Select Works of Plotinus · 600 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 573

Section 12 12. It follows that we must allow contrariety to Quantity: whenever we speak of great and small, our notions acknowledge this contrariety by evolving opposite images, as also when we refer to many and few; indeed, "few" and "many" call for similar treatment to "small" and "great." "Many," predicated of the inhabitants of a house, does duty for "more": "few" people are said to be in the theatre instead of "less." "Many," again, necessarily involves a large numerical plurality. This plurality can scarcely be a relative; it is simply an expansion of number, its contrary being a contraction. The same applies to the continuous [magnitude], the notion of which entails prolongation to a distant point. Quantity, then, appears whenever there is a progression from the unit or the point: if either progression comes to a rapid halt, we have respectively "few" and "small"; if it goes forward and does not quickly cease, "many" and "great." What, we may be asked, is the limit of this progression? What, we retort, is the limit of beauty, or of heat? Whatever limit you impose, there is always a "hotter"; yet "hotter" is accounted a relative, "hot" a pure quality. In sum, just as there is a Reason-Principle of Beauty, so there must be a Reason-Principle of greatness, participation in which makes a thing great, as the Principle of beauty makes it beautiful. To judge from these instances, there is contrariety in Quantity. Place we may neglect as not strictly coming under the category of Quantity; if it were admitted, "above" could only be a contrary if there were something in the universe which was "below": as referring to the partial, the terms "above" and "below" are used in a purely relative sense, and must go with "right" and "left" into the category of Relation. Syllable and discourse are only indirectly quantities or substrates of Quantity; it is voice that is quantitative: but voice is a kind of Motion; it must accordingly in any case [quantity or no quantity] be referred to Motion, as must activity also.

Themes

◆Apophatic Theologytheology

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

The author argues that terms like Substance and Being do not tally with the notion of bodies, implying a negative definition of the sensible relative to the intellectual.

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◆Correspondencecosmology

The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.

The passage explicitly explores the analogy between the Intellectual and Sensible realms, attempting to map concepts like Stability and Identity across levels before critiquing the fit.

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◆Divine Simplicitytheology

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

The passage contrasts the unity of the Intellectual realm with the composites and accidentals found in the Sensible realm.

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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.

The distinction between Intellectual-Being and the Sensible realm implies a hierarchical structure of reality flowing from higher to lower principles.

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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.

Matter is described as indetermination and inertia that receives form from without, aligning with the Plotinian view of matter as a lack or deficiency rather than positive being.

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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 text discusses the nature of 'Being' versus 'Becoming,' questioning whether terms like Substance apply to bodies in flux.

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Related passages · 4 parallels

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 7 (part 6)

“2.) There existed in man also the third principle, wherein resides sensual desire. He was not endowed with this principle for the purpose of surrendering himself to it, but that he might introduce it into the light of God, and glorify Him…”

Both passages explore the relationship between different realms of existence and the nature of being. Passage A discusses the distinction between the Sensible and Intellectual realms, while Passage B describes the interaction between the inner (divine) and outer (material) worlds in man. Both texts delve into the concept of unity and the role of form or light in bringing harmony to the material world.

◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 8 (part 6)

“1.) "The terrestrial consciousness corrupted the celestial one, and the former became the Turba of the latter. Likewise, the Fiat made the earth and stones out of the eternal essentiality." ( Menschwerdung , i. 9.) "But in the earth we fi…”

Both passages explore the relationship between the material and spiritual realms, discussing how the higher, intellectual or divine realm influences the lower, sensible or terrestrial realm. They both use analogies and classifications to describe the interaction between these realms, though they come from different mystical traditions.

◆platonism|Plato: Phaedo|Section 1

“The reason why I say this is that I want you to agree with me in thinking, not only that absolute greatness will never be great and also small, but that greatness in us or in the concrete will never admit the small or admit of being exceede…”

Both passages explore the nature of opposites and their relationship to each other, particularly focusing on the concepts of greatness and smallness. They discuss the inherent properties of these opposites and their inability to transform into one another, showing a genuine conceptual parallel across different philosophical traditions.

◆western_esoteric|Tertium Organum (P.D. Ouspensky)|Chapter XXIII (part 16)

“329 cases it is more correct to regard them all as the highest types in their own evolution. The absence of intermediate forms makes this view much more probable than that which is usually accepted, and which gives such rich material for d…”

Both passages explore the nature of consciousness and reality, proposing classifications of different states or forms. Ouspensky's passage outlines different forms of consciousness and their characteristics, while Plotinus' passage discusses the nature of substance and becoming in the sensible realm, proposing classifications and analogies. Both seek to understand and categorize complex phenomena.