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Select Works of Plotinus · 390 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 368 (part 2)

And, further, once we reject the theory that these images reach us by way of some outstreaming from the objects seen, there is no reason to think of the air being affected and passing on to us, in a progression of impression, what has been impressed upon itself. If our perception is to depend upon previous impressions made upon the air, then we have no direct knowledge of the object of vision, but know it only as through an intermediary, in the same way as we are aware of warmth where it is not the distant fire itself that warms us, but the warmed intervening air. That is a matter of contact; but sight is not produced by contact: the application of an object to the eye would not produce sight; what is required is the illumination of the intervening medium; for the air in itself is a dark substance: If it were not for this dark substance there would probably be no reason for the existence of light: the dark intervening matter is a barrier, and vision requires that it be overcome by light. Perhaps also the reason why an object brought close to the eye cannot be seen is that it confronts us with a double obscuration, its own and that of the air.
Themes
◆Cosmic Sympathycosmology

The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.

The health of the 'All' is described as dependent on settling every member in its fitting place, implying interdependence.

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◆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.

Wrong-doing is metaphorically described as disease or sickness requiring treatment rather than a positive ontological substance.

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◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

The movement of the sick to where they shall be 'weakly no longer' implies a journey toward restoration and health.

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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 focus on the 'health of the All' treats the cosmos as a single organic unity requiring harmony among its parts.

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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.

[auto] The passage explicitly states that penalties are 'planned' to bring health to the All, illustrating the doctrine of divine ordering toward intelligible ends.

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Related passages · 4 parallels
◆renaissance_hermeticism|Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter VI — Of the Wonderful Natures of Water, Air and Winds|Chapter VI, Section 1c
“For the species of things, although of their own proper nature they are carried to the senses of men, and other animals in general, may notwithstanding get some impression from the Heaven whilst they be in the Air, by reason of which, toget…”
Both passages discuss the nature of perception and the role of the medium (air) in visual experience. They explore how light interacts with the air to enable or impede vision, showing a conceptual parallel in their mystical traditions.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter I (part 5)
“It is not true because our experimental knowledge is not a confused perception of a real world . It is a very acute perception of an entirely unreal world appearing round about us at the moment of our contact with the world of true causes,…”
Both passages explore the nature of perception and the limitations of human sensory experience. Plotinus discusses the role of light in overcoming the darkness of the air to enable vision, while the second passage delves into the idea that our sensory perceptions are not direct representations of reality but are mediated by our subjective constitution. Both highlight the indirect nature of human perception.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter IV (part 3)
“If, presupposing that we are moving upon a sphere, upon its equator or one of its parallels, then it will appear that we recognize as really existing only one meridian: those which are behind us have disappeared and those ahead of us have n…”
Both passages explore the limitations of human perception and the need for a higher or transcendent form of knowledge. Passage A discusses the role of light in overcoming the darkness of the air to enable vision, while Passage B describes the limitations of sensory perception and the need for a consciousness that can rise above these limitations to perceive reality fully.
◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter IX (part 2)
“This happens because we never feel anything at a long distance, and the eye has not been taught to discern the difference in surfaces which at short distances are felt by the finger-tips. 1 p. 100 We can never see, even in the minute, any…”
Both passages explore the limitations and distortions of human perception, particularly vision. They discuss how our senses provide a conditional and often illusory representation of reality, requiring mental corrections to understand the true nature of the world.