Plotinus

Plotinus was a philosopher of the third century AD, born around 204 or 205, probably in Egypt; he would not say where, because he disliked talking about his body or his origins. What is known of his life comes mainly from a biography by his student Porphyry. At about twenty-eight he began to study philosophy in Alexandria, and after trying several teachers he studied for eleven years with Ammonius Saccas. Hoping to learn the philosophy of Persia and India, he joined the army of the emperor Gordian III on a campaign against Persia in 243, but the emperor was killed and Plotinus escaped. At about forty he settled in Rome, where he taught for the rest of his life and was respected by the emperor Gallienus and many senators. His teachings, which developed the ideas of Plato, describe all reality as flowing from a single source, the One, through the Intellect and the Soul, and urge the soul to return to its source through contemplation. Porphyry edited his writings into six groups of nine treatises, the Enneads. Plotinus died in Campania in 270.

Plotinus is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Neoplatonist philosopher whose ideas inspired pagan, Jewish, Christian and Islamic mystics. Source: Wikipedia