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Select Works of Plotinus · 717 of 752 · tr. Thomas Taylor

Select Works, Section 685

Section 3 3. All this calls for examination; the enquiry must bring us close to the solution as regards the gods. We have traced self-disposal to will, will to reasoning and, next step, to right reasoning; perhaps to right reasoning we must add knowledge, for however sound opinion and act may be they do not yield true freedom when the adoption of the right course is the result of hazard or of some presentment from the fancy with no knowledge of the foundations of that rightness. Taking it that the presentment of fancy is not a matter of our will and choice, how can we think those acting at its dictation to be free agents? Fancy strictly, in our use, takes it rise from conditions of the body; lack of food and drink sets up presentments, and so does the meeting of these needs; similarly with seminal abundance and other humours of the body. We refuse to range under the principle of freedom those whose conduct is directed by such fancy: the baser sort, therefore, mainly so guided, cannot be credited with self-disposal or voluntary act. Self-disposal, to us, belongs to those who, through the activities of the Intellectual-Principle, live above the states of the body. The spring of freedom is the activity of Intellectual-Principle, the highest in our being; the proposals emanating thence are freedom; such desires as are formed in the exercise of the Intellectual act cannot be classed as involuntary; the gods, therefore, that live in this state, living by Intellectual-Principle and by desire conformed to it, possess freedom.
Themes
◆Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The First is portrayed as transcendent and unknowable by Intellection, existing above ordinary knowledge.

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◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

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

The passage discusses 'self-knowing' as an attribute attributed to the First by some philosophers.

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◇Apophatic Theologytheology

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

[auto] The argument proceeds by negating attributes like Intellection to preserve the transcendence and perfection of the First.

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◇Divine Simplicitytheology

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

[auto] The passage centrally argues that the First must remain a 'simplex' and cannot be composed of essence and Intellective Act.

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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 text explicitly references 'the lesser, the emanant' as distinct from the First, implying a downward flow.

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◇Monadcosmology

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

[auto] The First is described as an absolutely simple, undivided principle ('simplex') from which multiplicity flows.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] The text rejects the duality of essence and Act in the divine to maintain a higher unity.

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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.

[auto] The insistence on the First being perfect before Intellection supports the doctrine of ultimate indivisible reality.

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Related passages · 4 parallels
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 1)
“p. 33 THE DOCTRINES OF JACOB BOEHME. "Our whole doctrine is nothing else but an instruction to show how man may create a kingdom of light within himself. . . . He in whom this spring of divine power flows, carries within himself the d…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine and the limitations of human intellect in understanding it. They explore the idea of a higher, simplex being that is beyond intellect and emphasize the importance of inner knowledge or divine principle within oneself.
◆christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 13 (part 1)
“p. 263 CHAPTER XIII. REGENERATION. "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not of those things?" — John iii. 10. "Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."— Luke ix. 23. No man c…”
Both passages discuss the concept of freedom and the higher self, with Passage A focusing on the Intellectual-Principle and Passage B on the divine Spirit within man. Both emphasize the need to rise above the bodily and carnal nature to achieve true freedom and spiritual knowledge.
◆hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum|Section 1d
“Not only, then, is God not understood by all, but both unto the gods and some of the men they out of ignorance do give the name of Good, though they can never either be or become Good. For they are very different from God, while Good can n…”
Both passages discuss the nature of the divine, particularly the concept of the Good and the First Principle. They explore the idea that the divine is beyond intellect and is self-sufficient, though they do so within different philosophical and religious frameworks.
◆taoism|Tao Te Ching|Chapter 56
“He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it. He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and un…”
Both passages discuss the nature of ultimate reality or divine knowledge, emphasizing the limitations of human understanding and the transcendent nature of the divine. They both highlight the idea that the ultimate reality is beyond ordinary comprehension and description.