Plotin

Hellenistic Platonist philosopher and founder of Neoplatonism (c. 204/5–270) · 205–270

Appears in 8 videos · 9 passages.

Summary

Dominique Pagani mostly refers to Plotinus indirectly, through a passage by Gracq in which his name appears among the so-called "concrete" philosophies1. He returns to this text several times between 2016 and 20222 3. In 2024, in a session on the Grail quest, he notes that these more concrete philosophies are the ones preferred by the character Albert4. In the same session, he presents Plotinus as a Neoplatonist who speaks of procession5. Elsewhere, he places him as a stage in the history of the beautiful as Hegel traces it6. He also names him among the standpoints from which one can philosophize7. Finally, he mentions him in remarks on the present state of philosophy: studying Aristotle and Plotinus seems useless from the standpoint of the cognitive sciences8, and Plotinus is put on the agrégation syllabus for the first time9. None of the passages gives a close reading of a work by Plotinus.

Summary produced automatically from 9 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Plotinus (; Ancient Greek: Πλωτῖνος, Plōtînos; c. 204/5 – 270 AD) was an ancient Greek philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. He is widely regarded by modern scholars as the founder of Neoplatonism. Plotinus was a student of the self-taught philosopher Ammonius Saccas, who belonged to the Platonic tradition. Historians in the 19th century coined the term "Neoplatonism" to describe Plotinus and his philosophy. This philosophical tradition was vastly influential during late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. […]

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Text: Wikipédia, CC BY-SA 4.0, excerpt · Portrait: Paolo Monti, CC BY-SA 4.0

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