Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four PeriodsPlotinus
Philosophy
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods
Plotinus
Plotinus
7. To begin with, we must remark that to show that all is good in the
things mingled with matter (and therefore of sense), we must not expect
to find in them the whole perfection of the World which is not soiled
by matter, and is intelligible; nor should we expect to find in that
which holds the second rank characteristics of that which is of the
first. Since the world has a body, we must grant that this body will
have influence on the totality, and expect no more than that Reason
will give it that which this mixed nature was capable of receiving.
For instance, if we were to contemplate the most beautiful man here
below, we would be wrong in believing that he was identical with the
intelligible Man, and inasmuch as he was made of flesh, muscles and
bones, we would have to be satisfied with his having received from
his creator all the perfection that could be communicated to him to
embellish these bones, muscles and flesh, and to make the ("seminal)
reason" in him predominate over the matter within him.
EVIL IS ONLY A LOWER FORM OF GOOD.
Granting these premises, we may start out on an explanation of the
above mentioned difficulties. For in the world we will find remarkable
traces of the Providence and divine Power from which it proceeds.
Let us take first, the actions of souls who do evil voluntarily; the
actions of the wicked who, for instance, harm virtuous men, or other
men equally evil. Providence need not be held responsible for the
wickedness of these souls. The cause should be sought in the voluntary
determinations of those souls themselves. For we have proved that the
souls have characteristic motions, and that while here below they are
not pure, but rather are animals (as would naturally be the case with
souls united to bodies).[44] Now, it is not surprising that, finding
themselves in such a condition, they would live conformably to that
condition.[45] Indeed, it is not the formation of the world that made
them descend here below. Even before the world existed, they were
already disposed to form part of it, to busy themselves with it, to
infuse it with life, to administer it, and in it to exert their power
in a characteristic manner, either by presiding over its (issues),
and by communicating to it something of their power, or by descending
into it, or by acting in respect to the world each in its individual
manner.[46] The latter question, however, does not refer to the subject
we are now considering; here it will be sufficient to show that,
however these circumstances occur, Providence is not to be blamed.
IT IS A MATTER OF FAITH THAT PROVIDENCE EMBRACES EVERYTHING HERE BELOW,
EVEN THE MISFORTUNES OF THE JUST.
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