The Enneads of Plotinus, Volume 1: A Commentary

by Paul Kalligas

Overview

The first volume in a landmark commentary on an important and influential work of ancient philosophy

This is the first volume of a groundbreaking commentary on one of the most important works of ancient philosophy, the Enneads of Plotinus—a text that formed the basis of Neoplatonism and had a deep influence on early Christian thought and medieval and Renaissance philosophy. This volume covers the first three of the six Enneads, as well as Porphyry's Life of Plotinus, a document in which Plotinus’s student—the collector and arranger of the Enneads—introduces the philosopher and his work. A landmark contribution to modern Plotinus scholarship, Paul Kalligas’s commentary is the most detailed and extensive ever written for the whole of the Enneads.

For each of the treatises in the first three Enneads, Kalligas provides a brief introduction that presents the philosophical background against which Plotinus’s contribution can be assessed; a synopsis giving the main lines and the articulation of the argument; and a running commentary placing Plotinus’s thought in its intellectual context and making evident the systematic association of its various parts with each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691202358
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	06/09/2020
Pages:	728
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paul Kalligas is director of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi in Greece and was previously professor of ancient philosophy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Table of Contents

Preface to the English Edition vii

Translator's Preface xvii

Main Abbreviations xix

Porphyry: On the Life of Plotinus and the Order of His Books

Introduction

The Author, His Times, and His Work 3

The Composition and Character of the VP 4

The Organization and Sources of the VP 5

The System of Dating 7

Chronological Table 9

Map 16

Other Testimonies concerning the Life of Plotinus 18

Commentary 19

Appendixes

A. Iulius Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis I 7, 13-22 93

B. The Figural Representations of Plotinus 94

C. Porphyry in Sicily and His Literary Activity There 95

First Ennead

I 1 [53]. What Is the Living Being, and What Is Man? 101

I 2 [19]. On Virtues 131

I 3 [20]. On Dialectic 148

I 4 [46]. On Well-Being 161

I 5 [36]. On Whether Well-Being Increases with Time 187

I 6 [1]. On Beauty 192

I 7 [54]. On the Primal Good and the Other Goods 219

I 8 [51]. On What Are and Whence Come Evils 223

I 9 [16]. On Going out of the Body 241

Second Ennead

II 1 [40]. On Heaven 249

II 2 [14]. On the Movement of Heaven 267

II 3 [52]. On Whether the Stars Are Causes 277

II 4 [12]. On Matter 304

II 5 [25]. On What Exists Potentially and What Actually 327

II 6 [17]. On Substance, or on Quality 336

II 7 [37]. On Complete Transfusion 346

II 8 [35]. On Sight, or How Distant Objects Appear Small 353

II 9 [33]. Against the Gnostics 363

Third Ennead

III 1 [3]. On Destiny 413

III 2-3 [47-48]. On Providence, Books I-II 440

III 4 [15]. On Our Allotted Guardian Spirit 481

III 5 [50]. On Love 501

III 6 [26]. On the Impassibility of Things without Body 534

III 7 [45]. On Eternity and Time 577

III 8 [30]. On Nature and Contemplation and the One 620

III 9 [13]. Various Considerations 646

List of Variant Readings 657

Key to the Chronological Order of Plotinus' Treatises 669

Suggested Further Readings on Individual Treatises 671

Figures 679

Index of Passages Cited 681

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Kalligas's commentaries are a major event in the study of Plotinus. Kalligas is sensitive to the demands of exegesis, philology, and history, but also to the more subtle and challenging demands of philosophical analysis. His commentary displays extraordinary mastery of the full text of the Enneads and a sophisticated appreciation of the relevant contexts—from Plato, Aristotle, and Stoicism to skepticism, Middle Platonism, and the entire tradition of Neoplatonism."—Alexander P. D. Mourelatos, University of Texas, Austin

Editorial Reviews

"Kalligas's commentaries are a major event in the study of Plotinus. Kalligas is sensitive to the demands of exegesis, philology, and history, but also to the more subtle and challenging demands of philosophical analysis. His commentary displays extraordinary mastery of the full text of the Enneads and a sophisticated appreciation of the relevant contexts—from Plato, Aristotle, and Stoicism to skepticism, Middle Platonism, and the entire tradition of Neoplatonism."—Alexander P. D. Mourelatos, University of Texas, Austin

From the Publisher