The Philosophy of Plotinus, Vol. 2 of 2: The Gifford Lectures at St. Andrews, 1917-1918 (Classic Reprint) - Couverture souple

William Ralph Inge

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1330280946 ISBN 13 : 9781330280942

Editeur : Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

Excerpt from The Philosophy of Plotinus



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A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

We ave the activity of Spirit. His disparagement of mere action which is not based on spiritual enlightenment is quite defensible. Free will means spiritual activity ;we are not free until our highest selves are liberated, Freedom does not belong to our desires or passions, nor can we control the general order of the world. But our true selves are not cogs in a machine ;we are the machine itself and the mind which directs it. Exaggerated determinism destroys the idea of causation. Each Soul is a little first cause, and the Universal Soul is above the antithesis of freedom and necessity. Necessity includes freedom. The highest stage unification hardly belongs to ethics ;but the noble doctrine that there is progress even yonder, depends on the doctrine of theO ne. Love, the activity of theS oul desiring the Good, is never transcended. In spite of this, the moral isolation of the sage may be regarded as a defect inN eoplatonic ethics. The Religion of Plotinus is really independent of the Pagan Gods and their cultus. He allegorises the myths in the most arbitrary manner. But he believes in the damons, who rule the intermediate sphere between earth and heaven. This was a current belief of the time, which has no inner connexion with his philosophy. Similarly, magic and sorcery, though he dislikes and minimises them, could not be repudiated. Theurgy is no integral part of Neoplatonism ;but the school fell into it later, and even helped to elevate superstition into a dogma. Prayer, especially the prayer of quiet, was the life of religion for theN eoplatonist. All things pray except theO ne. The mainspring of religion is experimental; faith begins as an experiment and ends as an experience. God is at first an ideal, and at last an atmosphere. Man may worship either the Universal Soul, or the Great Spirit, or the ineffable One. The difference between Neoplatonism and
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Forgotten Books
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1330280946
• ISBN 13: 9781330280942
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 268
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