Plotinus Ennead IV.3-IV.4.29 ─ Problems Concerning the Soul

For Plotinus, the nature and status of the human soul is one of the central problems of philosophy.Ennead IV.3-–4.29 constitutes his most penetrating enquiry into this topic, addressing the issues of the relation of the individual soul to the World Soul, the descent of the soul into body, its relations with that body, problems of personal identity and the nature of memory, sense perception, and the true seat of the emotions —many of which still have a resonance today.

The treatise is an excellent example of Plotinus’ distinctive method of enquiry: not dogmatic (though he is no sceptic), but worrying away at questions until he has uncovered their complexities to the best of his ability. Such a work requires detailed commentary, such as is provided here, to tease out fully the fascinating convolutions of his thought.

John M. Dillon is Emeritus Fellow and former Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin as well as founder and Director Emeritus of the Centre for the Study of the Platonic Tradition in Trinity College. He is the author of many books on the history of the Platonic tradition, including The Middle Platonists; Alcinous, The Handbook of Platonism; Iamblichus, De Anima; The Heirs of Plato: A Study of the Old Academy,347-–274 BC; and editor of three collections of essays on Platonism and Christianity and on the platonic heritage. In 2004 he was awarded the Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities by the Royal Irish Academy, and in 2010 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens.Henry J. Blumenthal was a leading British scholar in the area of Neoplatonism. From 1965 until his untimely death in 1998 he worked at the department of Classics and Archeology, University of Liverpool, starting out as lecturer in Greek, gaining full Professorship, and eventually becoming Head and then Chair of the department. He is the author ofPlotinus' Psychology: His Doctrines of the Embodied Soul, and Aristotle and Neoplatonism in Late Antiquity. Many of his articles, spaning over a quarter of a century, were gathered and published in the collectionSoul and Intellect.