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Select Works of Plotinus · 525 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 502

Section 10 10. All, then, that is present in the sense realm as Idea comes from the Supreme. But what is not present as Idea, does not. Thus of things conflicting with nature, none is There: the inartistic is not contained in the arts; lameness is not in the seed; for a lame leg is either inborn through some thwarting of the Reason-principle or is a marring of the achieved form by accident. To that Intellectual Kosmos belong qualities, accordant with Nature, and quantities; number and mass; origins and conditions; all actions and experiences not against nature; movement and repose, both the universals and the particulars: but There time is replaced by eternity and space by its intellectual equivalent, mutual inclusiveness. In that Intellectual Kosmos, where all is one total, every entity that can be singled out is an intellective essence and a participant in life: thus, identity and difference, movement and rest with the object resting or moving, essence and quality, all have essential existence. For every real being must be in actuality not merely in potentiality and therefore the nature of each essence is inherent in it. This suggests the question whether the Intellectual Kosmos contains the forms only of the things of sense or of other existents as well. But first we will consider how it stands with artistic creations: there is no question of an ideal archetype of evil: the evil of this world is begotten of need, privation, deficiency, and is a condition peculiar to Matter distressed and to what has come into likeness with Matter.
Themes
◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The description of the Firsts as 'looking to nothing else' hints at a transcendence beyond relational categories.

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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.

The text contrasts the enduring reality of the prior principle with the corporeal and material world, implying matter lacks true identity and eternity.

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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.

The Intellectual-Principle is described as an 'effective principle to induce the actualization,' functioning as a mediating ordering force above Soul.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The Firsts are described as 'self-complete' and 'looking to nothing else,' implying a lack of composite parts or dependency.

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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 explicitly outlines a hierarchy where the Intellectual-Principle is prior to and more powerful than Soul, which in turn is above Matter.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The text argues for the existence of 'The First' or 'Firsts' that are self-complete and prior to all else, aligning with the concept of a singular first principle.

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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.

[auto] The argument that one must look higher than the Soul suggests a soteriological orientation toward returning to the divine origin or First Principle.

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◇Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

[auto] The rhetorical question 'why need we look higher' implies a necessary upward movement or ascent beyond the Soul toward higher principles.

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Related passages · 9 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1d
“All the properties, etc., of each thing exist outside that thing as an element in the Transcendent Being of God. the Existence of those that have any kind of existence, the Life-Process of those which in any way pass through that process.…”
Both passages discuss the nature of existence and the source of all things, emphasizing the role of a transcendent being or principle from which all reality derives. They share a metaphysical exploration of the relationship between the divine and the manifest world.
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 7, Section 1b
“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole. (3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal. (1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Both passages discuss the nature of a higher, intellectual realm (Intellectual Kosmos in Plotinus and Divine Wisdom in the second passage) and the relationship between this realm and the material world. They both emphasize the purity and unity of the higher realm and its influence on the lower.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 6)
“The human selfhood will then follow in its perceptions the Spirit of God, tremblingly and in the joy of humility, and become able to see what is contained in time and in eternity. Everything is near to a soul in that state, for the soul is…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between the human soul and a higher, divine principle. Passage A from Plotinus emphasizes the Intellectual-Principle as prior to and more powerful than the soul, while Passage B from the mystical Christian tradition describes the soul's union with God through humility and divine revelation. Both highlight the necessity of a higher principle guiding the soul.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 4 (part 1)
“p. 89 CHAPTER IV. CREATION. Everything we see in nature is manifested truth; only we are not able to recognise it as such, unless the truth is manifest within ourselves. God is the supreme, fundamental, universal, self-existent eternal…”
Both passages discuss the hierarchy of existence and the nature of the divine. Plotinus argues for the existence of an Intellectual-Principle prior to the soul, while Boehme describes the divine creation and the distinction between God and the world, emphasizing the hierarchy of divine and material existence.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 5)
“13.) Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, an…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between higher and lower principles in mystical traditions. Passage A from Plotinus describes the Intellectual-Principle as prior to and more powerful than the soul, while Passage B from Jacob Boehme discusses the soul's alignment with the divine will and its ascent to higher spiritual states. Both emphasize the hierarchical nature of reality and the soul's relationship to higher principles.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 9 (part 1)
“p. 180 CHAPTER IX. GENERATION. "Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit. For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
Both passages discuss the relationship between a higher, intellectual or divine principle and the soul. They explore the idea of a prior, more powerful entity that influences or generates the soul, emphasizing the soul's desire to connect with this higher principle.
◆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 discuss the relationship between the soul and a higher principle (Intellectual-Principle in Plotinus, the Word in the second passage). They both assert the primacy and superiority of this higher principle over the soul, and describe a form of penetration or illumination of the soul by the higher principle.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius|Section 1c
“And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's. And for this cause hath He Himself no nome, in that He's Father of [them] all. Who, then, may sing Thee praise of Thee, or [praise] to Thee? Whither, again, am I to tur…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine as an all-encompassing, ultimate reality. They explore the idea of the divine as the source of all things and the unity of existence, though they use different terminology and frameworks.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 9: The Decalogue|Section 1c
“This is God's sense-and-thought, ever to move all things. And never time shall be when e'en a whit of things that are shall cease; and when I say "a whit of things that are", I mean a whit of God. For thigs that are, God hath; nor aught […”
Both passages discuss the unity and interconnectedness of all things within the divine, emphasizing that everything originates from and depends on the Supreme or God. They share a mystical perspective on the nature of reality and the divine.