Single Idea 21822

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

Full Idea

Anaxagoras, in his assertion of a Mind pure and unmixed, affirms a simplex First and a sundered One, though writing long ago he failed in precision.

Gist of Idea

Anaxagoras's concept of supreme Mind has a simple First and a multiple One

Source

report of Anaxagoras (fragments/reports [c.460 BCE]) by Plotinus - The Enneads 5.1.09

Book Reference

Plotinus: 'The Enneads', ed/tr. Mackenna,Stephen [Penguin 1991], p.357


A Reaction

The crunch question is whether the supreme One or Mind is part of Being, or is above and beyond Being. Plotinus claims that Anaxagoras was on his side (with Plato, against Parmenides).

Related Idea

Idea 21821 Plato's Parmenides has a three-part theory, of Primal One, a One-Many, and a One-and-Many [Plato, by Plotinus]