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Single Idea 21824

[filed under theme 7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / f. Primary being ]

Full Idea

There exists a principle which transcends Being; this the One.

Gist of Idea

The One is a principle which transcends Being

Source

Plotinus (The Enneads [c.245], 5.1.10)

Book Ref

Plotinus: 'The Enneads', ed/tr. Mackenna,Stephen [Penguin 1991], p.359


A Reaction

The idea that the One transcends Being is the distinctive Plotinus doctrine. He defends the view that this was also the view of Anaxagoras, Empedocles and Plato.


The 16 ideas from 'The Enneads'

Ecstasy is for the neo-Platonist the highest psychological state of man [Plotinus, by Feuerbach]
If soul was like body, its parts would be separate, without communication [Plotinus]
Our soul has the same ideal nature as the oldest god, and is honourable above the body [Plotinus]
Soul is author of all of life, and of the stars, and it gives them law and movement [Plotinus]
Even the soul is secondary to the Intellectual-Principle [Nous], of which soul is an utterance [Plotinus]
Being is the product of pure intellect [Plotinus]
Number determines individual being [Plotinus]
How can multiple existence arise from the unified One? [Plotinus]
Because the One is immobile, it must create by radiation, light the sun producing light [Plotinus]
Soul is the logos of Nous, just as Nous is the logos of the One [Plotinus]
The One does not exist, but is the source of all existence [Plotinus]
The One is a principle which transcends Being [Plotinus]
The soul is outside of all of space, and has no connection to the bodily order [Plotinus]
The Soul reasons about the Right, so there must be some permanent Right about which it reasons [Plotinus]
The movement of Soul is continuous, but we are only aware of the parts of it that are sensed [Plotinus]
A person is the whole of their soul [Plotinus]