Plotinus: An Introduction to the Enneads

This book is addressed to those wishing to embark on a reading of Plotinus' works, the Enneads. One of the greatest of ancient philosophers, Plotinus is now attracting ever-increasing attention from those interested in ancient philosophy, in late Antiquity, and in the importance of this period for the Western intellectual tradition. Dominic O'Meara presents a brief outline of Plotinus' life, and of the composition of the Enneads, placing Plotinus within the intellectual context of the philosophical schools and religious movements of his time. He then discusses selected Plotinian texts in relation to a number of central philosophical issues - soul and body, intelligible and sensible reality, intellect, the One, speaking of the ineffable, the production of reality, evil, beauty, ethics, and mysticism - in order to show how Plotinus' thinking on these issues evolved, and to assess the historical importance of his philosophy. A bibliography and a thematically arranged guide to further reading, both on the issues examined here and on other topics in Plotinus, enhance the value of the book as a guide to study.