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|IIb
“So, if my soul is to know God, it must be God-like.” Now, how is the soul to arrive at this heavenly state that it recognizes God in itself, and knows that He is near?
By copying the heavens, which can receive no impulse from without to ma…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul and the divine, emphasizing the need for the soul to transcend earthly and temporal concerns to attain knowledge of the divine. They share a mystical focus on the soul's transformation and its union with the divine.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 7)
“Even in its best aspect the performance is disgusting before the sanctity of that which is divine, it having been caused by sin in consequence of primordial man's degradation, but being patiently submitted to by that which is divine in man,…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul, the body, and emotional states. Plotinus discusses the seat of passion and its connection to the body and soul, while the second passage delves into the soul's origin and its interaction with the body, particularly in relation to emotional and spiritual states. Both texts seek to understand the interplay between the physical and the metaphysical aspects of human existence.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 10)
“The conditions of these animal elementals in the constitution of man are some of those causes of his bodily ills of which modern medical science is entirely ignorant.
191:1 This is the way in which the "personalities" mentioned in the Book…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul, the body, and various emotional and physical states. They discuss how the soul interacts with the body to produce emotions like anger and desire, and how these interactions are influenced by bodily conditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 11 (part 7)
“48.) "The soul and the Word are not one or one being.
The soul is born from the centre of nature, from the essences, and belongs to the body, for she issues from the essences of the body, and attracts to herself the body; but the Word is f…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul and the body, and the nature of emotions and passions. They discuss how the soul interacts with the physical body and the higher aspects of being, though from different philosophical and theological perspectives.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 14 (part 4)
“Each person feels that according to the quality of his Turba , one in one way and another in another.
The avaricious soul, for instance, suffers from cold; the angry soul from heat; the envious soul experiences bitterness; the conceited is…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the body and the soul, particularly in relation to emotions and passions. They discuss how bodily states influence emotional responses and how the soul interacts with these states, showing a conceptual parallel in their mystical traditions.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer|Section 1c
“All things incorporeal when in a body are subject unto passion, and in the proper sense they are [themselves] all passions.
For every thing that moves itself is incorporeal; while every thing that's moved is body.
Incorporeals are further…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the mind, body, and passions, discussing how the mind can be influenced by bodily passions and the nature of these interactions. They also touch on the idea of higher faculties (Mind, Reason) transcending bodily limitations.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1o
“For admitting that she may be generated and created in some other place, and may have existed before entering the human body, why after having entered in and gone out again may she not herself be destroyed and come to an end?
Very true, Si…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body, particularly concerning its existence before birth and after death. They share a philosophical inquiry into the immortality and indestructibility of the soul, though they come from different mystical traditions.
◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1q
“Then reflect, Cebes: is not the conclusion of the whole matter this?-that the soul is in the very likeness of the divine, and immortal, and intelligible, and uniform, and indissoluble, and unchangeable; and the body is in the very likeness…”
Both passages explore the nature of the soul and its relationship to the body, emphasizing the soul's purity and immortality. They share a conceptual parallel in their discussion of the soul's separation from the body and its divine nature.
◆renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori)|INTRODUCTIONj
“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God.
The life of the soul is the true life of the man.
Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought.
By means of it we rise…”
Both passages explore the relationship between the soul, the body, and higher realities (the divine or the intellect). They discuss the nature of the soul's presence in the body and its connection to a higher realm, showing a conceptual parallel in their mystical traditions.