← Home
Select Works of Plotinus · 650 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 624

Section 4 4. We have to enquire into the existence of the Numbers in the Intellectual. Are they Ideas added to the other Ideas? Or are they no more than necessary concomitants to the Ideas? In the latter case, Being, as the first [in the Intellectual] would give us the conception of the Monad; then since Being produces motion and rest, Three exists; and so on for all the other members of the realm of Being. Or perhaps there is one monad for each member, or a monad for the first, with a dyad for its next, since there exists a series, and a corresponding number for every successive total, decad for ten, and so on. If, on the contrary, Number is a direct production of the Intellectual-Principle [an Idea in itself], there is the question whether it preceded or followed the other Ideas. Plato, where he says that men arrived at the conception of Number by way of the changes of day and night- thus making the concept depend upon variation among things- seems to hold that the things numerable precede and by their differences produce number: Number then would consist in a process within the human mind passing onwards from thing to thing; it results by the fact that the mind takes count, that is when the mind traverses things and reports their differences; observing pure identity unbroken by difference, it says One. But there is the passage where he tells us that the veritable Number has Being, is a Being; this is the opposed view that Number is no product of the reckoning mind but a reality in itself, the concept of which is reawakened in the mind by changes in things of sense.
Themes
◆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 phrase 'from that we came' implies a source of origin from which the soul descends.

All passages →
◆Microcosm Macrocosmcosmology

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

The text suggests the human contains the divine whole: 'see at once God and himself and the All'.

All passages →
◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] Knowledge is described as 'without image' and having 'no stop at which to declare a limit'.

All passages →
◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The divine is characterized as 'the one head' and a 'unity' without division.

All passages →
◇Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

[auto] The passage explicitly states 'direct knowledge, not images or even impressions' as the mode of knowing.

All passages →
◇Inner Lightanthropology

The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.

[auto] Looking inward reveals the 'one head' and allows one to see God.

All passages →
◇Kingdom Withinanthropology

The claim that the divine realm is present inside the individual, accessible without external mediation.

[auto] It states we do not need to bring beings down because 'we are There among them' internally.

All passages →
◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The text emphasizes 'the one head' and reaching the 'All as a unity', reflecting the singular first principle.

All passages →
◇Mystical Unionsoteriology

The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.

[auto] The text describes identity with the divine: 'we are those Beings... we and all things are one'.

All passages →
◇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 central theme is 'To Real Being we go back... to that we return as from that we came'.

All passages →
◇Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

[auto] It instructs to 'look inward' to see 'God and himself', equating self-knowledge with divine knowledge.

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] The passage concludes that 'we and all things are one', asserting non-dual existence.

All passages →
Related passages · 5 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1e
“And if these Universals exist by participating in Existence, far more is this true of the things which participate in them. 6. Thus the first gift which the Absolute and Transcendent Goodness bestows is that of mere Existence, and so It d…”
Both passages discuss the concept of unity and the origin of numbers, with Plotinus exploring the existence of Numbers in the Intellectual-Principle and the anonymous author describing the unity and pre-existence of all numbers in the number One. Both texts delve into the metaphysical and ontological aspects of unity and multiplicity.
◆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 explore the nature of intellectual and spiritual realities, discussing the relationship between the divine, the intelligible, and the human mind. They both delve into the concept of unity and multiplicity in the context of higher realities, though from different philosophical and mystical traditions.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 3)
“7.) "I do not wish to divert men from the Word as it is written and taught; but my writings are intended to lead them from a merely historical belief to a living faith, even to Jesus Christ (the Light and Truth) Himself. All preaching and…”
Both passages emphasize the unity of all existence and the divine within the individual, though they come from different mystical traditions. Passage A focuses on the unity of being and direct knowledge of the divine, while Passage B emphasizes the divine spirit within man and the awakening of this spirit to achieve true knowledge.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres|Section 1b
“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”
Both passages explore the concept of unity and the nature of the divine within the individual and the cosmos. Passage A discusses the return to Real Being and the unity of all things, while Passage B describes the union of Mind and Logos and the creation of Man as a co-equal to the divine.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 9: The Decalogue|Section 1b
“But I return once more to the Discourse (Logos) on Sense. That sense doth share with thought in man, doth constitute him man. But 'tis not [every] man, as I have said, who benefits by thought; for this man is material, that other one subs…”
Both passages explore the concept of unity and the interconnectedness of all things with the divine. Passage A discusses the return to Real Being and the unity of all things, while Passage B talks about the divine order (Cosmos) and the interconnectedness of all lives through the sense-and-thought of Cosmos.