Plotinus ENNEAD IV. 8: on the Descent of the Soul into Bodies Translation, with an Introduction, and Commentary |
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Author:
| Fleet, Barrie Smith, Andrew |
Editor:
| Dillon, John M. |
Series title: | The Enneads of Plotinus Ser. |
ISBN: | 978-1-930972-77-3 |
Publication Date: | Jun 2012 |
Publisher: | Parmenides Publishing
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Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $37.00 |
Book Description:
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The issue in this treatise is one that has puzzled students of Plato from ancient to modern times: why should the philosopher, who has ascended through a long and painful process of dialectic to ""assimilation to the divine"", ever descend back into the body? Plotinus himself is said by Porphyry to have attained such a state of other-worldly transcendence, so this was a very real and personal issue for him.
The issue in this treatise is one that has puzzled students of Plato from ancient to modern times: why should the philosopher, who has ascended through a long and painful process of dialectic to ""assimilation to the divine"", ever descend back into the body? Plotinus himself is said by Porphyry to have attained such a state of other-worldly transcendence, so this was a very real and personal issue for him.