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E-book Plotinus on Beauty : Beauty as Illuminated Unity in Multiplicity

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Penilaian

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Theredoesnotseemtobeanyseriousreasontosupposeasignificantevo-lution in Plotinus’ philosophy. Even leaving aside the problematic nature ofdevelopmentaltheoriesfromahermeneuticalperspective,thereexistssomepositiveevidenceforconsistencyinPlotinus’thought.InhisLifeof Plotinus,Porphyrygivesatleastfourreasonsforadoptingaunitaryperspective.Thefirsttwoargumentsareratherindirect:First,Plotinusbegantowriteinhisfifties,i.e.whenhehadalreadyreachedrelativephilosophicalmaturity.Second,“heworkedouthistrainofthoughtfrombeginningtoendinhisownmind,andthen,whenhewroteitdown,sincehehadsetitallinorderinhismind,hewroteascontinuouslyasifhewascopyingfromabook”andwhenhe“hadwrit-tenanythinghecouldneverbeartogooverittwice,eventoreaditthroughoncewastoomuchforhim”(vpviii.8–11and1–4).3Thisapproachcaneas-ilyleadtoincoherenceinthevariousexpressionsofhisthought,although,iftrue,ittestifiestotheexistenceofanextremelyconcentratedmind.Thus,inmyopinion,whenweencounterpotentiallycontradictorypassages,ourfirstattempttoresolvethecontradictionshouldbetoseekoutaspecificperspec-tivefromwhichbothAandnon-Acanbepredicated.ThissuggestionisgivenfurthersupportbythefactthatthemajorityofwhatPlotinuswritesaboutcan-notbeexpressed,inthestrictsenseoftheterm.ThissituationholdsnotonlyfortheGood,whichisbeyondallpredication,butalsoforIntellect,whichistheintelligiblestructurethatourlanguagemerelyimitates,aswellasformat-ter,sincewecanonlyhaveanimageof itasof anindefinitemassoravoid,asPlotinusputsitintreatiseii.4OnMatter(cf.ii.4.11–12).However,thisdoesnotpreventPlotinusfromattemptingtotalkaboutthesethings,andhistermi-nologicalvaguenessdoesnotimplyvaguenessinhisthinking,butrathertheopposite.Assuch,Plotinus’writingistoaconsiderableextenttheembodimentoftheidealofmodernhermeneutics:theflowofhisideasisaconstantattempttoexpressverbuminteriusandheshowsnomercytowardshisownlaboriouslyconstructed images, constantly seeking to express himself with ever greaterprecision.

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Ketersediaan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

184 GAL p

Penerbit

Switzerland : BRILL., 2022

Deskripsi Fisik

220 hlm

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

9789004510203

Klasifikasi

184

Tipe Isi

text

Tipe Media

computer

Tipe Pembawa

online resource

Edisi

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Subjek

Platonic Philosophy

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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