Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four PeriodsPlotinus
Philosophy
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods
Plotinus
Plotinus
Besides, as the soul is indivisible, the entelechy of the divisible
body could not become divisible as is the body. Besides, the same soul
passes from the body of one animal into the body of some other. How
could the soul of the first become that of the second, if she were only
the entelechy of a single one? The example of animals that metamorphose
demonstrates the impossibility of this theory. The soul, therefore, is
not the simple form of a body; she is a genuine "being," which does
not owe its existence merely to her being founded on the body, but
which, on the contrary, exists before having become the soul of some
individual animal. It is, therefore, not the body that begets the soul.
THE SOUL IS AN INCORPOREAL AND IMMORTAL ESSENCE. THE SOUL BEING NONE OF
CORPOREAL POSSIBILITIES, MUST BE INCORPOREAL.
c. What then can be the nature of the soul, if she is neither a
body, nor a corporeal affection, while, nevertheless, all the active
force, the productive power and the other faculties reside in her, or
come from her? What sort of a "being," indeed, is this (soul) that
has an existence independent of the body? She must evidently be a
veritable "being." Indeed, everything corporeal must be classified as
generated, and excluded from genuine "being," because it is born, and
perishes, never really exists, and owes its salvation exclusively to
participation in the genuine existence, and that only in the measure of
its participation therein.
THE PERSISTENCE OF THE CHANGEABLE IMPLIES THE ETERNAL IN THE
BACKGROUND.[80]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account